I chose the Tommy Hilfiger ad that had the sheep and at the bottom of the ad it says “follow the flock.” The “product” that this ad is selling is not the Tommy Hilfiger clothing line but the concept that because of the idealized view of life that is provided by the models that show off the clothing people must buy these clothes in order to achieve that lifestyle, which is ultimately unattainable; this is similar to Charlie Chaplin’s thematic montage in Modern Times as workers come out of the subway he cuts to a shot of sheep coming out of the same subway suggesting that these workers are sheep to the corporations.
The essential difference between this anti-ad of Tommy Hilfiger and a real Tommy Hilfiger ad is the characters portrayed in each of these ads. In the anti-ad, there are multiple sheep, which are not the most beautiful or cutest of animals when they’re full-grown, and they are dressed in their natural clothing: their wool. In contrast, the real Tommy Hilfiger ad would have one fit, trim, handsome man wearing the clothing that he is modeling that is shown as natural on his body, because, in most cases, the clothes are made to fit that type of body, not the bodies of real people. Another thing about both characters is that they are both food. The sheep are precursors in our society to lamb chops, which many people enjoy; the model is something to feast your eyes on while you digest the thought of whether to buy those clothes or not, even if you aren’t as appetizing as the model in the ad.
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