Year 11 Exam Topics - Advertising. 'A Woman Alone' [Persil]

'A Woman Alone' is a 1959 advert from Persil (produced by JWT advertising) from a simpler time, when there wasn't the multitude of products on offer, and the sole purpose of a washing powder was to get things white. In an age of black and white television (colour television broadcasts didn't start in Britain until 1967) there was no point in saying that a washing powder got things clean - you couldn't really demonstrate one red shirt being cleaner than another - so you had to sell a product on its whitening power. This you can see -look how the white in the advert stands out against the (untouched by Persil) greys of the shirts around it.

These are the kind of things you need to think about in your analysis, and when considering this advert as part of your case study:
Sound

The advert opens with emotional string music, the kind of thing you would find in a romantic drama, particularly in the 1950s. This is designed to tie in with the love the woman in the advert feels for her family, tied in with the care she shows for them by making sure they're Persil whitened.

The other non-diegetic (coming from outside the original recording) sound consists of a male voice over, speaking formal standard English using a RP accent (received pronounciation) This gives him authority, and is designed to make the audience for the advert believe in what he says. He is someone to trust, because he speaks well and is a man. All experts in advertising land at this time were men - this was where the power lay.

The actual words he speaks are:

"This woman is alone...yet not alone. Even though her family may be apart from her, they are still a part of her. Being judged by the care she takes of them. Being judged by how white she keeps their clothes. Being judged by the care she takes of them. Being judged by that same whiteness. So Persil is part of her strength, and their happiness. As a mother she uses Persil. As a wife, she uses Persil. Persil washes whiter."

There are some very interesting messages here: look at how the word 'judged' is used - the advert seems to suggest that she is failing in her duty as a wife and a mother if she doesn't use Persil - she will be letting herself down! The voiceover plays on a woman's guilt: only Persil can save her from the scornful looks of the world (and the other Persil mums who are smug in the knowledge that they 'wash whiter' and are looking after their families properly.

Mise-en-Scene

The physical context of the advertisement is clear: the woman is in a clearly ordered kitchen with neat cups and crockery arranged on the dresser, on the sink, and on the dining table where she is in the process of arranging her kitchen. The table is set, and the kitchen sink is clear in the background, firmly placing her as in role as a woman in her natural place - in the kitchen. Her hair and make up is simple and unfussy, and she is not made a sex object either by her make up or clothes: she is dressed in a unrevealing jumper and an apron - hardly the stuff of glamorous dreams! The product is featured in close up so it is foregrounded, but it isn't shown in use...the advert is not selling the practicalities of washing in Persil, but its results.
School and office locations are both represented as being ordered and calm environments. Colours are toned to allow the 'Persil whiteness' of the clothes highlighted to stand out.

Facial Expressions/Body Language

The central character is often shown looking downwards, either at the soft toy in her hands or in close up, making her drift off and think of her family with a dreamy smile on her face. She doesn't look at or challenge the camera, and she doesn't invite the camera to look directly at her. She is not provocative, but could be seen to be submissive, lowering her eyes, and knowing her place. Even though she is doing boring domestic tasks, the look on her face suggests that she enjoys this and enjoys fulfilling her role as a woman, wife and mother, and it is these last two (the wife and mother roles) that define her as a woman.

Sequence
1. Long shot of kitchen to show domestic setting. Woman clearing up breakfast table. She then picks up child's toy.
2. Cut to close up of her face as she thinks of her child.
3. Cut to close up of child's face with the same dreamy expression. Camera zooms out to show child is obviously in school, sat at a desk by a window. She seems to be wholesome, good, and well behaved, clean and attractive. She is sat next to another pupil whose shirt is noticeably less white. Shot ties in with the words of the voiceover 'being judged...'
4. Cut back to mother's face with loving/longing expression.
5. Cut to husband in an office behind a desk. Juxtaposed (put against) colleague wearing a shirt that is less than gleaming white. He notices this and looks concerned at the grey of his own sleeve in contrast to his colleague's
6. Cut to Persil product being put on a cupboard shelf by female hand. Camera pans to woman's contented and downward gazing face.
7. Zoom out to long shot showing the kitchen. Woman gazes lovingly at her husband and puts her arm through his. They smile at each other and wander over to well behaved and calm child who is playing with bricks on the table. Both parents add a brick and the child completes the pyramid, showing family unity. Child looks happy.
8. Cut to close up pack shot of product with bubbles in background, suggesting sparkle/cleanliness.

Narrative
The narrative or story of the advert is actually quite straightforward. The 'Woman Alone' of the title is not actually alone, because she is always with her family thanks to the magical properties of Persil. By dressing them in gleaming white she is showing her care for them. She is first shown alone, in the kitchen (is this a woman's place?) and then we see what her family are up to without her: her daughter is well behaved at school and rewarded for it, and her husband lights up the office (all thanks to her care). Back at home, the woman is joined by her husband, and then child, in building a pyramid of bricks that symbolise their family unity, and the glue that holds the family together and makes it so strong is the care she shows through the use of Persil.

Representation
This is the interesting one. For a modern audience this advert raises a lot of questions, and it is ripe for exploring. Does it reinforce the stereotype that a woman's place is in the home? Why? What is the woman's role here? How does this differ from that of her husband? Why does she keep looking down in such a submissive way? Is this all her life should revolve around, and should she be content with this? Is this the ideal woman, someone other women should aspire to be. Obviously this doesn't really fit with a modern view of the world, and a 1950s reading of the text would probably be much different, but are there echoes of this world view (and this hegemony) in the Persil advertising website? Bear all these questions in mind when you go into your exam, and you'll ace it!

Mr G.

Year 10 BTEC Homework - assessment task

BTEC Unit 7

Advertising promotion

Assignment 2

Analyse an existing Moving Image and Print advert for the same product. Go for a campaign and chose a TV ad and a print ad that are linked through the same campaign. Use the guidelines we worked through in class for the print ad analysis, (available on the blog – www.chorltonmediabox.blogspot.com) and then work through these similar criteria for the TV ad. There are lots of similarities, but obviously in moving image adverts Action, Narrative and Sound are crucial.

You need to present this as a PowerPoint presentation: your ICT skills will be crucial here. This is an important assessment for your BTEC unit and needs to be done to the best of your ability.

Deadlines: BTEC Diploma (MGA) Tues 15th Dec - you will be presenting them during the lesson.
BTEC Certificate (MGA) Thurs 18th Dec - you will be presenting them during the lesson.

Analysing Moving Image Adverts

Think about and discuss these areas:

Narrative – what is the story of the advert? Does it tell a story, or is it just a creative imaging of the product? (**it is unusual for there to be no story at all) How is this narrative designed to appeal to the audience?

Audience – what is the audience for the product? How do you know? Give as strong a picture of the audience as you can: age, sex, interests, social groups... Some adverts are targeted at a wide demographic, others are for niche products with a much narrower target audience.

Camera work and Editing – how is the advert edited? Does the audience see short, snappy shots, or does the camera linger? What kind of cuts and fades are used? How does the camera move in the advert? What angles and shot types do we see here? What is the effect on the audience?

Sound – what do we hear in the advertisement? Is it diegetic (actual sounds for filming, such as dialogue) or non-diegetic (sounds added in editing)? What is the effect of this on the audience? How does it link to the product?

Lighting – How is are the scenes lit? Is it bright? Dark? what are the meanings of this?

Colour – what is the significance of the colours used in the advert? (ie. red=danger/sex/passion, green=calm/peace, black=darkness/evil/mystery, white=good/peace, blue=cold/mystery, purple=passion/luxury/wealth, gold=rich/luxury...)

Representation – who or what is being represented in this advert? is this a fair and accurate representation? (based on what you know of the world)
Mise-en-scene – what props and other items are in the advert? what is their meaning? Why have they been put there?

and importantly...

What is the USP (unique selling point) of the advert? What’s special about what it’s selling?

Year 11 GCSE Exam - Persil Website

Persil Website

To go along with your own notes, I have annotated 5 pages from the site - use this as you revise to get your head round how Persil are advertising their products. We may have moved into the 21st century, but there are still clear similarities with their mum-focussed adverts of the 1950s and early 60s. Are Persil reinforcing traditional values and supporting women, or are they creating stereotypes and making a woman's place clear?

Mr G.

Reading an Advert: Detailed Analysis

Head and Shoulders - Yearbook

The main image is a 1960s yearbook or school photo, tied in with the ‘since 1961’
slogan displayed with the product [Head and Shoulders shampoo]

The image is distressed, possibly using image editing software, and looks old, with white flecks over the central image of the young man. The fact there is a strong possibility that this is a modern image created especially for this advert means that the distressed effect is significant here, and is important for the overall message of this advertisement.

These white flecks are quite cleverly used to represent dandruff – important for an anti-dandruff shampoo, although their original reading would be as signs of photo age.

His hair, however, is glossy, shiny, healthy looking and free of white flakes, showing how effective the product is at clearing dandruff.

This advert suggests that Head and Shoulders has been clearing dandruff since 1961, and is still doing so effectively now, so the product has the benefit of being proved to work historically.

The lighting is subdued and represents studio lighting as it would appear at the time – the light is coming from the left, and the subject is clearly lit.

The colours are given a washed out, aged effect, to make the ad seem as if it is using an authentic 1960s picture. There is no way of knowing if this is the case, but it what they want us to believe.

The subject is dressed in 1960s school or college uniform: navy blazer, light blue shirt (with massive collars!) and dark blue tie, making it feel authentic.

In terms of mise-en-scene, there is nothing added to the picture apart from the studio backdrop to make it clear that this is a studio portrait.

The representation here is of someone who has dandruff/flake free hair. Whether this is actually true or not is open to interpretation, but that is what the advertisers want us to believe, and this is due to using ‘Head and Shoulders’(although it doesn’t actually say it - we have to read the connotations of the advert to work this out)

The USP (unique selling point) is obviously that Head and Shoulders keeps your hair flake-free, and has been doing so since 1961, meaning that it is a tried and tested product, and one that you can believe in and trust in to do the same for your hair.

Task - Apply the same techniques of analysis to your own print advertisement. Use the guidelines (available on this blog) to annotate your own advert, then turn your findings into a 500 word written analysis of your advertisement.

Analysing Adverts

Kelloggs Bran Flakes - Chris Hoy

Following on from his Olympic success, triple gold medal winning cyclist Chris Hoy was used by Kelloggs to advertise their Bran Flakes breakfast cereal. He promotes a healthy, successful lifestyle, and is ideally placed to be an aspirational figure: if you eat Bran Flakes, you’ll be just like him, the way he is standing emphasises his muscular physique, and the Union Jack background suggests that British is best, and that a healthy British breakfast is the breakfast of champions.

The copy ‘I believe The French have pastries for breakfast’ is used to suggest that the British way is Better, and uses patriotism to promote the product. The slogan ‘Are you built on Bran Flakes?’ is aimed directly at the audience, suggesting that if they eat Bran Flakes they could be like this.

Hoy is the central figure in this piece, and is looking directly at the camera (and at the audience) while the product itself is in the key bottom right Corner. Hoy’s signature suggests that he personally endorses the product.

Persil - Terrifying Tiger

Persil adverts are especially well known for targeting women as consumers: they know that women do most of the washing in the home, and that if anyone is likely to buy cleaning products it will be them.

This advert uses the central image of a happy, crawling child to grab the audience’s attention, and appeal to the maternal instincts. The child is reaching out of the image towards the viewer, and the shot is angles slightly to make the child appear more balanced. He is in bright, clean clothes, even when crawling around the garden,
suggesting that the product (Persil) will be able to deal with the stains.

The slogan at the bottom; 'Tough on stains. Sensitive on skin.’ reinforces this and suggests that the child’s skin will be safe with Persil, an idea backed up by the copy at the top of the page designed to promote an emotional reaction from the audience (awwww!). The colours orange and black tie in with the tiger theme: the advert uses metaphorical language (he’s not really a tiger!) to make the child seem strong, healthy, clean and safe (all thanks to Persil!)

Disneyland - Escape

This is a very clever advert, as it’s aimed at parents but shows an active child doing what it wants – wrapping up the monster under the bed! She is in charge of her own actions, and what she clearly wants, shown by her looking directly at the camera in a challenging way, is to go to Disneyland, where she can escape the bad dreams and swap them for good ones. Disney are using the guilt factor here, as well as pushing the idea of escape. The blue light coming through the window gives a magical, dreamy quality, just like Disneyland!

Allure Homme Sport - Sailing

65-70% of all men’s fragrances are bought by women, and 30% claim to buy it for their own use, according to a recent survey! This means that the majority of men’s fragrance ads are aimed at women, as they are the target consumer, and not the men the product is designed for.

Women buy these products for many reasons: to get their men to smell nice is one of them but the main one may well be that if they buy (in this case) Allure Homme Sport and spray it on their man, they may well end up looking like this.

Here the man is framed in a close up shot, with his hair messed up and his eyes hidden behind his fringe. He is looking directly at the camera and is holding the gaze of the audience (or the female consumer, who is thinking about getting some for her man, or for her) The shadows falling across his face give him a look of mystery or ‘allure’, and he is shirtless, adding to his sex appeal. The picture is in black and white, which makes it seem arty and sophisticated, promoting the idea that this is a ‘classy’ product. The product itself is in the key position at the bottom right of the advert, and is copy in itself – there is no other text needed.

Lynx - Get Dirty

The central image of this advert is very significant in terms of the message behind the product: a shower gel aimed at men. The woman is faceless, meaning that the audience’s view is on her body, which fills the whole frame.

She is covered in mud, with the words ‘wash me’ written on her stomach, and she is suggestively standing with her hand in the waistband of her underwear.

This is a product aimed at men, and yet we don’t see the product in use as it is designed, suggesting another purpose for this! The soft blue lighting is designed to make the image seem more alluring, tempting the (male) audience to wash her to see what happens. The product itself is featured in the key position, and is accompanied by the slogan ‘Get Dirty’ which in this case has obvious connotations.

Lynx have been quite clear in their advertising strategy, targeting the 15-35 age group almost exclusively through advertisements promoting action and sex.