Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Scantily dressed woman


What is an ad with a half-naked woman spread out on a bed trying to sell; a videogame of course. This advertisement was printed in the April 2006 issue of PC Gamer. It is advertising a videogame called Hitman. In today’s world, people are preoccupied with sex, and advertising companies are latching onto this by using beautiful women in very well planned out intricate settings to sell their products. The fact that the advertisement companies have to stoop so low to catch the eyes of buyers is quite appalling, but it is reality.
This advertisement is very eye-catching. If a reader is flipping through a magazine filled with many articles and ads for different products, he or she would be more prone to stop and look at an ad of this sort. It is obvious to see that this advertisement is suppose to attract the attention of teenage and young adult males. The advertising company could have used bloody gory pictures from the actual video game to try and catch the attention of the readers, but when it comes down to it the beautiful woman is more eye catching. With her being spread out on gold sheets, this will capture the attention of many guys.
The main object in this advertisement is obviously the scantily dressed woman used to lure males in. This beautiful woman is dressed only in lingerie, high heels, and some gold jewelry. If one looks closely at the woman, he or she will also notice the bullet hole in her head, although it is not noticeable at first. The fact that she is wearing lingerie gives this ad sex appeal. It is used to make readers stop and look at the advertisement.
The satin gold bed sheets also throw a little attractive flair into the advertisement. The shiny gold sheets attract the human eye. It brings ones focus to the girl in the middle of the page. If one looks very closely at this ad, he or she would notice the pool of blood surrounding the woman’s head. It is hard to notice this blood, because it blends in with the woman’s hair and clothes. The advertiser obviously did not what this to be a bloody, gruesome ad even though the video game he is advertising is one in which murder is the objective.
The words “Beautifully Executed” are written at the top of the advertisement. These words are the theme of the advertisement. The word beautiful is in reference to the woman. The woman is beautiful, and she was killed or executed. I do not think that the phrase “Beautifully Executed” is how the game really is. Video games are usually not beautiful. They are bloody and gruesome.
The fact that the woman in this photograph is only in lingerie and she is spread out on satin gold sheets makes it seems like she has been raped and then shot. The woman is positioned on the bed in such a way that makes one assume that she was raped. Why else would she be scantily dressed and lying in a provocative pose on some satin gold sheets? No one really knows what happed for sure, but logical reasoning tells the reader that there was probably some prostitution or rape involved in this murder.
Videogames in which killing and fighting are the main objectives are usually made for young guys. The fact that this advertisement is meant to catch the attention of young guys is rather appalling. The ad executives know that guys are obviously attracted to beautiful woman and they use that to their advantage. By placing this advertisement with a beautiful woman in a magazine, it is more likely to be noticed. Magazines are full of articles and many different ads. Advertising companies know that they need to make an ad that will stand out and make someone stop and look at the ad. The advertisement agencies know that sex sells and purposefully use half-dressed women in the ads to sell products to guys. In today’s society, it is easy to see how sex sells. Scantily dressed men and women are selling all sorts of products everywhere a person looks. It is sad to know that it takes half-naked people to catch people’s attention. The fact that it is widely known that today’s society is preoccupied with sex is very disturbing.

1 comment:

Phil B said...

Stacy,

Really good start here. Towards the end of the draft you begin to move into territory that is quite interesting. If we look at this ad from a feminist point of view, might we say that the ad is advocating violence against women more than advertising a video game? I can't wait to see what other things you find within the ad.