Though these two ads are selling the same product and are made by the same company, they represent two very different time periods of our culture. The first ad appeals to the woman’s social life. They claim that no matter what social perdicament Kotex will keep you feeling comfortable, calm, and collected. It is more about social situations and the woman’s position in them, not just about her as an object. Not only is the ad appealing to the social side, but it is also not presented in the same way. The ad is done in a cartoon-like fashion and with a lot of text. It’s not just about the image and a few catch phrases but it is presenting information and not just an idea. The next ad is telling the woman that she can be can anything as long as she is sure. Although perhaps the only way to be sure is to buy the Kotex napkins. The presentation is also completely different than the first, older advertisement. This one is all about the model and the picture. There are only a few short sentences and almost no information is in the ad at all. The model is a lot more scantilly clad than any of the other women in the first advertisement. This is perhaps saying to the consumer that if she buys the Kotex napkin then maybe she too will look gorgeous and carefree. These two advertisements are some that can clearly show how our culture has become increasingly sex-driven.
http://adflip.com/addetails.php?adID=11880&showLargeJpg=yes, This first image shows a very technical way of advertising for something. It was produced in the 1960’s to advertise for Dunlop tires. It shows a car being lifted up by a crane, which is the focal point of the advertisement. There is also just one person in the picture and it is a man and he is completely covered by a rain slicker. This is completely about the tires, and what they can do. The bottom half of the advertisement is all text telling information and making claims about the tires. The focus is clearly all about the tires.
http://www.bridgestonetire.com/images/media/2005adcamp/Turanza5.jpg, The second advertisement is also selling tires but in a very different way. There are two women in somewhat revealing clothing and it raining. The tires now have to share the spotlight with the women. There is now very little text and it’s more about catching your eye with a certain image. Now are they really trying to tell men that if they put these tires on their car they will have hot, wet women with? No, i don’t think they are, but they are trying to appeal to the male customer by using the objects(in this case women) to catch their eye. The women in the ad now just become a means of grabbing attention, they really have nothing to do with the tires. Bridgestone is just joining the trend of using women in their ads to appeal to customers. As we can see 40 years ago, manufactures wouldn’t have even though to do that. As the slogan goes, Sex Sells, so why shouldn’t the tire companys use it too, even though it has nothing to do with the product.
