Blog #7- Advertising, Consumer, Cultures and Desire

In the Adbuster’s spoof ad the “Absolute end”, they mock an advertisement for Absolute vodka. The ad clearly asserts that alcohol kills. It uses satire to make the point that alcohol can have a very negative effect on a person’s life. They do this by using imagery. In the mock add the vodka bottle is traced in chock. This is a technique that is often seen in old murder mystery movies to show where the body has been after it had been removed. This brings up the issue of death and murder. The ad has a definite opinion that alcohol is negative and has the ability to kill you eventually. This is very true, although its does happen slowly over a long period of time. But more than death alcohol creates negative situations. They want people to get the idea that although alcohol is legal it can result in fatalities not necessarily from consumption but from the actions that are taken while under the influence. They stress that it could end in death if you are not careful. The spoof wants people to see the risk in an add that we would normally think nothing of.

Ads that are trying to promote the product most of the time have a positive connotation or atmosphere that they are presented in. They show beautiful people in large groups a lot of the time in expensive clothing. They try and see the image that they are presenting more than the product itself. They rely on the fact that people connect the product with that image when they see that add. In the spoof add there is a definite negative atmosphere. The chalk line automatically relates the ad to death, destruction, and despair. This is not a happy image, and not an image that could be sold. It makes people think of death. Death in out culture is almost feared therefore it points out the inherent risk. The image that they are trying to sell is the most important thing to the advertisers. They want people to be envious of the people on the screen .If the viewers make the connection that there product will give them whatever the people in the ad had, they are way more likely to buy the product.