Melissa Butler
Dr. Mark Howell
English 112
2/28/2016
Young Love vs Chanel No. 5
In today’s world we see advertisements such as billboards, benches or commercials on TV and almost everywhere else we go. Our society is constantly influenced by advertising. While enthusiastic people work hard to create their masterpiece of a commercial, most people try to avoid them due to the inconvenience of them interrupting their favorite TV show. Today they have become a part of our life and the competition to produce an effective commercial is always booming. A reason for the widening of advertising is certainly the stressful expectation to produce a unique representation of a product that stands out in the market, as well as selling the product itself. TV commercials are used to attract the audience and the producers spend a lot of money and time to obtain the attention of the viewer. The most glamorous commercials I feel are certainly those of perfumes. That is why I chose to do this paper on two perfume TV commercials and examine the features that are used to produce an effective advertisement. One will be a TV commercial of 1962 that deals with the perfume “Young Love” while the other represents the “Chanel No.5 “production of 2006. These are chosen to point out the difference with regard to the use of visuals and text that are important for the development of a commercial.
A TV commercial usually consists of text, visuals and sometimes incorporates music. All these features seem to be essential for the success of an advertisement. In the TV commercial Young Love a lot of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are used to attract the audience. At the beginning of the advertisement the first thing that grabs my attention is the picture of a flower and a woman seeming to play the game “He loves me, he loves me not”, which would be a sign for love. However, it can also be interpreted as a sign for young love as this game is usually played by young people or children to receive a future love- prediction. The use of the big letters that form the word “young” are an example of Pathos within the commercial. This is also important as it resembles exactly the first part of the perfume´s name.
The producer of the second advertisement uses similar patterns to make the audience aware of his perfume. Again he makes use of a love couple which could be seen as another form of Pathos. The scenes that represent the young couple on a skyscraper make use of a dominant visual sign in the background .This sign is well known and resembles the Chanel brand. It is not only used in the love scenes but also at the end of the mini-movie to emphasize the word “perfume”. The last scene represents the Chanel brand as higher class showing Nicole Kidman wearing a diamond necklace, the diamonds emphasize the brand even more. After the analysis of the signs within the commercials it should be mentioned that also the advertisement itself has a signifying function as it is regarded as the index that points toward a product.
Music seems to be an essential attribute of TV commercials as it is used to include the audience into the situation and also highlight the most meaningful parts of an advertisement. It allows the viewer to develop the mood that is essential in order to be persuaded by it. The TV commercial of the perfume Young Love makes use of a melody throughout the advertisement and focuses on the words “young love” which a man and woman are singing chorally. The lively tune of the melody allow the audience to enter the world of a young couple.
In the second TV commercial for Chanel No.5 the producer uses a classic melody. The piano helps to stress the dramatic and sad music at the beginning and every time the couple stays together music gets more harmonious and bright. Classical music is useful to bring to mind the elegance of the perfume and of the star Nicole Kidman. At the end of the TV commercial the music becomes quite dominant when the speaker mentions the word “perfume.” An article from Science Daily says this about music in advertising, “study shows that the use of different melodies, which are appropriate and in line with the message and the brand but different in terms of tempo and tone, creates different impressions of the person endorsing the advertised product and of the brand itself.” Music has a strong essence that influences the viewers, without it, advertising would not be as effective as it is with music.
Another essential factor of an effective outcome of a commercial are the pictures and how they are combined to tell a story. A.K. Andrew states in his article “Does Every Picture Tell a Story?” that “regardless of our artistic or scientific inclinations, we all have some response or other to visual imagery guided by our personalities and life experience.” The advertisement of Young Love focuses on a couple playing and sitting on big letters that resemble the name of the perfume. At the end of the scene the picture of the perfume is displayed and wraps-up the commercial. The commercial almost implies that with the help of the perfume women can find their young love.
In contrast, to Young Love the Chanel advertisement also shows the pictures of a couple, but these tell the story of a forbidden love with a celebrity. The point of the commercial is to tell a fairy-tale of love and to do so they use a famous actor Nicole Kidman to attract the audience. The producers designate a big city as a setting for this commercial and all the love scenes seem to take part on the top of skyscrapers. It could be assumed that the real world is taking place on earth and that on top of those buildings the couple is able to get away from reality. In the end the man´s memory of the perfume is everything that is left after the drama of love. The most effective way of broadcasting a message is by far language. In the article “Advertising and Language: The Power of Words” according to the author Hugos Ulises Cobos “to be able to communicate effectively we must develop a central concept, focusing the effort on an anchor story, a solid and attractive premise in which the personality, values and proposal of the brand will be present.” In the perfume commercial of Young Love a male voice tries to persuade women to buy the fragrance because it would make her special and attractive for her partner or the man she wants to get in touch with. The female consumer is also influenced by the particular emphasized name of the perfume which reminds the women of a lovely relationship and how she could be admired by a man if she were wearing the perfume. The TV advertisement does not merely want to sell the fragrance to women but also to men who want to make a woman feel special. The producer points out that if a man were to buy the fragrance, a woman would certainly like it and again another reason is added as to why to buy the product. The male voice also plays an important role when it comes to the message because it is setting a tone that both male and female can buy this product. David Ciccarelli blog “Reactions to Male and Female Voice over’s” says “Whether you choose a male or female voice talent depends on what the tone of the ad is attempting to convey.
The commercial of Chanel No.5 uses language to express that the perfume also makes the woman special and that they would be observed as the dream of every man. It is also implying to females that they will be noticed and appreciated by the men they adore. The language also simulates a tough woman whom is able to make her own decisions. The most dominant part of the text however, is certainly the last line of the dialogue which tells the female consumer that women who decide to wear the perfume will become unforgettable, especially for men. In this commercial the message is conveyed through a dialogue between a handsome, middle aged masculine speaker and the voice of the celebrity Nicole Kidman. “The voices of celebrities (or mimic of celebrities) bestow upon a product all the values signified by that individual: the strength of an athlete, the glamour of the star or the authority of the politician” (Cook. The Discourse of Advertising: 95). Nicole Kidman used as an actress and speaker of the text gives the perfume commercial a special touch of elegance and therefore creates a close connection between her and the fragrance of Chanel. Again this shows how important language is and in which ways the producer uses it to affect the audience.
The main difference that leaped out when I compared the two TV commercials was definitely the time of production. The Young Love advertisement was produced in 1962 whereas Chanel is a 2003 production. While the advertisement of Young Love tries to sell the product with a rather short and simplified version of a TV commercial, the Chanel No.5 is one of the most expensive perfumes commercial that turned up on TV. In contrast, the commercial of the sixties just uses a few sentences that should persuade the consumer of the perfume. As time has changed also the relationship between men and women has undergone a change, the two commercials are an outstanding example for this difference. In Young Love the audience gets the impression that love is a quite harmonious and easy to handle. In the Chanel No.5 advertisement the love between two people is quite complicated and forbidden. This can be seen as an indicator of our time. It is also is represented as a dramatic love story. The perfume ad of 1962 does not use any colors and is still black and white. The Chanel one uses dark colors and particularly emphasizes the women´s disappearance with a red carpet, although everything around her is quite dark. It is also the type of communication that distinguishes the two perfume producers. In the earlier published commercial there is a male voice which adds all the information that is interesting for the audience and could be seen as a narrative speaker. In contrast, the second one uses a dialogue between man and women, where the man is actually the narrator and direct speech is just used a few times. In the first one the audience is not able to see the man who is speaking. In the other one, the producer uses the influential voice of a young and handsome male. The first commercial indicates the time of the 60s and shows how language and the way of commercials have changed over time. Language in advertising has become more important and more complex as it was in 1962 and also the combination between the different visuals and text that make up an advertisement.
While watching a TV series no one would think of the certain signs that are essential for the outcome of the product. Therefore people do not really care about advertisements. This might be the reason why they think that such a TV commercial just wants them to buy a product. With regard to the comparison that has been made between these two commercials it is noticeable that genre of commercial has changed a lot in the past few years, especially when it comes to the effort of work. Today´s TV commercials invest more time than they did before and also try to make it as special as possible. They involve topics that are relevant in our daily life, like love, and point out the difficulties of our time. This means they adopt a fairly realistic perspective. A main topic of perfume advertisements, no matter if they appeared in 1962 or 2006, is always, love. Although people often do not appreciate the creation of commercials and criticize it, the following sentences should be kept in mind. “Yet the very quantity of advertising in our society, the skill and effort which goes into creation, the complexity of its discourse and its impact on receivers, are enough to make it interesting. Advertising can focus and redefine ideas about language, discourse, art and society, and in this respect its study is well worthwhile.” (Cook. The Discourse of Advertising: 237).

Works Cited

Plataforma SINC. "An explanation of how advertising music affects brand perception." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 June 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110622045135.htm>.

Andrew, A.K. "Does Every Picture Tell a Story?" Writers Notebook. 8 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://akandrew.com/does-every-picture-tell-a-story/>.

Cobos, Hugo Ulises. "Advertising and Language: The Power of Words." More Than Branding. 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://morethanbranding.com/2013/02/12/advertising-and-language-the-power-of-words/>.

Ciccarelli, David. "Reactions to Male and Female Voice Overs." Voices.com. The Biz, 13 June 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://blogs.voices.com/thebiz/2010/06/reactions_to_male_and_female_voice_overs.

Cook, Guy (2001). The Discourse of Advertising. Second Edition. London: Routledge. [Pg. 95-237]

Links for Commercials Used
“Young Love Perfume 1962 TV commercial”. [Online]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tlk2V9kx5w. [2011, March 03].

“Chanel No 5 commercial (starring Nicole Kidman)”. [Online]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTO4FHf8MBs. [2005, December 22].