Propaganda Advertising

Propaganda Advertising

"Nostalgia sells more than sex [...]"

In the associated group lecture, me and the corresponding students were given the task to browse through various articles consisting of a very wide range of topics. Following this, we were allocated to answer various questions concerning the single article we picked out of the choices. I wanted to be in a position were I was very much out of my comfort zone and knowledge area in order to answer the questions with fresh eyes and opinions, thus, I chose the article 'Dazed and Confused', a women's fashion review of the Spring 2015 edition.

 

Question number one; 'How does the example play on the viewers emotions to achieve its effect?'

Dazed and Confused, 2015

The article's motive is to target the parental members of the magazines viewership. Its intentions are to shock the intended viewers and to cause negative emotions to arise; in sorrow and distress. The shock factor is channeled through the clothing presented, subconsciously and even consciously making the viewer connect what is presented to their children. The model poses in vulnerable positions; sporting a white laced dress shouting innocence out of the page. The mix of emotions we as the viewer are intended to feel; sympathy, maternal, horror, are all executed brilliantly. The article successfully informed the audience through limited resources, offering merely images with little text. The article promotes the idea of clothing being a screen enabling someone to portray their personality and culture through.  Thinking about this idea, what could the clothing presented here be saying about our culture? Many possibilities, the strongest of them all, however, is we have a very confused relationship with the idea of child and maturity, and it is getting mixed together far too often, not in a tasteful way.

Question number two; 'How does the example depict women/men? How is the gender used in this example to sell a product?'

The example depicts women in a very vulnerable situation accompanied by the poses the model has been instructed to adopt. The essence of innocence is the selling factor here and so the model has been used to connect with the audience's self of which subconsciously longs to be 'pure' again.