In this A&F ad, we see a man and a women making out in a car. We noticed that in the bottom left corner it say "Back To School," which is wierd because guys don't go to school shirtless. Beside the girl is what looks like a stack of notebooks or textbooks and maybe homework or some sort of notes from school. What A&F is trying to do is get the customers of A&F or possibly new buyers to purchase their clothes by showing them what might happen if they do. We believe that this ad may be for a women audience. The guy in the ad has no shirt on, so what could men possibly buy from them in this ad. Showing the woman in the car with that dress would show the women viewers that if they buy this dress they would be very capable of finding a sexy, shirtless guy to makeout with, in his car when school starts. For the most part the ad is in black and white, but the brand of the clothing line as well as the words, "Back To School," are in red. This may be because the designers wanted the words to pop out and the background to seem somewhat old-fasioned and sensual. Discussion Questions
1.) What do you think the words, "Back To School," has to do with the behavior shown in the ad?
2.) Why does the paper in the background has any significance to the ad?
3.) Why is it that you can only see the woman's clothes and they guy has none that we can see?
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ReplyDeleteSorry for my post above. I think the words "Back to School" relate to the ad because it shows teenagers making out in a car, which is something that commonly goes on with high school students. I'm guessing this ad came out sometime around September because it's probably still warm out and the girl is wearing summer clothes still. Both of them would rather makeout with each other than do their homework, which is what we can see in this ad.
ReplyDeleteIf this is a clothing ad, it makes sense that the woman is the only visible person with clothes on. She is the main focus of the ad. She is placed in the center, and everything else around her almost seems irrelevant. But it is still kind of hard to see the whole outfit because of how the woman is positioned and the school papers everywhere. There is a piece of paper laying right on the woman, covering up most of her shirt and skirt.
ReplyDeleteAs the targeting customers of A&F are mostly high school and college students, the words “Back to School” kind of relate to their personal experiences and that is something that can arouse sympathy with customers. Also the woman in the ad is dressing like a school girl which is relevant to the theme of the ad. The behavior that a young man and a young woman are making out in the car is obviously not appropriate for school students. However the ad depicts such an image with an inappropriate behavior in order to appeal to customers who have fantasized something like this when they are or were at school. In addition, for some people, the more they are forbidden to do something, the more they are eager to do it. Such strategy is also applied in this ad. When viewers see the picture, girls will imagine in their mind that they meet an extremely hot guy in school and make out with him and vice versa. The paper on the car seats serves to create an intense and dangerous atmosphere as if the two people in the car may be discovered at any moment and so it makes the ad more appealing.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right in stating that this ad is specially made for women. Plus the reasons you stated, I think other things to support that is the postures in the ad. The man is in the top part of the poster and while the woman is under the man. I think this means that the man is the active one for he is totally captured by the adorable girl.
ReplyDelete“Back to School” has definitely help point out the characteristics of the brand and it makes people to imagine that if I have the A&F, I can just look like students although the fact is not.
The paper in the ad help the strengthen the school-feel of the ad, but one thing I noticed that these papers are scattered rather than put in order besides the woman in the car. I think these suggest that the two are working on homework or tutoring before the scene in the poster happen. I think we can be more specially know that may be this ad is for women in school.
I agree that the target of the ad is women. The name of the brand A&F and the word “ back to school” can easily catch the audiences’ eyes when the background color is black and white . “Back to school” may indicates that it is a scene that happens on the way to school or from school, but the woman’s dressing is so sexy that the man can’t help to make out with her in the car. The ad wants to tell its potential women buyers that if you buy the A&F, you will have a strong sexual attraction to the opposite sex. The word “back to school” adds to the meaning of sex appealing. Because school is a serious place, and I think people will feel some kind of guilty if they make out in the car to school. But the sexual appeal beats this guilty feeling. And I think the “school” also means the target of A&F is teenager girls. I guess the reason we can only see the woman’s clothes is partly because the designers of the ad want the audiences’ eyes fixed on the woman’s clothes, which is the ad wants to sell. Another reason is to express the feeling that the man can’t wait to have sex with her, and indicates how sexy she is with the A&F clothes.
ReplyDeleteI think the ad says back to school just to get at A&F's target audience which is mainly people in middle school and high school. The back to school goes with the idea of back to school shopping, so when people go to the mall they will remember the ad and need to get some back to school clothes from A&F. The scattered books and papers go with the theme of back to school, well its the only connection to the back to school theme. Without the books and what not there would be no reason or excuse to put back to school at the bottom, but since their are books they can act like this ad is for back to school shopping. I agree that this is aimed at a female audience, since the guy doesn't have a shirt. The women on the other hand has a dress on so female shoppers can see their clothing. If I as a man saw this ad I wouldn't think it was aimed at me, because the guy has no shirt. He seems more of an object because of his lack of clothing. The women is dominant because she has clothes on, which may interest female shoppers because they will think that if they wear clothes like the women in the ad they may be dominate of guys and guys will try to make out with them. I don't see how people could want to buy clothes from A&F just because of the back to school at the bottom, it just makes the company look dumb, but people still buy their stuff, so something must be working.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joel, this ad specifically targets the younger audience, but probably leaning towards college students. This ad could have been published after summer break, thus the statement 'Back to School' is stated in red. In addition, the shirtless guy and the women wearing only a top and a mini skirt suggests the weather to be hot. The papers could probably be the support as to the models being in college, or just being done with classes. I simply can't see the purpose of this ad as the clothes on the women can't be seen entirely and I couldn't see what the true object/clothing are they intending to sell.
ReplyDeleteI like what Joel was saying about the ad targeting middle school and high school audiences. It would obviously be aimed for the message of "get your back to school clothes here", but i think its also trying to say that "school is lame but look/be cool while doing it". I mean, this guy and girl are simply the models of what every teenager wants to actually happen and what they'll actually remember in their high school years. It's creating the illusion that this time in your (the consumers) life is all about who you were with at the time and what you were doing. This would explain why the paper is cast aside and the Back to School is in the ad. Its almost like saying "get back to work".
ReplyDeleteI think the sentence "back to school" is supposed to imply that while someones parents think they're buying them clothes to go back to school with, they're really buying them clothes that will make them attractive to the opposite sex, leading to situations like this. The papers in this ad show that their school work isn't really important, and they are tossed aside when sex is involved. The fact that you are left to guess whether the guy is wearing clothes or not is to suggest that the two could be doing more than just kissing and since the girl is wearing clothes it is showing that by wearing their clothes you could end up making out with a shirtless (or nude) guy in a car like this girl.
ReplyDeletejust as Joel and the others have said, its target is teenagers and no teen wants to see A&F clothes being displayed in a boring classroom. they want something edgy and compelling. rebelling against what is right. even though this is beyond realistic and by removing the "back to school" from the corner you would have no idea it was directed toward back to school clothes. anyways, the papers are there to add some support to the theme. and the dude isn't wearing a shirt because he doesn't have to. it's abercrombie and fitch, do the guys in ads ever wear clothes? sigh.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the back to school reference is just a ploy to take something ordinary and make it wild and exciting, a fantasy people like to entertaining. I also agree that this add is geared towards girls, as the guy has barely any visible clothing. Black and white once again displays sexiness, and the red makes the company stand out, and where you can buy sex at school
ReplyDeleteThe phrase Back to School has lots of excitement and dread behind it especially to college and high school students, A&F's major target audience and market. For many girls I know, back to school means a new clothes, which for some people can mean a new identity. A new identity can mean new and different behaviors for people. The paper in the ad doesn't really add any significance to the add except for the "back to school" theme. A&F is notorious for using male sexuality to attract customers. This ad is just repeating what the company is used to using and know that works. Like I said before, going back to school can mean new clothes and girls tend to enjoy the shopping experience more than guys. This ad could appeal to girls as by wearing these clothes you are more likely to attract men.
ReplyDeletethis ad is for HS and college students. This ad is obviuosly about two students who were studying and all of a sudden the girl needed CPR because she was studying to hard. Joking aside, I think the words are red to make them pop out. Red is also the color for desire, it sure looks like the two people in the ad desire one another.
ReplyDeleteThe ad is supposed to be appealing to kids in high school because we all see the "Back to School" ads telling us what we need to buy in order to impress our friends and show how much cooler we got over break. Clothing is one of the items we need to do that. And, if we get A&F clothes, this is a possible outcome or scenario after we buy these clothes and go back to school, although, probably best case scenario at that. I would say that the paper in the ad represents how strong the desire is between the two people. A desire so strong that they had to stop what they were doing (which we can assume is homework) and just go at it. As to the issue with the guy wearing no clothing I would say it is because this ad is geared more towards women and not men.
ReplyDelete