I am going to focus my coursework on the advertisements found in men’s magazines, which are predominantly aimed at men, through selling products concerned with masculinity and male inhibitions. The advertisements were taken from two different men’s magazines – SORTED and FHM. The first is aimed at pubescent teenagers between the ages of eleven and sixteen, the latter at an older audience of young adults in there twenties and people in their late teens. The magazines have quite different audiences and aim to project contrasting images to the readers. The SORTED magazine gives an image of relaxing at home in your spare time and enjoying yourself maybe with a few friends round, whereas the FHM magazine promotes a very fashionable look for going out at the weekends, making you confident and attractive to the opposite sex.
Readers of the FHM magazine are likely to be old enough and able to afford the high prices of the products that they are advertising, as they will almost definitely have a source of income from part or full time employment. They are also likely to be very outgoing in their spare time as it gives them a chance to get away from the pressures of life. However, readers of the SORTED magazine are likely to be dependent on their parents and so products with high and extortionate prices are not likely to be found. Youngsters are not as conscious of the way they present themselves and act as they usually hang around in groups and not meeting new people all the time.
I have chosen to focus my coursework on adverts selling lifestyle products as today’s society is increasingly aware of they way they look, act and present themselves to each other, which has been picked up by the magazine editors who have increased the number and exposure of lifestyle products in the magazines’ advertisements. I hope to investigate whether language used by companies in their ads is altered to appeal to different age groups, how this is done and whether the image of the magazine affects the advertisements in it.
The first two adverts are from the SORTED magazine and advertise a “Converse” shoe in the first advert and a mobile phone game “FIFA 2004” in the second. In the third and fourth adverts from FHM, the first is a “Lynx” advert and the second is a “Beck’s” advert. I have seen other adverts publicizing the same products from SORTED on both television and heard them on the radio. On the television the adverts appear in the commercial breaks of young persons programs on terrestrial shows and on digital channels such as “SMTV Live”.
On the radio they are to be heard in the evenings (after school hours) in the commercials on young persons stations such as “Kiss 100”. I have also seen the FHM adverts on television but not heard them on the radio. They were seen at a later time of the day between comedic programs such as “V Graham Norton” on all advertising terrestrial channels as well as digital channels.
Analysis
The first advert from the SORTED magazine is for a brand of trainer called “Converse”. The advert is aimed at young males who are interested in basketball. This advert has a structured and formal layout with a large picture dominating the page promoting the product by the use of role models from the sport of Basketball. A smaller image of the product is used to show the consumer what they will be buying.
Text is that the bottom of the page in a formal tone and declarative mood e.g. “It’s a journey that never ends”. It is a persuasive advertisement as it is saying you will perform better with their product. A clich� is used before the small body of text as a slogan to relate to the products and the brand. Monosyllabic words dominate sentences e.g. “How far you go is your call” to make the sentence easy to read and flow. Co-ordinating conjunctions e.g. “and” are also used to link simple sentences together making the sentence flow better. The use of the second person plural pronouns, “you” (object pronoun) and “your” (possessive pronoun), are used to refer to people and create an assumed relationship between the reader and the writer.
Comparative adjectives such as “higher” and “harder” are used in the text and relate to something that has already been done before. They provide information as well as encouraging the consumer to buy the product. The use of attributive adjectives e.g. “new” provide more information about a thing or object, in this case making it seem the product is newer and better than other similar products.
The sentences are short to provide a specific point each time and pronouns such as “it ” (common) and “Performance System” (proper) refer to the product and language in its specific semantic field. The use of a compound sentence e.g. “You have to work achieve your goals, and then set the bar even higher” brings two sentences together using a co-ordinating conjunction to make the paragraph flow more efficiently. The use of a gerund e.g. “becoming” acts as a kind of encouragement “to become” better at something i.e. using this product will make you “become” better at sport. Relative clauses such as “For superior ride and handling” add extra information to a sentence and exophoric sentences e.g. “How far you go is your call”.
