Analyzing Ad Analysis 10/10/2012

In the picture ad where the man's lower half is staring at the mannequin in red lingerie, the author of the analysis convinced me of his opinion on the ad. He talks about the intended and unintended messages taken away by the viewer. His last paragraph left me thinking with his sentence, "It stereotypes women as sex objects, and even stereotypes men as always desiring sex." His incorporation of his perception of the intended message was also interesting, "The intended message of the ad appears to be that if men use Axe Essence body spray, they will attract sexy women in lingerie, and will lust for those women over their ordinary girlfriends." I didn't necessarily think that same thing, but it does make sense when looking at the picture again. He incorporates the meaning of the text in with his analysis of the intended meaning and uses those words to emphasize his idea of the intended meaning. I think he thinks outside the box when asking the question; why couldn't it be the man's upper half staring at the lingerie? I did not think about this at first but it makes perfect sense now! He failed to emphasize the colors that stand out, which is really only the red lingerie to me. all the other colors are pastels so they don't really pop out of the picture like the red does. The color thing would have made his view even stronger. The author did a good job with the analysis and calling attention to things a lot of people wouldn't normally pick up on. 

Visual Argument 10/3/2012

http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/04/13/billboards-war-bmw-vs-audi/

This image is an old one, but I think it argues a clear point in a way thatis funny yet non-confrontational. This image could only be seen from certain vantage points in California when the bilboards were up, a strategic move by BMW. Obviously, the larger billboard was a comical answer to Audi's smaller one that says "Your move BMW." The creators of the larger sign want the people who view both to see that BMW has a better car than the Audi. The way they present this makes it stick in peoples' minds because it is funny. I saw this picture probably 5 years ago and this was the first thing that I thought of when I though of a visual argument.
If the text was taken away, then I don't think that it would be as lasting in peoples' minds because there really is no other humor other than the overly large size of the second billboard. To understand these visual arguments, one must be aware the Audi and BMW produce similar luxury vehicles at similar prices. This visual would not work if the companies were Honda and Ferrari, but since Audi and BMW are so similar, it works. The bigger billboard is trying to be more prominent in a funny way which leaves a lasting impression on one seeing these two advertisements. The simple word "checkmate" was chosen as a simple response to the taunting of "Your move, BMW." Any other word or phrase on the BMW billboard would not have the same effectiveness of "checkmate."
The colors are reversed for both signs (white with black, black with white) in order to create a sharp contrast between the two companies. Obviously, BMW is arguing that its car is better than the Audi which is emphasized with the color scheme, and the text. I think the BMW symbol stands out better than the Audi symbol because of the black background, so it leaves a longer impression of BMW in your mind.