Advertising CSP 2: Audrey Hepburn Galaxy advert

Our second close-study product for Advertising and Marketing is the 2016 Galaxy chocolate advert 'Chauffeur' featuring dead Hollywood film star Audrey Hepburn.

This product provides an excellent opportunity to explore a range of different representations: celebrity, place (Italy), gender and more. 

Galaxy advert: background information

This is the advert CSP:

You can read more about the incredible CGI technology that went into creating the advert here. There is also a Guardian feature from the production company behind the advert explaining the technical process. 

GLOW words to use for this CSP

• Intertextuality: When one media text refers to or suggests another media text
• Semiotic codes: The media language choices (‘signs’) that create connotations for the audience.

Historical context of confectionary advertising

Nostalgia, or a "yearning for yesterday," is a frequently used advertising tool.  It is particularly common in the chocolate industry.

This classic Flake advert from the 1980s creates a nostalgic atmosphere of a more innocent time: 

Galaxy brand identity

The Galaxy brand identity has focused on luxury and indulgence for over 25 years. This 1995 advert is a good example of the Galaxy brand and also features a nostalgic soundtrack:




Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a huge Hollywood star in the 1950s and 1960s. She was associated with Hollywood glamour and style and was also a fashion icon and model. She died in 1993 at the age of 63.

For the Galaxy advert, the advertising agency used a CGI-version of Hepburn from 1953, the year of her hit film Roman Holiday. The advert is set on the luxurious Italian Riviera which creates intertextuality and nostalgia – two key audience pleasures.


Intertextuality in Media Products

Intertextuality is where one media product (e.g. Galaxy) makes reference to other media products (e.g. Audrey Hepburn movies such as 1953 film Roman Holiday) to interest and engage the audience.

Narrative theory

We also need to learn narrative theories in GCSE Media Studies and the Galaxy advert is an ideal time to learn these. Narrative theories help us understand how media texts are constructed to engage an audience and keep them watching or reading until the end.

Propp’s  Character theory

Vladimir Propp stated that there were seven basic character functions when he analysed 100 fairy tales and that these were present in most narratives. Media products still use these recognisable character types today:

Hero, Villain, Heroine/Princess, Father, Donor, Helper/Sidekick, False Hero

Todorov: equilibrium

Todorov suggested that all narratives follow a three part structure.

They begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when a new equilibrium is restored.

Equilibrium > Disequilibrium > New equilibrium

This can be applied to most media narratives.

Galaxy advert: Representations

The TV advertisement for Galaxy uses a range of stereotypes. Stereotypes are used so that information can be quickly communicated to the target audience. What stereotypes are used in this advert and why? Are they reinforced or subverted?

Place: Italy

Celebrity: Audrey Hepburn

Product: Galaxy chocolate

Time: 1950s

Gender: Men & Women

Galaxy 'Chauffeur' advert: blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Galaxy advert CSP' and then work through the following tasks to make sure you're an expert on this CSP. 

Re-watch the Galaxy advert above then answer the questions below:

1) What key conventions of TV advertising can you find in the Galaxy advert?

2) What is the key message the Galaxy advert is communicating about its chocolate? The slogan for the advert will help you with this question.

3) Who is Audrey Hepburn and why did Galaxy select Audrey Hepburn for this advert? 

4) What is intertextuality?

5) What Audrey Hepburn film is suggested in this advert and how is this effect created (e.g. mise-en-scene - CLAMPS: costume, lighting, actors, make-up, props, setting)?

6) Which of Propp's character types are can be found in the advert and how do they change? (Note: just choose two or three character types that are definitely used in the advert - it does not use all seven). 

7) How does the advert's narrative (story) follow Todorov's theory of equilibrium?

8) What representation of celebrity can be found in this advert? Think about how Audrey Hepburn is presented. 

9) What representations of gender can you find in this advert?

10) How are stereotypes subverted at the end of the Galaxy advert to reflect modern social and cultural contexts? 

Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read the Framestore case study and the Guardian feature again. How did they recreate an Audrey Hepburn film using location, casting and CGI?

Now read this Vintage Everyday feature behind the scenes of the Galaxy advert. What other background information do you learn here regarding the construction of the advert?

Women in the 1950s are represented very differently in two of our advertising CSPs: OMO and Galaxy. What similarities and differences can you find by analysing the two products?

Due date for this work on Google Classroom.

Advertising CSP 1: OMO print advert

The first close-study product for Advertising and Marketing is the 1955 advert for OMO washing powder that appeared in Woman's Own magazine.

This product provides an excellent opportunity to analyse the changing representation of women in advertising over the last 60 years.

Sample questions for Advertising and Marketing

In your Media exams, you are likely to get questions similar to these:

- Why do advertisers use stereotypes? [6 marks]

- Explain how advertisements reflect the historical context in which they were created. [12 marks]

OMO advert CSP (1955)

OMO was a popular washing powder brand in the 1950s. This advert was from 1955 and needs to be studied both in terms of historical context and how it would be received today.

In 1955, British society was still adjusting after World War Two in which women took on many traditionally male jobs with men off fighting. This led to advertising in the 1950s often trying to reinforce traditional female stereotypes of housewives and mothers in order to protect male power both at work and at home.

Annotations

In the lesson, you'll have a chance to annotate your own copy of the OMO advert and make notes of the key conventions and what they communicate to the audience.

Here are some of the questions we discussed when we annotated our copy of the advert in class:

And here's an image of an annotated advert from the lesson on OMO - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access this.

OMO advert: blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'OMO advert CSP blog tasks' and work through the following tasks: 

1) What year was the advert produced?

2) How were women represented in most adverts in the 1950s?

3) How does the heading message ('OMO makes whites bright') and the typography promote the product?

4) Analyse the mise-en-scene in the advert (CLAMPS): how is costume, make-up and placement of the model used to suggest women's role in society?

5) Why is a picture of the product added to the bottom right of the advert?

6) What are the connotations of the chosen colours in this advert - red, white and blue?

7) How does the anchorage text use persuasive language to encourage the audience to buy the product? Give examples.

8) What representation of women can be found in this OMO advert? Make specific reference to the advert and discuss stereotypes.

9) What is the preferred reading for this advert - what did the producers of the advert want the audience to think in 1955?

10) What is the oppositional reading for this advert - how might a modern audience respond to this text and the representation of women here?

You will have lesson time to answer these questions but will need to complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Grade 8/9 extension questions

1) How much do you think things have changed over the last 60 years with regards to representations of women in advertising? Give examples from a variety of adverts

2) How is the aftermath of World War Two reflected in the Omo advert? Why did many adverts in the 1950s strongly reinforce the stereotype of women as mothers and housewives?

3) Read this Guardian feature on possible law changes with regards to gender representations in advertising. Do you agree with this approach?

4) Now read this Guardian feature entitled 'Mad Men and invisible women'. Why does it suggest the advertising industry has 'failed to move on'? Do you agree? Read some of the comments below the article to get a range of differing views on this topic.

Gender stereotypes in advertising

There is a long history of adverts featuring a sexist or negative representation of women.

We need to learn how adverts represent different people and groups and also how these representations have changed over time. Today, the focus is on the representation of women and the gender stereotypes that appear in many adverts. This builds on our work on social and cultural contexts - the way the media influences people, society and British culture.

Key words

Representation: the way a group or individual is portrayed in the media.

Normalised: when something becomes considered ‘normal’ or ‘usual’

Stereotype: viewing a group or individual in a fixed, over-simplified way.

Conventions: typical features of a media product. 

Reinforce a stereotype: the representation supports our usual expectations.

Subvert a stereotype: the representation goes against our usual expectations.

Social, Cultural and Historical contexts

Another aspect we have to consider whenever we study a media product is how it reflects British society and what message it may be sending to audiences. Our exam board AQA calls this 'social and cultural contexts' and those words will appear in several exam questions in our final exams. Similarly, when we study media products from history, we will also need to consider historical contexts - how the media product reflects the time period in which it was created. These are the key questions to ask:

Social contexts: How do media products influence or affect people in society?

Cultural contexts: How the media reflects the typical ideas, opinions and beliefs in society and the media industries.

Historical contexts: How has society (and the type of media product) changed over time?

The representation of women in advertising is a great example of all three of these contexts. The way women are presented in adverts says a lot about the culture the advert is created in, it may well affect the way both women and men feel and behave in society and it also has changed over time.

How are women represented in advertising?

The stereotype of women in advertising is often negative. Representations through the history of advertising have suggested that women are inferior to men, bad drivers, powerless, sexualised or focused on domestic work (e.g. cleaning). This potentially influences media audiences and the views in wider society.

 

 















Oxo TV adverts

Explore how the representations of women have changed through these two adverts for Oxo. Are they really as different as they first appear?

1980s Oxo advert




2017 Oxo advert: Change of Plan 

In 2017 Oxo launched a 'new family' to advertise some of their recent products and released a TV advert called 'Change of Plan'. There are definitely some significant changes between the 1980s Oxo family and the updated version - although perhaps the gender representations on display haven't progressed quite as much as it first appears.

Unfortunately, this advert is no longer on YouTube but can be watched on the Ads of the World website here or alternatively on Google Drive here (using your Greenford Google login).



Gender representation in advertising: blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'Gender representation in advertising'.

1) Find three adverts featuring women that are from the 1950s or 1960s. Save the images to your Media folder as jpegs and then import them into your blog post. Hint: You may wish to look at car, perfume or cleaning products but can use any product you wish.

2) Find three adverts featuring women that are from post-2000. Save the images to your Media folder as jpegs and then import them into your blog post.

3) What stereotypes of women can you find in the 1950s and 1960s adverts? Give specific examples. 

4) What stereotypes of women can you find in the post-2000s adverts? Give specific examples.

5) How do your chosen adverts suggest representations of gender have changed over the last 60 years? 


Extension tasks

Find three adverts that subvert gender stereotypes, post the images/links to your blog and write a paragraph about how they subvert the way women or men are usually represented in the media.

Read this Guardian article on seven female stereotypes that were identified in Australian adverts. Do you recognise the stereotypes that the article discusses? 

This Guardian article reports the first adverts banned for using negative gender stereotypes. Do you think the ASA was right to ban them? 

Due date: on Google Classroom.

Advertising and Marketing: Key conventions

Our new topic is Advertising and Marketing - an important aspect of Media Studies.

One of the key aspects to deconstructing advertisements is denotation and connotation. Remember the definitions:

Denotation: the literal meaning of something
Connotation: the deeper meaning or what is suggested (reading between the lines)

Codes and conventions of print adverts

When studying print adverts we need to look for the following conventions or typical features:

• Picture of product
• USP - unique selling point. What is it that makes the product special or different to appeal to consumers?
• Lighting
• Setting / colour scheme
• Logo – this is usually the brand name 
• Slogan – this is a catchy phrase summing up the ethos of the product e.g Nike’s ‘Just Do It’

Adverts will often use unique and interesting ways to attract the attention of the target audience. This might be: innovative branding; clever use of space; unconventional or subversive ideas; emotional connections or shock / controversy.

Persuasive techniques in advertising

Advertisements are generally trying to persuade their target audience to:

• Buy a product or service
• Believe something or act in a certain way
• Agree with a point of view

There are many persuasive techniques used in advertising. A selection include:

• Image and colour scheme- to catch and keep attention
• Slogan – a catchy phrase or statement
• Established brand identity – associated with success or taste or good quality. 
• Repetition – constant reference to product name
• Association / Star Power – e.g. celebrity endorsement
• Emotional appeal or shock tactics – designed to create strong feelings
• Expert opinion – ‘4 out of 5 dentists…’
• Imperative- Giving no choice e.g ‘Taste the rainbow’

Media analysis example - Maltesers advert

Conventions and analysis

• Pictures of the product (Maltesers) to remind us of the type of product it is. The image also reinforces the word ‘lighter’ as the chocolates dance and jump off the floor. 
• The Logo is bright and large in the centre of the advert. The word ‘malt’ relates to the flavours used and ‘tesers’ is a play on the word ‘tease’ which ties in with the playful, light ethos. 
• The Background features the heavy use of red. It is bright and eye-catching with connotations of love. This makes the consumer recognise the brand colour and makes them think they love the product, or may gift it to someone they love. 
• The Slogan at the bottom is clearly visible and stands out against the background. ‘Lighter’ and ‘enjoy’ reinforce the USP – that Maltesers are slightly healthier or 'lighter' chocolate. 
• The Colour Scheme is red and white - recognisable from the packets of Maltesers, creating a brand identity. 

Introduction to advertising: blog task

Create a new blogpost called 'Advertising: Key conventions'. Look at this Skittles advert:

1) What key conventions of print adverts can you find and what are the connotations or deeper meanings of each convention? For each convention, write about how it communicates meaning to the audience. See the Maltesers advert above for an example of how to do this.

2) What is the USP (unique selling point) for Skittles and how do you know? Does the advert use any of persuasive techniques listed above?

Look at the Maltesers example above if you are unsure how to complete these tasks.

Extension tasks

If you have completed an in-depth analysis the Skittles advert, do some additional research into creative or powerful print advertising. 

Task: Find an example of a print advert for EACH of the following:

1) A clear brand identity

2) A shocking or controversial idea

3) An emotional connection to audience

4) An innovative or ‘different’, subversive concept (e.g the porcupine advertising VW car)

5) A foreign advert that you can understand despite the language barrier

Finally, write what the USP is for each advert.

Due date: on Google Classroom