One of the striking advertisements in Intel’s Sponsors of the Future campaign is the Clean Room advertisement. (Shea, 2011) The printed advertisement consists of two pictures. The picture on the left depicts a little girl taking pride in her clean bedroom, while the picture on the right shows Intel workers in a futuristic-looking industrial cleanroom. The contrast between the everyday sense of cleanliness and the extreme measures to avoid airborne particles emphasizes the quest for perfection.
The advertisement is designed to indicate that Intel is striving to explore the future, and their achievements are beyond what we are used to in everyday life. It is aimed at inspiring confidence in the quality of the product, and the future of their developments.
The advertisement provides a stark contrast between the two pictures. The little girl’s room is a warm pink, comfortable and familiar, while the cleanroom is clinically blue, white and silver. The racks and shelves in the pink room display a variety of shapes, while the objects in the blue room are dominated by rectangular structures. The little girl is sitting on her bed in comfort, while the technicians in the cleanroom are all standing. The main character is standing straight, almost at attention. The entire composition creates a welcoming and informal atmosphere in the girl’s room, while the cleanroom atmosphere is formal and businesslike, almost daunting. Even the font of the text superimposed on the pictures differs significantly. The “my clean room” script in the girl’s room is in playful, rounded font with a starburst on each word, while the blue room “our clean room” script is in an angular, formal font. The repetition of the words “clean room” in the text serves to emphasize the contrast between different perceptions of clean.
In both photos, the main focal point is a prominent human. Both the little girl and the woman in the bunny suit are on the left side of the composition, suggesting that they may be the same person, at different ages. Although the little girl is facing directly into the camera, her body is facing slightly towards the right.
The polka dot carpet and curtains in the girl’s room correspond with the blue dot pattern on the synthetic white cleanroom floor. The toys and ornaments in the girl’s room show a single-minded interest in horses. The main character in the cleanroom, the woman in a clean suit, would have to have a single-minded dedication to her job in this environment. The pride the little girl takes in keeping her room clean could well develop into a passion for cleanliness, which would be an advantage in the career of a cleanroom technician.
The more dominant of the two photos is the cleanroom. This is enhanced by the camera angle, which is slightly downwards in the girl’s room and slightly upwards in the cleanroom. The composition of the photos also portrays the little girl as less important. She appears in the bottom half of the picture of her room, while the face of the woman in the cleanroom is in the top half of the photo, a much more superior position. The placement of the photos also draws attention towards the cleanroom. Because we read from left to right, we look at the right-hand picture last, and longer. Although the little girl is appealing, the scene is not extraordinary. On the other hand, few people have been inside a clean room, and the futuristic-looking setting and suits are more compelling due to their unfamiliarity.
There is a definite sense of achievement in the advertisement. An environment that appears extraordinary and futuristic is equated to achievement. The cleanroom could well be part of the little girl’s dream for the future.
The narrative in the right bottom corner explains the purpose of the cleanroom while trying to accommodate children of about the same age as the little girl in the pink room, or younger. This is the weakest part of the advertisement. After the imagery of “the tiniest speck of dust is the equivalent to a two-ton boulder around our microscopic transistors” and the fairly technical comparison of “10,000 times cleaner than a hospital operating room”, calling a cleanroom bunny suits “silly-looking outfits” is inconsistent.
Due to the incongruous narrative, it is difficult to determine the intended target audience. If the advertisement is aimed at young children, it would not be very successful. Children can’t visualize the size of a two-ton object, and probably don’t know what a transistor is. Most have no idea of the sterility required in an operating theatre and the comparison would mean nothing to them. On the other hand, if the advertisement is aimed at adults, they would take a cleanroom seriously and the childish description of the cleanroom suits would irritate them.
Society likes cleanliness, model kids and big dreams. Using these elements, the advertisement is compelling in its simplicity.
Works Cited
Shea, Danny “The Best Magazine Advertising Of The Year (PHOTOS)” Huffington Post, 2011 Web.