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[olboul-blog]

This image is of a billboard I drove passed in Tampa and is centred around advertising for a divorce firm. I had made a conscious effort to look out for billboards which caught my attention and the reasons behind why this were the case. The reason that this particular billboard caught my attention is due to the big red heart which has been broken down the middle to resemble a broken heart. There are several billboards around Tampa which advertise divorce firms but none of them had caught my eye like this particular one did. Even my parents who were with me in the car at the time and were not even consciously looking out for billboards commented on how it drew their attention and how they thought it was a clever billboard. The fact that they have contrasted the black background with the bright red heart makes the broken heart stand out even more due to the contrasts between the two colours. Lastly, I found their use of words to be interesting as they included the words Divorce Expert on their billboard. They are using language to try and garner credibility by stating they are experts within the world of divorce firms. Overall, I think it is a very clever billboard which has made a saturated billboard market stand out from its competitors.

[olboul-blog]

This image was taken out of my annual Chelsea magazine which is a soccer team based in London. The magazine covers various aspects of the club and provides updates along with points of information. However, despite having to pay around $20 for the magazine, they still include advertisements throughout, but they disguise it as if it is a part of the content. For example, I was reading the latest Chelsea annual when I came across this particular page which was advertising the new home and away jerseys as well as providing a link where they can be purchased. However, what really caught my eye was the bold title at the top of the page which read “IT’S A CHELSEA THING”. They are tapping into fans identities within the club in order to try and persuade you that only real Chelsea fans would understand the importance of purchasing the latest jersey. They are attempting to infiltrate the identity of the reader by convincing them that if they purchase the latest jersey then you are a part of something special, you are a part of something that only true Chelsea supporters would understand – “it’s a Chelsea thing”. This is definitely an effective way of advertising and it certainly caught my eye as I was reading through the magazine as it makes you second guess as to whether you can be classed as a true supporter if you do not have the latest jersey.

[olboul-blog]

Although at first glance this billboard may not seem as though it offers much in way of analysis, the reason I chose this billboard is because of the first impression I was under when I initially came across it which subsequently turned out to be vastly different to what it actually represented. When I first saw this billboard, I was under the impression it was a type of erotic website targeted at divorced men due to the name of the URL which is DivorceMenOnly.com, not to mention the subtle image of the tie on the left-hand side of the billboard. In addition, due to the fact that I was only able to catch a glimpse of this whilst driving past, I Initially believed that the name on the billboard was Kayleigh as opposed to Kenny Leigh which I assumed was a female name of the individual responsible for the website. However, when I drove past this billboard on following occasions, I realised that it was in fact a divorce attorney for men only. I may be the only person to have had this initial assumption, but I think it is interesting nonetheless as although it is a basic billboard, it absolutely captured my attention and caused me to investigate further by visiting the website to see what was being offered.

[olboul-blog]

The reason that this particular advertisement stuck out to me was because it was only yesterday that I was talking to my friends about purchasing some protein powder. The subsequent day I was scrolling through Facebook and this particular advertisement came up and it was one that I had never even seen before until I had started speaking about my desire to purchase some protein powder. Interestingly, the second thing that caught my eye was the way in which they were trying to sell this product by stating “FREE WHEY PROTEIN’ in capital letters as a “new customer offer”. It was actually an effective advertisement as I enquired further about this offer by clicking on the link, however it turned out that there were certain prerequisites that had to be met before this offer was valid and I ended up not purchasing the product. I just found in interesting how I had been talking about needing a certain product and then a day later I was getting an advertisement directly targeting the product I was interested in with an offer stating it would be free. Although I did not purchase the product, it was certainly an effective advertisement that captured my interest and left me enquiring further.