(sorry it's kind of small)
I first saw this ad in my Intro to Media studies recitation and thought it would be a fun one to analyze- I want to hear what you guys think!
Ok, so what does this advertisement denote?: There are two photographs shown, one of a woman’s body in black lingerie and the other of a man’s shirtless upper body. In both photographs, the faces and lower halves of the people’s bodies are not shown. The man has a six pack and a muscular physique and the woman’s cleavage is exposed. In between these two images, there is a box with text in it that reads “FGALAWFIRM.COM. Life’s Short. Get a Divorce” and then ten numbers are listed underneath. There appears to be two names followed by the letters “Esq.”
Now let’s look at what this ad connotes: The first two things that grab your attention are the two pictures of the half naked, “sexy” bodies. Then, your focus shifts to the middle where the text is, “FGALAWFIRM.COM” and so we automatically know that this ad is for a law firm. The title of “Esq.” after the two names listed at the bottom signifies that they are lawyers since “Esq.” is short for “Esquire” so we can be sure that this is definitely an ad for a law firm in case we had any doubts before. Obviously, the ten numbers listed is the telephone number for the law firm. The tag line “Life’s Short. Get a divorce” next to the pictures of the two sexy bods is sending the message to married individuals that they should divorce their spouses so that they can enjoy hot sex with physically attractive people. The fact that the photographs don’t show their faces signifies that this law firm is specifically telling you to get a divorce for purely sexual purposes and not to, say, promote divorce for the sake of finding a more compatible partner.
This extremely controversial Chicago billboard was eventually taken down after there was an uproar and a negative response all over the news and in the Chicago neighborhoods. What do you guys think? Crossing the line or brilliant advertising? Would you have taken it down? Even though the ad shows both a female and male body do you think it’s more triggered at one gender over another?
I would have to go with brilliant advertising. However, the sexual images make the law firm come off as kind of sleazy and tacky.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good example of how everyone has different values and experiences and therefore gets different messages from ads. Everyone is subjective.
But if I were in an insecure marraige, I probably wouldn't find this ad very amusing. :)
I LOVE this example, and I am totally stealing it and using it in the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Carissa that it makes the firm look sort of sleazy, much like those firms that advertise on the subway that they'll get you multi-million dollar settlements.
"The fact that the photographs don’t show their faces signifies that this law firm is specifically telling you to get a divorce for purely sexual purposes and not to, say, promote divorce for the sake of finding a more compatible partner."
Great point, Nadia; it's interesting because women are often cut off at the head when they're portrayed entirely as sexual objects. We've seen a lot more sexual objectification of men in media in the last ten years (not that I think this is necessarily good) so maybe that is inevitably leading to images of the decapitated male torso.
Wow, I think that this advertisement is crossing the line. I mean it's humorous for about a second and then it just gets quite sad. I mean in a country where about 50% of marriages end in divorce no one should be trying to promote it!! Plus, I agree, the advertisement does look sleazy and low class and I wouldn't want to contact it if I was getting a divorce! Have advertisement firms run out of so many ideas that we have to resort to low grade advertisements such as these?
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