Print Ad Analysis

The following still advertisement is endorsing a shampoo product made by head & shoulders. At face value it includes a woman, a man who supposedly used the product, the shampoo bottle and the text saying “#1 dermatologist recommended”. The picture is brightly lit artificially especially on the faces of the couple in the ad, employing the same bright and smooth skin if the viewer were to use the product. The advertisement has a heavy use of blue being used on the text, product and the dress of the woman. Blue in advertisement is used to imply emotions of trust, dependable, and strength, seen commonly in health care products as they can be trusted to keep the user’s hygiene. The viewer is looking in on this man’s life from balanced perspective. The texture of the image is smooth, with the splashing water and the perfect skin of the models, implying the use of their shampoo with provide them the same type of smooth skin and hair. The male model in the advertisement is standing up confidently while the woman model is leaning in on him comforting him as they face the viewer. This gives us sufficient evidence to acknowledge that the product is targeting men and is claiming that if you use the product you will be more appealing to women, being implied by the woman leaning and placing her hands on the man who supposedly just used the product. The facial expression with perfect teeth is implying the perfect hygiene that this product is going to give the user, while also the perfect faces of the models are a strategic advertising method to persuade the viewer to look into purchasing the product. The dress shirt the man is wearing is enforcing the professionality of the product to the viewer and the dress is enforcing the femininity of the women, showing the man the viewer can be and the woman they can become more appealing to. Along with the models the product is explicitly shown to take up a third of the advertisement. With this analysis the purpose of the context of the advertisement can be broken down. The advertisement is being targeted towards men with an appeal for need for sex and the need for attention. The creators of the advertisement are implying to the viewer that the product will get them perfect hygiene and subsequently getting them the girl.