Andrew Roswell
10/21/2013
Writing 100
Scott Beal
Ideas of Smell?
In the advertisements for Ralph Lauren’s Polo Red Cologne and for
Ermenegildo Zegna’s Uomo Cologne I observed a multitude of similarities
beyond the obvious connection of both selling men’s fragrances. These
advertisements both aim to draw consumers attention to a product that is virtually
the same to most males in cologne. This aspect of the business makes the way
that businesses portray their product of utmost importance. When consumers
can not tell the difference in the actual product the advertisers are needed to
form certain ideas about the product in the consumers minds.
The Ralph Lauren’s Polo Red Cologne ad is a very interesting
advertisement in that it is a fairly unique ad. The advertisement reminds me of a
sort of James Bond like movie trailer which contains 10 different slides all
connected unevenly throughout the full page advertisement. These slides, for the
most part, feature the same man. The man is an athletic looking guy who is
probably around thirty years old. He is caucasian and has longer brownish-black
hair with a hint of five o’clock shadow on his face. His facial features are all very
sharp and his eyes are always giving off a look of intensity. There is definitely a
hint of mystery surrounding him as he always is pictured staring at something
besides the camera. He is pictured twice in a leather racing jacket which we can
assume means that he drives a muscle car which is indeed pictured in one of the
middle slides on the page. He is also wearing other Polo products in all of the
slides in the depiction.
The slides itself are spread out in a very deliberate manner. The
advertisement seems as though it is trying to tell us some sort of story. It looks
something like a comic book. There are three slides on the left of the page these
three slides depict three different things and are all tinted in red. The first one in
the top corner of the page is a long and narrow slide. It features the man running
on a peach with his hair blowing backwards in the wind. The slide directly below
is smaller and features a girl wearing a bikini diving into the red tinted water. You
only see her backside in the photo. The third one on the left in the bottom of the
page is a photo of the man in a leather racing jacket wearing dark, round aviator
sunglasses and black leather driving gloves. The background of the photo is also
dark and the image gives a heightened sense of mystery. The lettering on his
jacket is red sticking with the consistent theme.
On the other side of the left sided strip of slides is a clump of the
remaining slides. In the middle of the page spanning across two different frames
in red lettering, the words “Ralph Lauren” are written vertically on the page.
Directly below there is an outline of “Polo” and then in giant bold red letters is the
word red. The frames themselves are very diverse the top left features a
speedometer in the fifty to sixty range with a red shade past the 50 mark. To the
right of this slide is an image of a blonde woman in a red boat coasting across a
vivid blue area of water. She is sitting in the passenger seat of the boat. Below to
the right is a picture of the same man with wet hair and a polo wetsuit implying
that he was on some type of water mission with the beautiful blonde in the boat.
To the left we see headlights and below this we see the man in the interior of his
car. It is a close-up shot compared to the other pictures. He has an intense look
in his eyes and the racing jacket is also featured. The interior of the car is all
black. Below this picture is a view of the car from the outside. It is revealed that
the car is indeed a muscle car. It is an all black lamborghini. And in the bottom
right corner is a large bottle of the cologne itself. This is an all red bottle with the
black polo man on the front. of the bottle.
The choices made by the advertising firm and the company are all
extremely deliberate with a lot of purpose behind them. As mentioned earlier the
company isn’t necessarily trying to sell the perfume but rather an idea. The use
of slides and the comic like aspects of the page makes us constantly think of
action. The man is fit and his life is fast paced. Another aspect of the action
packed life is the speedometer I explained earlier. It has a red area on it like the
entirety of the ad which implies that by wearing this cologne you will be living on
the edge. The association with life on the edge is further continued in the general
theme. I compared it to James Bond earlier. It reminds me of James Bond in
many ways. The color scheme and lettering stick out especially. This is
something that the stereotypical man’s man wants, a life of adventure, fast cars
and beautiful women. The imagery and use of the slides in the commercial
portrays that this will be the case if you wear Polo Red.
Every slide also plays on the wealth of the man. He can obviously afford a
very nice car, a boat and a beautiful woman to ride in them. This makes men
want to have what this man has. The advertisement can lead them to believe that
the closest connection they can have with this man’s wealth is the cologne that
they wear. Symbols of wealth in the advertisement also include his clothes. He is
wearing items that the normal man would not wear which also sells the idea of
being unique. That if you wear this cologne, you will separate yourself from other
men. He wears the black leather racing jacket and gloves along with nice polo
items and even a wetsuit. The man clearly has the money to afford all of the best
things so he wants to buy the best cologne.
The woman remains pretty inconspicuous throughout the advertisement
which minimizing our thoughts of her as a person and makes us think of her as
just another one of the man’s many possessions. This makes us believe that by
using the cologne and the idea that women like this will be in and out of our lives.
We can easily get a beautiful mysterious woman by using Polo Red.
The ad for Uomo is very simple. It features a man and a woman with a
white background. The advertisement is done in black in white. The man is to the
side with his head and eyes facing the camera while the woman leans behind
him where only the side of her face is shown. You can tell that she is a tan
woman and her facial expression seems as though she has been seduced by the
scent of the man. The man is staring dead into the camera but is posed to the
side so that his neck turns to whoever is viewing the advertisement. He has fairly
long wavy hair that cuts of a little below his collar and seems to have a few
blonde streaks in it. His hair seems as though it is blowing back in the wind or
that it has just been exposed to the elements of some sort. However it still looks
as though it is flawless. He is wearing an unbuttoned tuxedo shirt and coat
without a tie. His top buttons are not buttoned showing us a hairless chest. He
has well kept facial hair and he wears a mysterious look on his face.
The bottle of perfume is located in the bottom right corner next to the
catchphrase, “The New Fragrance for Men.” The bottle of perfume is displayed
as very elegant and cased in notched glass. The phrase is written in simple white
letters above the designers name, Ermenegildo Zegna.
The key importance of this advertisement is simplicity. As you note my
description is not very long. The message is more clear this way. Use the
cologne and be attractive. The man gives off a certain essence of simplicity and
style. The clarity of the ad allows the viewer to focus a little bit more on the
product. The man stares directly into the camera bringing us a little closer to
connecting with him.
The other obvious element of the advertisement is sexuality. The
fragrance makes the man extremely seductive. We see the woman appearing to
be a victim of sorts to his scent. He clearly is in his control now. This is a quality
that some men tend to gravitate towards. Another feature is the quote, “The New
Fragrance for Men”. This makes us believe that we can become more modern
like this man.
Both advertisements are similar for many reasons but also very different.
Polo Red goes for a more complicated and diverse approach while Uomo goes
for a more simple approach. The two are similar in that the main character, the
mysterious male presence, seem to be almost the same person. Both have the
same long hair and slight facial hair that I described earlier. Perhaps this is the
new modern man that men now want to emulate. The advertisers aim for this in
both depictions meaning that this man is the man we should set out to be. It
makes us believe that by wearing the male fragrance it adds mystery to us and
makes us closer to this man.
Perhaps the most striking similarity is that neither of the two speak a word
about the product itself. Rather they use different images in order to associate
certain ideas with their product. Shazia Iftkhar, a University of Michigan
Communications Professor refers to this method as product image format
(Iftkhar 2013). Both companies use methods of sexuality, adventure and mystery
that don’t have anything to with the actual fragrance they are selling.
The element of mystery seems to be of chief concern in both of these ads.
Man doesn’t want to be the average Joe anymore. He wants to wear tuxedos and
win the hearts of equally mysterious women. The quote the New Fragrance for
Men, could be rearranged to the New Man for Men. It fits in with the stereotypical
desires of man.
In the Uomo advertisement it plays on the desire of wealth and women. In
the Polo Red design we get the desire of fast cars, adventure, wealth and women
in an overloaded fashion. A form of advertisement that is commonly used is the
strategy of showing the consumer the future self he or she will turn into (Iftkhar
2013). This is clearly displayed in that once you purchase this product this is
what you will become.
That is where the ads differ. Polo Red gives us a lot to take in all at once.
A flash of every males greatest desires in front of their eyes. The average guy
might now associate obtaining all of these desires by purchasing the perfume
that gives them action. Uomo aims for the simple choice with a simple
advertisement. It is a common human idea to associate simple things with
decision making. The advertiser aims to make Uomo the clear and simple choice
in the perfume market. Both companies are attempting to sell the same product
and even the same idea in various ways.
Works Cited
Iftkhar, Shazia. Communications 101. University of Michigan. 30 Sept. 2013.
Lecture.