The sole purpose of any advertisement is to lure target customers into purchasing the advertised product. Businesses try to establish captivating advertisements that make people wish to be associated with the product or the person or item used in advertising the product (Reynolds and Olson 89).
The Marlboro advertisement is trying to decoy people into preferring the cigarette to others. On the other hand, the Adidas advertisement is trying to lure people into making it their shoe of choice. The ultimate purpose of the Marlboro advertisement is to portray Marlboro cigarettes as the best in the country.
The advertisement uses cowboys thus portraying the manly nature that one supposedly assumes on using the product. On the other hand, the Adidas advertisement is aimed at making consumers believe that an Adidas shoe is the ultimate shoe for all purposes. By using the slogan “impossible is nothing”, the company aims at depicting itself as the most rousing sports attire and athletic footwear brand.
Advertisers strive at establishing visual focal points in all their advertisements, be it print or television. Moreover, people working in display and merchandising stores endeavor to come up with visual focal points to attract their target customers (Reynolds and Olson 90). The focal point of the Marlboro advertisement is the cowboys. Throughout the entire advertisement, cowboys are portrayed as they carry out their activities.
Use of the cowboys in the advertisement makes individuals assume that smoking this cigarette makes one a real man. The use of the cowboy man in the advertisement evokes the perception of Marlboro as the superior brand, thus luring new consumers into using the brand. The focal point for the Adidas advertisement is the athlete. The advertisement portrays the athlete as strong and determined. The advertisement tries to bring out the confidence and strength that an individual would have after using Adidas products.
The main reason I opt to choose the Marlboro advertisement is that, the advertisement tries to sell a controversial product. Cigarettes are blamed for lung cancer; hence, people are discouraged from purchasing them. On the other hand, I opt to choose the Adidas advertisement since the public holds the perception that Adidas products are superior. My position on the two advertisements is that they managed to identify the most captivating focal points, thus managing to sell the product in spite of the public perception.
For instance, despite the common belief that cigarette smoking subjects people to possibility of contracting lung cancer, the Marlboro advertisement invokes the desire of individuals revealing their manhood when they look at the cowboy men portrayed in the advertisement. Consequently, people engage in smoking even with the stern warnings on the consequences of smoking. On the other hand, the Adidas advertisement managed to assist the company regain its lost glory in the athletic footwear and sports apparel industry.
Language strongly influences people’s behavior. In the advertisement industry, the language used to convey a message determines if consumers will or will not use the product (Mitchell 12-24). The use of the word ‘flavor’ in the Marlboro advertisement is captivating thus tempting individuals into wanting to sample the flavor of the product.
Moreover, the slogan “come to Marlboro country” makes a potential user perceive the country as exceptional and unique in a way. Hence, one buys the cigarette due to curiosity of wishing to experience the Marlboro country. Adidas uses the slogan “impossible is nothing”. This draws the attention of the athletes, thus wishing to know more on how they may be able to conquer the impossibilities in the athletic field.
The Marlboro advertisement drew my attention considerably because of the way it is organized. The setting of the advertisement and the images used makes it enamoring.
Works Cited
Mitchell, Andrew. “The effect of verbal and visual components of advertisements on brand attitudes and attitude towards the advertisement.” Journal of Consumer Research 13.1 (2003): 12-24. Print.
Reynolds, Thomas, and Ferry Olson. Understanding Consumer Decision Making: The Means-End Approach to Marketing and Advertising Strategy. New Jersey: Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2008. Print.