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CM334
Anmol Shah
When Advertising becomes Art
When claiming that advertising becomes art, it is essential to establish what it is meant by
advertising. According to well renowned Don Draper from the TV show Mad Men would say, Advertising
is based on one thing, happiness (Weiner 2007). Advertising is about creating value while embracing
originality and innovation. On the other hand, art is understood to create meaning and be expressive. Art
is considered to be one of the biggest forms of expressionism and its various forms showcase the endless
boundaries of creativity. Due to its complexity and subjectivity, interpreting and analyzing art has
significantly impacted the modern volatile world. In the same way, advertising possesses similar qualities
and characteristics of art where its creativity, persuasiveness and appeal has been the driving force for
the leading brands today. Throughout the years, we can see evidence of art’s influence on advertising
and how it has created a paradigm shift in the advertising world.
Advertisers incorporate a number of artistic concepts and marketing strategies to produce the
most appealing advert possible. When creating an adverts, it is important to examine how divergence and
relevance are used to produce effective yet meaningful campaigns. Divergent adverts continue to utilize
elements of originality, flexibility, synthesis, and artistic value. A number of print adverts are well known
for adopting divergent and relevant dimensions of creativity along with influences from artistic
movements. All print ads are visual and use artistic elements to further provide a more insightful and
effective meaning behind the product. Some of the most successful prints adverts throughout history are
known to have taken inspirations from movements such as surrealism, impressionism, and futurism.
Advertisers take inspiration from arts which present a more reputable brand-image, altering their market
position (Hetsroni & Tukachinsky 2005).
For example, the Perrier Ad campaign which featured the sparkling water Perrier Fines Bulles
illustrated by Joseph McDerrmott. This print advert was inspired by the comics in the 60s which
established the Pop Art movement which was led by Roy Lichenstein. This advert created by the agency,
Ogilvy & Mather in 2012, was successful in terms of providing a clear and effective message of
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showcasing the carbonation of their new perrier drink.
When analyzing this ad through the different
dimensions of creativity the perrier advert elicits
uniqueness, intricacy, and artistic value through the
attractive colors. This print advertisement serves as an
example of good artistic value because the influence of
Pop art allows the company to have a better brand
image and reputation due to the fact that they will
perceive the product as a work of art.
Advertising becomes a nature of art through the idea of semiotics and visual metaphors.
Throughout advertising history, print adverts were always known to be very thought provoking and evoke
certain emotions in the same manner as traditional art. Advertisers would collaborate with artists to create
visually appealing adverts that would positively alter the consumer perception of the product. In order to
do so, advertisers would use semiotics and visual metaphors to express the brand message. To be more
specific, “Semiotics are used to portray an advertiser's message through the use of signs or symbols
(Kadry 2016). Utilizing appropriate visual cues and semiotics, print adverts can significantly provide the
brand with a greater influence over their target audience and helps achieve AIDA. When advertisers use
semiotics and visual metaphors to create a thought provoking advert, the brand’s identity is
communicated to the consumer effectively and allows them to be more aware of the product and its
purpose.
This can be seen with Malibu’s Carribean Creation campaign which was released in the summer
of 2007 and received wide recognition and many awards for the campaign’s success. The campaign
consisted of a number of print adverts across France and was a very popular advert. The malibu advert
did not focus on the product itself and primarily created a visually appealing ad where it convinced the
audience to think about the brand more than the company. The advert was heavily influenced by the
famous painter, Giuseppe Arcimboldo who was known for illustrating portraits using inanimate objects.
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Malibu utilized their bottle to create a very aesthetically
pleasing facial figures made entirely with fruits, vegetables
and spices. This campaign used the art of mannerism and
incorporated that style of art into their brand by showcasing
the brand’s qualities and not the product’s features. This
originality and appropriation of the art pushes the consumer
to think about Malibu’s brand identity. The advert influences
the consumer to think about the experience of drinking Malibu
and they would associate the product with the idea of
elegance. This campaign is a perfect example of how Malibu
successfully executed the AIDA model. The visually
appealing ads created awareness among their target audience and their use of semiotics and visual
metaphors kept them engaged and interested in the product, eventually leading to action.
Furthermore, many adverts use semiotics and visual metaphors to engage their consumers
however, one of the most important factors in the production of a
successful advert is the appropriate use of the elaboration likelihood
model. In order to induce persuasion, some adverts use different
methods of the elaboration likelihood model to evoke certain
perceptions of their advert. When the elaboration likelihood is high, the
central route to persuasion should be particularly effective, but when
the elaboration likelihood is low, the peripheral route should be better
(Petty, R.E., Cacioppo, J.T. and Schumann, D. 1983).
An example of an advert where the ELM is high is a print ad created by McCann Healthcare
Worldwide. The agency released a very thought provoking advert in recognition of World No Tobacco
Day. This advert serves as a great example of how advertisers use the central route to effectively
communicate their message. The image depicts a young woman holding a lit cigarette where the smoke
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has changed her facial features with wrinkles and grey hair. This goes to show how the advertisers used
the dark background with the woman as the center of attention to evoke a certain response when
examining this advert. This ad influences the audience to be highly motivated and forces them to spend
time thinking about the dangers of smoking. The target audience is left with a long lasting attitude change.
As the target demographic are men and women ages 18 to 25, we can see how this ad uses the central
route to create a long lasting attitude change and persuades the audience to alter their perception on
smoking. In addition to ELM, this ad appeals to fear where the advert influences consumers to escape
negative outcomes which creates instant behavioural changes (Chiang et al., 2018). The ad also uses the
concept of functional congruity where they would use artistic elements and visual metaphors to elicit
actual message claims and the quality of the argument (Nikhashemi and Valaei 2018). The use of
congruity and fear effectively implants the brand message into the consumers which goes to show the
use of creative artistic elements can help promote a message. Furthermore, when a consumer’s ability
and motivation to process information is low, advertisers take on the peripheral route to communicate a
promotional message. Advertisers would understand that the audience would have low motivation and so
they would focus on peripheral factors such as the aesthetic of the ad and its colors, shapes, and artistic
components. This form of persuasion continues to be a very successful method of advertising although it
does not focus on the brand message and purpose.
For example, the Heinz advertisement is a successful print ad which incorporates the peripheral
route to communicate the necessity of Heinz within food. This advert
utilizes peripheral route and cues such as the cardboard steak and
fries to illustrate the bland texture and look of food without Heinz
ketchup. The plain colors of the table, plate, and the food shows the
audience that without adding Heinz Ketchup to your food, the food
you consume would never be as good, colorful, or delicious. In
addition, this advert uses the concept of self congruity because self
congruity effect is greater when taking the peripheral route of
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Anmol Shah
elaboration as the consumer uses heuristic processing (Kim 2015). This is a very effective method of
persuasion because this would influence the audience to have a temporary attitude change towards
Heinz and can potentially lead them to purchase their product.
Along with semiotics and rhetorical figures, Juxtaposition VM is an aspect of advertising that
permits brand awareness and persuasive communication. The configuration of an actual and
metaphorical image (Chang et al. 2018) further provides a stronger meaning to the brand message and
the pairing of the images presents unconscious associations to expose the advertisement’s message
(Kaplan 2005). This concept draws many parallels with replacement metaphors and semiotics in terms of
subconscious influencing the audience to think a certain way. The benefit of this technique is that it
associates the product with the larger meaning of the product which the audience can interpret by looking
at the object illustrated. In the same way, successful adverts use various creative appeals to evoke a
certain response from the consumer to feel a certain way in regards to the product.
The Jeep print advert released in 2008 by the agency BBDO, showcases an ideal example of
where the two illustrations of the camel and the husky juxtapose the image of the Jeep. We can observe
how the advert associates the characteristics and qualities of a husky and a camel to the Jeep by utilizing
vivid colors and the integration of the two animals. The fusion of the two animals faces creates a
silhouette of the Jeep car which signifies the
metaphorical relationship between cars and their
animalistic qualities. The advert uses Fusion VM and
Juxtaposition VM to portray their brand as
adventurous. By doing so, consumers understand the
brand and their key messages without having to place
too much attention to their products and their brand
identity. The integration of rhetorical device and artistic value allows the ad to position their brand and the
message in such a way which will potentially increase company revenue and brand equity.
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Both art and advertising require a sense of creativity, meaning, and strategy. When looking at the
overall objective of advertising and art it is to create value to an individual or a number of individuals.
Regardless of subjectivity and various interpretations, the production of print adverts utilizes the same
elements and methodology when making art. That is why when advertisers collaborate with artists or uses
inspiration from historical art movements, we can see how that has significantly created a greater impact
to the brand. The use of semiotics, creative appeals, and the elaboration model in advertising are
essential in becoming more than just a marketing strategy. Adverts not only provide the consumer with
information regarding a product but it entices them with a feeling and creates an atmosphere where the
consumer feels a certain way. Advertising is made to attract attention and make people understand an
idea. Art continues to execute this strategy and as we see advertising has gradually been adopting the
same practices. People have now realized and appreciated adverts for what it is and not what its for.
People have begun to resonate and connect with adverts in the same way people do when they observe
art. In conclusion, the rhetorical strategies and visual metaphors have allowed the audience to recall and
appreciate adverts which has created a positive outlook towards the brand. The extensive use of
rhetorical devices, visual metaphors, and theoretical frameworks has changed the way advertising is now
presented and are now considered works of art.
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