This is a 2011 advertisement for Abercrombie and Fitch. It features a buff man in the middle of two thin, tan women with long, flowing hair. All three people are shirtless. The picture is black and white. The guy is smiling and looks overall pretty happy. The women are kissing his cheeks with their eyes closed and one is stroking his shoulder. One of the women is wearing a black bra, while the other is wearing white.This ad implies that people are happier when they are not wearing much clothing. It is interesting that they are almost naked because the advertisement is for a clothing company. This is also suggesting that men are happy when girls are close and kissing them.
The picture could be interpreted in different ways. This man could be gay, with the women just being his two best female friends or sisters kissing him. He could also be straight and flirting with these two women. Or, he could be in a polygamist relationship and these could be his two girlfriends or wives.
The two different bra colors could be representative of the man's "dark" and "bright" side. Sometimes, he likes "good" women and other times he likes to be with more scandalous types of women.
This advertisement implies with the lack of clothing that Abercrombie and Fitch's clothes feel like you are not wearing anything at all. The clothes are have a very natural and sexy feel to them.
Why exactly does the picture show two different colored bras? Is it simply for the balance of the picture, or does it have a deeper meaning? What is the effect of having two women and one man rather than two men and one woman? What is the effect of using Caucasian models in the advertisement instead of a different race?
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the clothes having a natural and sexy feel to them. I don't know if you mean that is how the clothes feel when you wear them or if that is what the picture suggests. But a suggestion to your first research question is that it could represent multiple different personalities making the clothes appear to be for more than just one type of person.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a good point about representing different personalities. Although the ad fails to address multiple races and it sticks strictly to using Caucasian people, the different color bras have a deeper meaning and representation. The advertisement also seems to be targeting men because of it's use of two women and one man, making it more appealing to a heterosexual man.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first comment, I'm not sure what you mean by the clothing having a natural feel to them. I actually don't feel like that's what the ad is trying to convey, if it was I think they would of included more clothes in the image. However, the use of the different color bras is interesting. I like your description of the "good" vs. "bad" girls, like the white vs. black concept.
ReplyDeleteI have different perspective from the first and third comment. I think the second last paragraph offer the ultimate reason to buy the product. It was a good analysis because when people actually wear the product, they can look very natural and attract girls or guys. And also, this advertisement may not be focusing on the man in the middle. A man in this picture is a good-looking guy and if female wears a bra from Abercrombie and Fitch, she could get a man like him.
ReplyDeleteI think its important to note that the man is faced towards and holding the woman that has the black bra on. Her body is almost completely covering his while it seems like the woman in the white bra is pulling him away. Also the color choices for ad, black and white picture, black and white bras, makes the ad seems more classic than if it were in color.
ReplyDeleteThe view points brought up in your analysis were interesting. Although I feel as if the ad could be saying something entirely different. To me this ad is saying this is the lifestyle you can have if you wear and buy our clothes
ReplyDeleteGiven the ratio of women to men mixed with different color bras it gives me a different impression. The color black in the color wheel symbolizes power where the color white symbolizes innocence. Factor those in with two stereotypically model formed women and it gives the idea that power in good sense is associated with the amount of beautiful women a man keeps around him. Meanwhile power and innocence represented as two women fighting over one man. Is this an ad for men's clothes or women's clothes? Both are being objectified. Without the element of whether it is men's or women's clothes being sold this could be interpreted in both ways. A man wooing two women or two women teaming to seduce a man.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment above about their body positions. How the man is pulling the woman in the black bra towards him and her whole body is pressed against him while the woman in the white seems to be pulling herself towards him and has to reach her face out to touch his face and is behind him, the opposite of the woman in the black. This says to me that the man has a choice of who he wants, and women still come after him
ReplyDeleteI think the important part of the ad is how the ad leaves the consumer feeling. Looking at this picture one gets the feeling that these people are enjoying themselves and are happy. This then leaves the viewer thinking happy thoughts and then the company is associated with positive feelings
ReplyDeleteI think having two women and only one man contributes to a typical fantasy of heterosexual men. Men will look at it and want that. I think bringing up the two different colored bras is very interesting. I'm not really sure why they did that.
ReplyDeletegood guesses about the characters the man could be, it may need interpreted better to relate to the ad. since it is a black and white colors photo, it might symbolize human simple desire of pleasure. this analysis may do a deeper interpretation to show the clothing company's aim.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis about the man is really interesting, but in my opinion, he is straight. I think the readon that they are almost naked in this poster for the cloth company, is that this ad tells people when they wear the A&F clothes, the feeling is so comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Angie's comment about the color scheme of the photo. The black and white color scheme in the photo does seem to make the advertisement seem more classic. However, while there isn't a lot of clothing in the photo, I find it interesting that it is a lot more obvious that the girl in the black is just wearing a bra, while one can't be sure that the girl in white is wearing a bra not a strapped top. I find this interesting because of the fact that black represents power while white represents innocence and the girl wearing white seems to be a little more modest in the photo.
ReplyDeleteApparently, I can see these people are so happy with each other. The two women are kissing the man in the middle. And the man is really enjoying this moment. What I want to know more is that because this is an ad for a specific company, I really cannot see the company's name and slogen. Maybe this is a part of the ad. Overall, this picture is really nice.
ReplyDeletePersonally I don't think the bras have a deeper meaning. I think that they were just placed there to go with the picture. As for their being two women and one man, it is definitely a ploy to have men think that by shopping at the store beautiful women will want to be with them more than normal. I also think that having all white people is specifically targeting a customer demographic. Because A&F's clothes are so expensive it has been labeled a luxury brand. As such they sell to a specific audience, mainly, upper class white people. It is usually easier for someone to picture being someone else when they look vaguely similar.
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