Product Image Format

Brand and product: Pepsi, Sierra Mist 
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Publication date: 1 February 2011 
Category: Product image format: Product in a natural setting

 This ad for Pepsi’s Sierra Mist is a clear example of a product in a natural setting format. The product is placed in the foreground with a seemingly perfect lakeside landscape in the back. The yellow and green palette of colors on the can of Sierra Mist compliment the depicted scenery which supports Pepsi's claim of the product being very natural.

This ad also contains another advertising technique with the addition of a personification of the lake and its testimonial that appears in the scenery.  Having the lake quoted as saying “It’s the most refreshing thing you’ve seen since me” makes the lake a signifier and signifies a natural and clean environment. This feeling of naturalness is supposed to make the customer feel a sense of refreshness and have a desire to seek out this product.

Brand and product: Louis Vuitton, handbags 
Source: Vogue
Publication date: February 2011 
Category: Product image format: Product in a social setting

This spread from Vogue is an example of a product, in this case a collection of Louis Vuitton handbags, in a social setting. Louis Vuitton is known for having sophisticated and upscale ads that portray the lifestyle of the upper class. In this scene, three women are displayed in a extravagant room with lavish decorations. They are sitting down as if they were meeting there for some sort of function. Interestingly enough, each of the three women are in one or more of the recumbent, body cant or head bend/head lift positions mentioned in the "Gender Codes" documentary about the subordination of women. They also appear to be spaced out like zombies and their makeup makes them look like baby dolls, alluding to the infantalization of these women.

        The audience is expected to observe these handbags and believe these women would use them in a luxurious social setting such as this one. There appears to be a bowl of cherries on the table between the woman on the left and the woman in the center. Cherries often signify decadence and therefor wealth. The fans the women are using are probably not there to cool them off. Rather they are another sign for affluence. These signifiers allude to the rich and luxurious lifestyle one may have if they purchase Louis Vuitton handbags.

Brand and product: Body By Milk “Got Milk?”, X-men Origins: Wolverine tie-in
Source: Rolling Stone
Publication date: May 2009
Category: People or person as symbol in support 
of product-image

This is one of the ads for the popular “Got Milk?” campaign. The point of the campaign is to inform consumers of the benefits of having milk in their diet. 

This ad came out around the same time the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released. It features it's main character, Wolverine who is a symbol of strength and resilience. By having Wolverine as a signifier of these qualities, the advertisers imply that drinking milk will make the consumer tough like him (“Milk has protein to help build muscle...”) Wolverine is a popular comic book character and thus appeals to children who are a target audience in the “Got Milk?” campaign. Not only are children targeted, but teens and adults, as well, including both men and women. Teen boys and men will likely see the movie and recognize Wolverine in the ad. Many women will notice the Hollywood handsome Hugh Jackman who portrays the Wolverine. The character takes up almost all of the attention in the advertisement and is standing in a powerful pose that commands attention.