Textual analysis (Levis + Reebok)

What is an advertising agency?

An ad agency is a company with one goal to create and release adverts for their clients they sometimes handle other forms of publicity such as promotional events and such. Other services they provide are buying advertising space (Websites, Magazines, TV) they also fill in reports about how successful their advertising campaigns have been. Some examples of an ad agency are The BBDO who have worked for the mars company (m&m's) and also Mercedes-Benz for their range of vans and also the c class range. Saatchi & Saatchi another ad agency have work with Visa, Head and Shoulders, Guiness, Cadbury's, and Leo Burnett who have work with Macdonalds, Samsung and Nike.

The advertising agency BBH created an advert with Levis in the 80's selling their 501 jeans which contains a clip of a man stripping all but his underwear and socks in a launderette and sitting down next to an older man and two young girls whilst waiting for his clothes to be cleaned. This advertises Levi's shrink to fit features of their jeans. This created a lot of controversy as obviously it contains a man stripping in a public place on public television.

NMI have gone bust now but back when they were a functioning advertisement agency they were the company behind the reebok 50 cent advert this advert was banned from public television as it contained 50 cent laughing at the quote "tell me what do you plan to massacre next" and also it features 50 cent him self counting up to 9 after hearing that he got shot 9 times. This associates reebok with gun violence and street massacres, I'm sure when reebok saw this they weren't happy with it; this advert got banned so there was no chance of a TV viewing of this advert anyway.

Regulation control

The ASA an advertising regulatory company who work with claims on a number of different media from radio adverts to cinema screen adverts, basically what happens is they let all the adverts get broadcasted and distributed but if then a complaint is made they will cease the action and investigate this certain case before (generally) asking the publishers to amend the publication or discontinue. they are also the people behind the advertising codes to help keep offensive and harmful advertising not on the TV screens of the easily offended.

The advertising codes are meant to let viewers to not get offended and for to stop small children getting scared or offended by the acts on these adverts, another reason for the ASA is that if younger children saw violent behavior they might emulate it. These codes are used to judge whether or not adverts are telling lies, causing harm or even offence. An example is (the first part of section 6: harm and offence) [The rules in this Section (and in 7.4: Harm and Distress to Children) are intended to prevent advertising leading to harm. They are also to prevent advertising causing offence to viewers generally or to particular groups in society (for example by causing significant distress, disgust or insult, or by offending against widespread public feeling).

The ASA and BCAP will not act, however, where advertising is simply criticised for not being in ‘good taste’ unless the material also offends against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards. Apart from freedom of speech considerations, there are often large and sometimes contradictory differences in views about what constitutes ‘bad taste’ or what should be deplored. Nevertheless, licensees may wish to make judgements about matters of taste in order to cater for their particular audiences.

The advertisement of 50 Cent and reebok is a good example of a banned advert, it features 50 Cent sat in a large dark room with samples of people talking of his past "gunned down” and “taken to Jamaica hospital” are just some of the samples played in the advert. The words "shot nine times" are mentioned then you hear 50 Cent counting slowly from one to nine. this causes offense because it glamorizes gun crime and children may emulate this.

The advertisement of the Levis with the man 'stripping' caused a lot of controversy back in the day because it features a man stripping to his pants and sitting down next to an older man and two young girls. This would have been complained about because its not an every day occurance to the public and i'm sure parents back then didn't want their children to see this on tv every ad break.

Marketing and Promotion

The Levi and Reebok adverts have still succeeded in pulling in views and working as an advertisement despite being banned/controversial. Just as the 'warning containing explicit material' on CDs does a lot for artists trying to appear 'hard' and 'bad-ass'. The controversial aspect of the adverts instantly makes teenagers think that the values reflect their own and they scour the internet in search of his advert so they can talk about it some more to their friends which is also viral marketing.

Reebok advert and Levi advert

The lines of appeal that are used in the reebok are self importance and pride and successful lifestyles. Self importance and pride is featured through the slogan of the advert 'i am what i am.' This is meant to show that he believes in himself despite what has happened in his past. Successful lifestyles are referred to through the mention of his hip hop award and the fact that the audience know he is a famous and wealthy celebrity. Some of the power factors used in the advert are coercive power and star power. Coercive power is used as 50 cent looks deep into the camera just after he laughs at the fact somone asks him "who are you going to massacre next". his aggressive facial expression suggests if we don't buy into this something bad will happen. This is also star power as it has 50 cent in it. The audience for this advert are probably teenagers and younger adults probably 14-25 year olds that are into the sporting community and/or the hip-hop/rap culture. The camera angles featured in the 50 Cent advert are establishing shots to show his background as a person, long distance shots are showed as well slowly approaching shot into his face and hitting his face at a low angle to show he's powerful then us. Alot that if you bought the product maybe it would bring you up to his level. At the start there is a lot of fast cutting clips about 5/6 of them of a rainy street; the shoes on the telegraph lines; the train running by and so on.

The lines of appeal that are used in the Levi advert is beautiful people (The male in the launderette) this is shown as when he enters the room and takes off his clothes, he’s quite comfortable with the fact he’s got no clothes on which shows he’s confident with his body.Also, like the Reebok advert, this contains the line of appeal successful lifestyles this is linked with beautiful people in that being beautiful and attractive makes him successful in life.It also associates Some of the powers featured in the advert are reward power as the advert makes you believe if you buy some of these jeans you will look and attract women like this man does. The target audience for this advert is probably 14-25 year olds which coincidently is people you would associate with regular clothes shoppers. And women of all ages will enjoy this advert obviously for the man more than the jeans

REEBOK

This advert unlike the Levi one has very fast cutting camera shots at the beginning aswell as the few establishing shots that are included but then after this, the shots change to inside a warehouse where there is one constant shot for a good thirty five or more seconds then an extreme close up of 50 cent is introduced but quickly fades out to the same zooming motion as before he chuckles at a quote then the shot accelerates in gradient as a low angle shot connotes that 50 cent is mighty and to fear, that then fades out to the reebok RBK logo. The music bed in the Reebok advert is quite a relaxed yet dark and sinister RnB track with a slow tempo to connote the calmness of 50 cent. There are many sound fx in the Reebok advert with 50 Cent including sirens to connote the fact he's in trouble with the police alot samples from radio or tv; the sound of a vinyl rewinding audibly connoting the hip hop culture. The cultural codes in this advert are introduced with his wearing of the bandana underneath his hat to connote gang life and violence. Uses and gratification theory can be applied to this advert, this advert can be seen as a diversion because the majority don't live a life like 50 cent does, it could also seen as personal relationships as boys will go to school the next day and talk to their friends about it.

LEVI

The beginning to the Levi advert shows and establishing shot of a car driving past the laundrette, where of course the advert is set, then as the advert moves inside the shots become closer with close up's of faces but with still some room for wide shots. The shots vary in angle and distance but almost every shot refers back to the focus of the advert the shrink to fit feature and also the public amazed response to the man. The music bed in the Levi advert is very cool and smooth it fits the theme of the advert because it represents a cool and collected character also the music bed is non diegetic this os obvious because the only sound from the advert is the sound so it makes a clear gap between the set and the music. The music appeals to the target audience because it is an American classic just as the designer: Levi is also. There aren't many sound effects in the Levi's advert probably to keep the advert quite firmly attached to the ground and to create an average and 'for everybody' advert.

Males are used in this advert because we are meant to see this man as a role model this man is a stereotype as well. The cultural codes are shown through his wayfarer sunglasses and his combed back hair these connote the urban man who is cool and stylish. Uses and gratification theory can be applied to this advert in that this advert can be seen as a diversion because most people will either want to be him or want to be with him, it could also seen as personal relationships as young girls will talk about the man who took his clothes off on tv at their college or school.