I chose cosmetic and perfume advertisements for the two advertisements I plan to compare. The first one is a Covergirl advertisement featuring Drew Barrymore. My second advertisement is for the Calvin Klein perfume “Eternity,” featuring two models. For the Covergirl Advertisement, it is pretty obvious that Drew Barrymore knows she is the subject of the photograph. She is looking right into the lense of the camera and into the spectators and slightly smiling. The spectator, of course, being the audience, viewer, or consumer of the product. The advertisement says “find your skin twin.” This is important considering the advertisement aims to market a new foundation. When it comes to shopping for a foundation, most women would like the foundation to be the same shade and tone as their natural skin. The words, paired with natural and nude colors, makes the advertisement effective. The nude tones are relaxing to the eye. This pairs excellently with the picture of Drew Barrymore. She is featured with glowing, perfect skin and very natural but pretty makeup. She has a girl-next-door look in the ad. The size of her image in the photograph makes her the focal point, inevitably giving and making her a powerful presence. Ultimately, the ad suggests that if you use this foundation, not only will it totally match your natural skin tone, but it will also give you the natural, pretty, and flirtatious look of Drew Barrymore. This directly correlates with gaze. Gaze refers to how an image or text can convey or invite a certain response. The image invites spectators to believe that if they use the product they can be pretty, have beautiful skin, and exude confidence.
The second advertisement is for Calvin Klein’s “Eternity” perfume for men and women. In this advertisement, two models, one male and one female, are the subject. The models are featured in a black and white photograph on a beach, laying on top of each other. The female model knows she is the subject of the advertisement. She is looking contentedly into the camera. However, the male model does not know he is the subject of the advertisement as his face is turned away as he kisses the female model on the forehead. This gives the woman photographed more power in the image, inevitably making her the stronger figure. One interesting thing about the ad is the use of black and white. I feel it almost takes some of the attention away from the models due to the fact that the product is placed in front of the models in the picture and has a bright green color. Similar to the Covergirl advertisement, the image directly correlates with Gaze as it invites a certain response from the spectator. The response conveyed is that if you use the perfume, you can be beautiful, sexy, and powerful and that men or women will want to be with you.
One thing that I learned from the assignment is how the definition of Gaze can be applied to real world situations, more specifically, advertising. It gave me a better understanding of the term we studied in Sturken and Cartwright’s “Practice of Looking.” Ultimately both advertisements are marketing towards a certain consumer and are aiming to convey or invite a certain idea or response. I think the thinker that best goes with this assignment is Barthes as he firmly believed that everyone takes away their own meaning from a presented image or idea.
Digital Communications 