The ad is trying to appeal to the need and desire of sex appeal and cars. Think about the media and how even North County San Diego consists of wealthy, middle-aged business men driving a German luxury car with their younger and attractive wives or girlfriends riding shotgun. The ad also appeals to the need for men to feel "secure" in the vehicle they are riding in.
The ad's intended audience is targeted for men, particularly men who are fairly wealthy and ages 30-55. The reason I think the targeted age group is 30-55 years old is because by age 30, men usually have a consistent and secure paying job. By age 55, men are starting to retire and may be going through a "mid-life crisis" and feel the need to splurge on an expensive car.
The claim the ad makes is if you choose to buy the S-Class Mercedes, you will have overall protection from all sides with eight airbags. The warrant is that the airbags are similar to the feel of womens' breasts. The claim is supported because the womens' breasts are positioned in a square shape to portray there is safety from all sides of the car.
Comment on another blog:
http://kharkness.blogspot.com/2010/10/do-you-really-care.html?showComment=1286867152678#c2702099136944688816
Wow; don't even know where to begin. I'll admit this ad caught my attention, but as soon as I really looked at it I was shocked. I mean, I know people always say that rich men with nice cars always get the good looking (or big breasted) ladies but this is just over the top. Perverse in every sense of the word, I think BMW is de-grading themselves rather then portraying themselves as an upper class car manufacturer. I do agree with your analysis however as to feeling safe with 8 airbags and how the warrant is "the airbags are similar to the feel of womens' breasts."
ReplyDeleteGood analysis overall.
It is really interesting to me that this ad's art is cartooned or rotoscoped. It looks almost like something one might find on the cover of the New Yorker. I wonder if the intent is to lessen the impact. Are cartoon breast-airbags more palatable than photographed breast-airbags? Perhaps there is some other purpose for this stylistic choice? I'm not entirely sure.
ReplyDelete