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- 1. Kristiana Constantinou 3278 Madonna ‘Hard Candy’ magazine advert The magazine advert I have chosen to analyse is Madonna‟s advert for her new album „Hard Candy‟. Madonna is of the pop and rock genre, however this album release advert has themes of burlesque. Themes of burlesque include glamorous and sexy costumes such as corsets and hats, seductive music along with choreography. I feel that this advert could help me and my group in the production of our music video and ancillary products. The layout of this magazine advert is aimed to be centred on the artist. Madonna is presented in the centre of the advert, ensuring all our attention is on her. I feel having her in the middle of the advert is a useful tactic in informing the target audience that the advertisement is about her. The writing which informs us on the new album is presented around the body of the primary image. I feel this would appeal to the audience as not only does it structure the advert through its appearance, but also in an informative way. The advantage of the layout including the writing around Madonna‟s primary image is that it gives us the ability to see her costume being a corset (an iconic burlesque costume), her facial expressions and props. Her facial expression could be seen as quite seductive, along with her gestures involving her glove which acts as a prop. This pose is quite sexual and would appeal stereotypically appeal to males (uses and gratification theory). A genre can be represented in a variety of ways, mainly through typical conventions. Burlesque usually is connected to a sexy, sophisticated form of dancing with themes of comedy. In the past, woman were represented as weak characters. Men would dominate them and control most of their moves. Burlesque dance/performances challenge this old stereotype, and empower women through the way they perform. It challenges the typical stereotype of men being dominant and makes them the weaker character. Woman are presented in a sexy way through their costumes, being classy, sophisticated and sometimes revealing whilst the men are clothed and at the woman‟s call. The way that this advert for Madonna‟s new album „Hard Candy‟ represents the burlesque genre is through the dominance of the primary image. Madonna is in a black corset which could connote structure and control. The idea of her sitting possibly in a masculine position however also a sexual position way connect us to the idea of dominating males. The genre is also represented in a sexy way. Often in performances, adverts, dances and films women remain mysterious, sexy and sophisticated. This convention is used within this album magazine advert through the corset, props and composition. However, the colours used within the advert assist the way the genre is represented. The colour pink is usually associated with females, it connotes love and affection. But the colour black is a colour that you represent dominance and „bad‟ with. To have the two colours combined within the same advert, it creates a powerful meaning. The two colours describe burlesque through the combined meaning they connote. This meaning is dominance, love, seduction and mystery. The information on the advert is what assists us in understanding it is marketing a specific product. How do we know it is an advert? On typical adverts whether it is on TV, in a magazine, on a poster etc, we are provided with the essential and typical
- 2. Kristiana Constantinou 3278 information to inform us on the advertisement. The practical information such as dates of the album release, name of the artist and possible catch phrases or cliff hangers reel us in and makes it an advert. These are conventions of what is expected on an advert in order to inform the audience (uses and gratification theory) and persuade them to buy the product. The conventions of this advert that are typical in many adverts in order to promote a CD is the album date, title name, and catch phrases. All these conventions are presented within this magazine advert in order to promote Madonna‟s new album. I feel that images are the more standing out to an individual. The primary image of the artist Madonna is the first image that stands out to a particular person. It informs an audience on the advertisement (uses and gratification theory), so we instantly know who we are connecting to. The image is quite bold and brought forward, in comparison to the size of other images and font. The primary image is also a bit in your face to strike the attention of the target audience. On the other hand what acts as a secondary image is the pink and white background. I feel that the contrast that these colours make in comparison to the black corset outfit the artist is wearing is very directing. By this I mean that the pink and white patterns connote innocence which therefore directs us to the striking image of Madonna. The dissimilarity in both the primary image and secondary image, makes us more focused to the primary image which is seemingly more important in terms of informative information. The primary and secondary images help us in understanding the mode of address. Although the primary image of Madonna isn‟t directly looking straight at us, her eyes are looking directly looking in the camera showing her direct contact to the audience. I feel that the tilt of her head to the side helps in the emphasis of the prop in her hand. It helps us establish the burlesque themes. The direct contact would appeal to the target audience due to the personal connection they are receiving. If the primary image wasn‟t in direct focus to the audience, then there wouldn‟t be as much of a relationship with the audience. However the direct mode of address causes us as a target audience to feel directly addressed and that we are being informed about something of our interest. It reels us in to understanding what we are being informed about. Language is an important factor in advertisement. The structure of a sentence can make or break it. Sometimes marketing companies use phrases to help audience members make a connection to company and product, artist and song, sometimes logos and slogans are used for a consistent flow. Starting from the top of the advertisement we are presented with a sentence “on and on the beat goes...” Firstly the use of a cliff hanger interests the reader due to the curiosity is holds. The use of the term “beat” enables the target audience to make a connection to a beat of a song. The use of the repetition of “on and on” could symbolise a sexual connotation which ties together the image and sentence. There is bold blue writing displaying the words “new album” to inform us that this is something that has not yet been released, again causing the level of curiosity to rise. However it differentiates itself to the words beneath it displaying the name of the album “hard candy”. This bold yet different colour typography emphasises the album name, whilst contrasting with the black corset the artist is displayed in. When noticing that all the writing is in bold shows that all the information provided is necessary and important.
- 3. Kristiana Constantinou 3278 Facial expressions help us identify a person‟s mood, attitude or emotions. In burlesque facial expressions usually remain, teased, seductive, comedic and sexy. In this advertisement the artists facial expressions are teasing and seductive to draw an audience in. This would appeal to an audience as not only for informative reasons but as a form of entertainment (uses of gratification theory). The idea that Madonna‟s face is hidden from the gloves (props) could connote innocence but also mysteriousness. The innocence contradicts the outfit and facial expression which is often done in burlesque. Madonna‟s character remains sexy and dominant. This is backed up by her sexy figure displayed in the centre of the advertisement. This controlling character connects to a burlesque set of characteristics and therefore enables us to make the connections the burlesque in this advert. A prop is always used in burlesque performances. In this case for this advertisement the prop is some gloves. It acts as a distraction to the audience and a connection to burlesque. Sometimes an object is used to bring humour to the performance or to sexualise the audience. In burlesque performances there are typical costumes include corsets, feathers, gloves, hats and lace. In this advert for Madonna‟s new album “Hard Candy”, conventions of burlesque are presented through costumes and facial expressions. A black leather corset with lacy high knee boots connotes sexy, mystery and dominance. This is often used in a burlesque dance/music video, or film to appeal to the audience through entertainment.