Alzayer 1
Mohammed Alzayer
Mrs Engstrom
English 250 RD
Audience: classmates and instructor
9 October 2013
Assignment #2: Rhetorical analysis of advertisement
The first thing you notice when opening the September issue of Esquire magazine is the
four-page Tommy Hilfiger fall season ad. It is impossible to close the magazine before going
back to the ad to imagine yourself in one of the models’ colorful outfits. The magazine specifies
its target audience as “30+ year old males who are at the top of their professional and personal
life” ("Esquire: Man At His Best”.) Statistically speaking, Esquire is read by 4.4 adult readers
per copy, 2.87 of which are men with a median age of 38.7 and an average outcome of over
$60,000 yearly ("Demographics.) The ad, which is a part of the Fall 2013 advertising campaign
entitled University Club: cärpe-díem mañana, captures the essences of the autumn season.
Tommy Hilfiger ad succeeds in convincing customers to start the year fresh with new outfits
although it lacks a verbal connection with the reader and fails to announce a newly launched
mobile application effectively.
Earlier this summer, Tommy Hilfiger started working on a campus themed photo session
that was eventually turned into an advertising campaign. According to Tommy Hilfiger, the
founder of the brand, the campaign imagery is heavily inspired by collegiate traditions,
especially those established by Ivy League schools in the north east of the United States (“Cärpedíem mañana”) Esquire magazine used three photographs from the campaign. The first
Alzayer 2
photograph shows a big lecture hall with students and teachers dressed up in beloved American
style outfits. Another photograph shows a recently graduated student sitting on her classy
luggage and leaving the campus with the help of two of her male friends. The last photograph in
the ad shows a student wearing a unique Tommy sweater and a scarf standing in front of a
campus building and holding his bike. Although Tommy is famous for its signature red and blue
colors that appear in its logo, the outfits’ colors range from yellow to green and orange, which
captures the freshness of the fall season.
The ad appeals to number of the 15 needs identified by Jib Fowles in his 1976 study
“Mass Advertising as Social Forecast : A Method for Futures Research.” One of the obvious
emotional appeals that Tommy used to advertise their fall line is the need for affiliation. The ad
promises its buyers to make them a part of the campus community if they choose to be dressed
by the ‘cool’ Tommy outfits. The ad also appeals to our need for aesthetic sensations by using
attractive models in a beautiful campus (Fowles.) The photographs were taken in Yale University
campus according to a blogger who attended the photo sessions (Zalazar.) Even though Tommy
does not imply this fact explicitly, the reader can easily tell that the models are in a fancy
college. Hence, it seems like the ad appeals to the need to achieve, especially to those who are
applying for colleges. Other appeals may include our need for attention by wearing stylish outfits
like the ones worn by the models in the photographs (Fowles.)
The use of three photographs instead of one in this ad makes it even stronger and
illustrates the campus theme of the campaign even more effectively. It is hard not to notice the ad
since it appears on the first page of the magazine and one of its photographs is attached to the
cover which can be folded. If the ad was placed in the middle of the magazine, it might have
been lost and the reader wouldn’t be able to recognize it as an ad for the fact that fashion is one
Alzayer 3
of Esquire magazine biggest interests. Tommy also enforced its signature elements in order to
make the ad even more recognizable. For instance, the brand can easily be identified through the
way they show their logo. The logo is placed in a thread that goes through all the photographs in
the ad. The blue and red thread looks like a watch strap or a belt designed by Tommy. This is a
clever move as it makes the reader who is familiar with the brand identify it right away. The ad
went for a simple approach by not crowding it with graphics and focusing on the expressions of
the models appearing on it instead. Each model has a different character and personality that the
customer can relate to, such as the athlete, the smart, and so on. This approach helps customers
choose the way they would like to dress according to the character they most relate to. Crowding
the ad with graphics wouldn’t have the same effect since the customer wouldn’t be able to focus
on the outfits. Verbally, Tommy let its big name speak for itself by being straight to the point.
The only text shown in the ad is Tommy’s website URL, store locations, the title of the
campaign, and an announcement of a newly launched mobile application.
With all the good verbal and visual choices made by Tommy in this ad, there are still
some problems. For example, the text being in white works very well in all the cases except the
announcement of the application which has a contrast problem. The light beige background
blends the text and makes it difficult to read. The announcement reads “get your Prepview.
Download the Tommy Hilfiger app to unlock exclusive content.” The ad does not highlight the
word “Prepview,” which is the name they gave to their app, and makes it look like the word
“preview.” If Tommy intended to introduce this app through the ad, they failed to do so due to
the position of the text and its color blending with the background. The slogan of the campaign is
another bad choice made by Tommy. The slogan is a combination of the Latin expression
“cärpe-díem” which translates to “seize the day” and the Spanish word “mañana” which means
Alzayer 4
“tomorrow.” This statement does not seem to make sense and does not relate to the message
behind the campaign. There is no attempt by Tommy to explain the slogan either visually or
verbally in this ad.
The ad looks more appropriate for young customers who are in their early 20s to mid-30s
which does not agree with the demographics of the magazine. However, Esquire still has its
loyal younger readers from both genders. One interesting feature in the ad is the inclusion of
three professors who are 50 to 60 years old in the lecture hall photograph. Tommy’s intention is
not to sell to this age category through this ad but rather add a realistic and humorous touch to
the picture. The ad is successful in making a nostalgic connection with the customers from all
ages by reminding them of classic motion pictures and television shows, most notably The
Breakfast Club and Beverly Hills, 90210. Both of these works have the ordinary American
coming of age characters that people fell in love with and are considered to be classics in the
history of American cinema and television. The confident poses of the models in the ad and the
way they dress is reminisce of the characters seen in The Breakfast Club or 90210.
In the campaign’s seventh season, Tommy Hilfiger is still at the top of its game in terms
of advertising. The University Club campaign is a brilliant way to connect with Tommy’s loyal
fans who like to maintain the traditional American style but with a modern stylish touch. The ad
that appears on Esquire magazine September issue is effective in every way for its simplicity and
professional photography and does not get any less effective even with the vague slogan that was
given to the campaign or the unclear text about the mobile application.
Alzayer 5
Works Cited
"Cärpe-díem mañana -The Hilfigers: Tommy Hilfiger Multi-Media Ad Campaign. By Sylvia G." GreatAds. Blogspot, 22 Jul 2013. Web. 28 Sep. 2013. <http://great-ads.blogspot.com/2013/07/carpediem-manana-hilfigers-tommy.html>.
"Demographics." Mega Media Marketing: Your Link to the Media World. Mega Media Marketing. Web.
28 Sep 2013. <http://megamediamarketing.com/demographics.html>.
"Esquire: Man At His Best." Magazines. Summit Media, 30 Nov 2013. Web. 28 Sep 2013.
<http://www.summitmedia.com.ph/magazines/esquire>.
Fowles, Jib. Mass Advertising as Social Forecast : A Method for Futures Research. Westport, CT:
Greenwood. 1976. Adaption found on Auburn University web page:
http://www.auburn.edu/~lef0009/website%20teaching%20materials/15%20Basic%20Ad%20Ap
peals.pdf. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
Tommy Hilfiger: University Club. Advertisement. Esquire. September 2013. Print.
Zalazar, Cecilia. "Cärpe-díem, Tommy is going to College this Fall 2013." Ella Universe. 17 Aug 2013.
Web. 28 Sep. 2013. <http://ellauniverse.blogspot.com/2013/08/carpe-diem-tommy-is-going-tocollege.html>.
Alzayer 6