The Art of Advertising.
The enclosed advertisement promoting Skyy Vodka captivates an audience through its utilization of emotional appeals. Without a caption the image speaks for itself, portraying two entangled figures swimming in a bed of money adjacent to a suitcase overflowing with their jackpot. The dominant young male has his prize lady under him at his mercy, at the mercy of his success. Drink Skyy Vodka and you too will become desirable, you have the potential of becoming the envy of others. The ad conveys all these emotions; yet the only words on the page are located on the bottle, standing tall, between the reader and this blissful impending future. Skyy Vodka's advertisement appeals to our basic desires for sex and achievement, depicting an image of glamour and evoking an overwhelming sensation of envy.
Found in "Stuff," a men's magazine, the ad targets eighteen to thirty year old males from a range of psychographic groups. The average subscriber to this magazine values sex, humor and enjoys light entertaining reading. Anyone from the "Outer-Directed Emulators" to the "very egocentric Inner Directed Experientials"(Rice) will be envious of the male depicted in the advertisement.
The advertisement causes the reader to imagine himself "transformed by the product into an object of envy for others"(Berger). "It offers him an image of himself made glamorous"(Berger). According to Berger money is the source of all anxiety; thus after the transformation all anxiety will be relieved. Money will no longer be an issue and as a result the male becomes sexually desirable. The future holds promises of sex, prosperity, bliss and glamour all for choosing Skyy brand vodka over the leading competitors.
Advertisers attempt to form a link between a product and a certain appeal. The Skyy Vodka advertisement makes two such attempts. Firstly the ad targets the primitive need for sex.
