This advertisement really caught my attention because it really reflects on the certain aspects of the gaze that were discussed in class. This particular advertisement is a Remy Martin ad. Remy Martin is a French brandy for those of you who are not familiar with the name. Anyway, the advertisers certainly use the gaze as a mainline marketing tool in this image. So let’s look at this image in detail:
Firstly, the woman on the left is showing signs of a gaze that could be either a gaze that is looking at the man (we will call him the “Player”) or at the other woman on the right. This is a tough distinction to make; however, I am going to say that she is looking at the woman on the right. Clearly, the woman on the left is engaging in an “Intra-diegetic” gaze due to the fact she is looking at someone else who happens to be the woman on the right. Additionally, the direction of the gaze is important here as the woman on the left displays reciprocal attention as her attention is directed to someone else who happens to be the other woman.
Secondly, the player who is engaging in a different gaze then that of the other two women. The player is obviously not looking at us in this image nor is he concentrating on another face. Conversely, he is focusing on the lips/lower jaw of the female that he is in close proximity to. Thus, the player’s gaze constitutes the “Gaze of a Bystander” because, as the audience, we are looking at the player looking at something else which is the lips/lower jaw of the woman on the right. In terms of the player’s direction of gaze; his attention is directed towards different things that the other two women are not looking at, hence, divergent attention.
Thirdly, the woman on the right is employing a gaze that looks pretty obvious as she is looking at the other woman whose face seems to be largely hidden behind the player’s head. However, this woman is gazing at the woman on the left. Therefore, she is engaging in an “Intra-diegetic” gaze with reciprocal attention because she is looking at the other woman. Nevertheless, this can be debatable as someone could argue that she is looking at the player or possibly looking at something else. One could also argue that both of these women are looking at the player. This would make the direction of gaze more object-oriented. However, that can be debated.
Now for the advertisement, both women are displaying signs of happiness in this ad. This means that Remy Martin could have the power to instill happiness in everyone who drinks it. In addition, the player seems to be a happy camper. Furthermore, the targeted audience that this advertisement targets are younger drinkers ages 21-35 both male and female. Moreover, this advertisement is trying to exhibit that if you consume this particular drink you will score just like this player is doing. In a sense this image is trying to market the experience one can have when drinking this type of alcohol. This is especially obvious in concept at the bottom that states “Things are getting interesting”.
Lastly, by the looks of it, this illustration is being advertised on a subway car door which is a smart location to promote this product. This is because you are not supposed to drink and drive. In the big cities where there are subways; lots of people that have been clubbing will take the subway as a means of transportation to possibly go home or to another club. Hence, this image should garner lots of exposure from the audience that it is intended for.
Firstly, the woman on the left is showing signs of a gaze that could be either a gaze that is looking at the man (we will call him the “Player”) or at the other woman on the right. This is a tough distinction to make; however, I am going to say that she is looking at the woman on the right. Clearly, the woman on the left is engaging in an “Intra-diegetic” gaze due to the fact she is looking at someone else who happens to be the woman on the right. Additionally, the direction of the gaze is important here as the woman on the left displays reciprocal attention as her attention is directed to someone else who happens to be the other woman.
Secondly, the player who is engaging in a different gaze then that of the other two women. The player is obviously not looking at us in this image nor is he concentrating on another face. Conversely, he is focusing on the lips/lower jaw of the female that he is in close proximity to. Thus, the player’s gaze constitutes the “Gaze of a Bystander” because, as the audience, we are looking at the player looking at something else which is the lips/lower jaw of the woman on the right. In terms of the player’s direction of gaze; his attention is directed towards different things that the other two women are not looking at, hence, divergent attention.
Thirdly, the woman on the right is employing a gaze that looks pretty obvious as she is looking at the other woman whose face seems to be largely hidden behind the player’s head. However, this woman is gazing at the woman on the left. Therefore, she is engaging in an “Intra-diegetic” gaze with reciprocal attention because she is looking at the other woman. Nevertheless, this can be debatable as someone could argue that she is looking at the player or possibly looking at something else. One could also argue that both of these women are looking at the player. This would make the direction of gaze more object-oriented. However, that can be debated.
Now for the advertisement, both women are displaying signs of happiness in this ad. This means that Remy Martin could have the power to instill happiness in everyone who drinks it. In addition, the player seems to be a happy camper. Furthermore, the targeted audience that this advertisement targets are younger drinkers ages 21-35 both male and female. Moreover, this advertisement is trying to exhibit that if you consume this particular drink you will score just like this player is doing. In a sense this image is trying to market the experience one can have when drinking this type of alcohol. This is especially obvious in concept at the bottom that states “Things are getting interesting”.
Lastly, by the looks of it, this illustration is being advertised on a subway car door which is a smart location to promote this product. This is because you are not supposed to drink and drive. In the big cities where there are subways; lots of people that have been clubbing will take the subway as a means of transportation to possibly go home or to another club. Hence, this image should garner lots of exposure from the audience that it is intended for.
Interesting image Sean.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me most about this image is the context in which it is being portayed, in an inner city subway. The image to me seems so racially loaded it hurts, almost like the culture club of ads if it were. The dominant black male, who we (whities) know nothing about is hiding his gaze from us and forcing a guilty aversion in my eyes. The swooning Asian to the “player” who brings in the tinge of orientalism, and the young white woman to the left who seems the farthest and most displaced from the scene, a voyeur if it were. While this ad probably seeks to display funtimes cheese and ice cream, I think that its context is what makes this an abusive image. Given that the majority of thouse who ride the subway are the ones who can’t afford to drive a car, this image targets a certain class, maybe race, and social standing. It might serve to distract the ones who view it and avert the issue that they are of a lower economic, racial, political standing, and focus their thought, dollars, time on materialistic persuits. The fact that the image has some reflective qualitie to it only pushes that idea farther and that much harder for me.