Ghd Textual analysis. MS Van Der Sanden

Codes and conventions of advertising

The first thing I noticed in this advert was the women being used as objects. They all are young attractive women and this  would not only attract female customers but also catch the attention of men too.

Because of the influential purposes on women the advertisement is also directed at men, sending the message that if you buy these hair straighteners your partner will turn into a model .Also the narrator’s voice speaks more like as if they were from Shakespearean times rather than 2010 for instance "thou" which is in the 10 commandments. From this I can gather that they are making references to Christianity by mentioning the 10 commandments. Again they take advantage of the topic and use religion as an influential asset to gain popularity. The hairs on the models are purposely   made to be very sleek and sexy so that the female audience get an insight into the wonders this hair straightner can do. Although we as the audience are not told if the hair used in the advertisement is in fact real or artificial, and so we cannot make a real judgment, but what we can say is it is appealing to women.

Representation

In the advertisement women are projected to be the dominant figures rather than men. This would be appealing to women who are single and maybe have interest in being promiscuous and being ‘gold diggers’  as it promotes the alternative idea of women being in control rather than the stereotypical male.

The men here are portrayed as objects rather than figureheads, for instance in the advert a women uses the GHD hair straightners to take advantage of a man who belongs to her best friend. I think that the producers of this advertisement have purposely juxtaposed the idea of men being in control rather than women because it causes controversy and in is therefore more popular.

Media institution

The advert is very offensive to devoted Catholics or Catholics in general. In terms of Christianity, the advert caused a lot of controversy and was banned due to blasphemy and mocking in many people’s perspectives. Mainly because of the continued use of ‘thou shalt not’ this descends from the 10 commandments.

This incident would have given a lot of people an insight into the channel’s values and in turn making assumptions that it was not too reliable because they chose to broadcast such an advertisement.

Audience

On the basis of this ad it would be directed at women in general more than men. Women who are in a higher social class than most, who want to look good and appealing. This maybe women who are more independent and need something that gets the job done quickly but does not substitute time for quality.