The second advertisement was on the television on channel 5, it showed the Audi RS6 Quattro. This advert showed a light with lots of flies flying around it and then the camera angle switches to a person looking over a gate into a bullring. The colours on the advertisement are all very dark as it is supposed to be in the dark. This is used as it presents the audience with a feeling of anxiety. In the bullring you can see the gates around it, holding in the bull, you can hear the bull huffing. There is a cheap light dangling in the centre, this is used to show that the bull like the Audi make anywhere look desirable.
Suddenly from the centre of the camera angle a wild bull appears. The bull seems to be wild and very angry. On the bulls back there is a man trying to control it. After a while of the bull jumping and trying to buck the man off the bull stops and looks as if it has been tamed. The bull directly faces the camera, which zooms in slightly, there is steam coming off the bull as it stares into the eye of the camera. While this is happening there is a steady beat playing over the top. The beat sounds like a heartbeat. The camera moves to a dark area and then a silver Audi RS6 Quattro appears and the camera zooms in with vignetting. This makes the Audi RS6 Quattro look as though it is a car that will divert anyone’s attention because it desires that attention. When The Audi appears the beat gets louder and faster.
The Audi has fierce headlights and a strong body, which makes it, look like the bull. They use a full frame to show the car. The beat, which has been playing throughout the advert, was there to symbolise the suspense and to build up to the main feature being the car. One would think that this advert has a target audience being of the male gender. It is supposed to give the impression that a human has now tamed the Audi RS6 Quattro, which could be the buyer so it is a better drive. It has visual imagery, which persuades the audience to think of their car as being one that has great power as well as the equally important control.
It gives this impression of power through the bull. This is done by the message of the car being as strong as a bull getting across. This advertisement is particularly appealing to older people or middle-aged men with an above average income as it is an executive car. The car is also portrayed as being one that can go anywhere and still catch the eye of others. The advert had a piece of information at the bottom that says, “With the safety of dynamo drive control”. I’m sure that potential customers and myself don’t actually know what this means, allow it does make the Audi sound more attractive and impressive and certainly a lot safer.
The other car advertisements on Channel 5 that we saw were of the Renault Laguna and one of the Suzuki models. The Renault Laguna has the Frank Sinatra song “Come fly with me” playing in the background. The advert starts off at a nice big house that is painted white, this gives it a stylish look. This contains the bias that the car is one for those who have a more expendable income for luxuries and who are self-indulgent and that it is a car to be seen with. The music gives the impression that driving this car will send you into a fantasy land, as it is perfect for your every need. This freedom sells it an image as being a smooth car to drive.
There are lots of overhead shots. It changes its camera angle moving through all its features, be it the radio to the gearbox and uses many split scenes. All of the features including the car are in a silver coloured finish. The colour makes it look at its best and stylish and the features show this car as being one for the man that likes his gadgets and likes flashing his things around. A middle-aged man drives the car around a mountains windy lane.
The lanes are very picturesque which links to the music and the lifestyle it is trying to sell and gives a positive image of the car. The advert ends with the web address, a contact number and the tag-line “Serious-Playtime”. This tag-line is an oxymoron, which gives the impression that the car is fun but can also be serious and stylish. The website describes it as being refined down to the smallest detail, dynamic, comfortable and reliable, Laguna is packed with technology bringing features unheard of on this segment. Transparency, simplicity of use and highly advanced ergonomics make technology available to the driver and improve the quality of life on board. This makes it sound impressive.
The Suzuki is a 4-Door. On the advert the song has the lyrics, “Do what you want, go where you want”. This song makes the audience feel as though it is a car that can deliver and can meet any ones requirements. Young children sing the song, which gives the car a family feel. This makes the target audience being both male and female think of it as being a reliable car that has can deliver anything you could want from it. The advert starts off by showing a boy going to some lengths to look out of his window, to see nothing but a wood side road covered with autumn leaves. The boy’s mum comes in with some biscuits on a tray and looks at him.
The camera then moves to a school playground, where a teacher looks over to the wall where some children are lifting another one up so that he can see the Suzuki. He doesn’t see anything for a while and then from the distance he sees the car coming down the road. The camera angle changes to the first person view looking through the branches as it tracks and pans the car. Each scene has a flowing feeling from one to each other, which gives the advert a smooth look. This adverts shows the car as being an all-round good car for the family which is suited to an off road area. This is the only advert that has a voiceover. The voiceover says “Suzuki Grand Vitara, 1 3 9 9 5”. This makes the car sound cheaper.
One of the factors that these cars have in common is probably the fact that they show little of the specifications apart from the Laguna. This is probably because they don’t wish to waste time on the advertisement and that the price they show reflects their basic standard and if they were to put the cars specifications in they would want to put the best in. They also all want to suggest an immediate lifestyle choice. The main factor that all of the above advertisements have in common is that they show sexism towards men.
They all seem to be trying to appeal to very male orientated audience. In the Peugeot advert it clearly has more men than women. In the Audi advert there is a man riding/taming the bull. In the Renault advert there is a man driving the car. The Suzuki advert has a lot of male children looking for the car, so maybe this is an exception as it is aimed more as a family car. The car manufacturers should start aim at both male and female or maybe a car just for a female target audience.
This would benefit them as market research now indicates that almost as many women as men are currently buying cars. The market research also shows that the nation is soon to be expecting or even seeing women making over 50% of the purchases of new cars soon. I think that car advertisers are still using sexism although they maybe shouldn’t be because this is now becoming increasingly outdated. The companies are probably thinking that if they do change their target audience to being women or men and women a lot of the men may stop buying their cars. This may happen as the male audience could see the cars as being a female car, which wouldn’t be fashionable for them to drive.
A lot of the car advertising companies may choose to change their target audience when it becomes clear that more women are buying more cars than men, although this will take a long time to change. They might also decide to change to the American cars where there usually are cars for either the male or female gender. A reason sexism is very profound in advertising is that there maybe too many men in advertising.
The other advertisements that you may see in a magazine are those of Toyota, Renault, Volkswagen and Ford. These advertisements are all from the magazine “She”. The Toyota Corolla has a picture a street. On the tree trunks, which are outside each of the houses, there are posters that say “Have you seen this car? Nice isn’t it?” This is supposed to be humorous although it is an example of subtle advertising. It gets the message that this car is one to be proud of in the poster that says, “Have you seen this car? Nice isn’t it?” People will remember the words “nice” and associate it with the Toyota Corolla.
The houses in this area look expensive and pretty, which links the car with expensive houses and a healthy income. This would make people want to buy this car as it is associated with style. On the bottom of the advert there is an award that says “Car of the year award 2002”. This shows that this car is above the others in the ranks. Car advertisers will put any award that they get on a poster although this award is supposed to be prestigious. It is hard to decide which gender this is aimed at. It shows the car as being one that looks nice and so is therefore suitable for anyone of any age or gender.
