Deconstructing a Print Advertisement

Looks can certainly be deceiving.....at first glance I see this advertisement and think, "Ohhhh John Snow," but as I dug through the ad more I started to see cracks in the surface. I didn't even see the words Jimmy Choo Man at first, I literally could not see past John (Kit Harrington) and then I said to myself that's odd why is he on an ad for Jimmy Choo??? At that first glance I obviously just flipped the page on the magazine and went about my day. Fast forward a few months and here I am looking at John in a different light.

I believe the people behind the ad chose my beloved hero John Snow for obvious reasons. He's sexy and attractive and women swoon over him. Is John selling the fragrance or is it the Jimmy Choo brand that is selling it? Based on the logo font that they used I would say John is doing the selling. The font blends in to the women's exposed leg and does not stand out at all. The bottle itself gets lost in the background of his jacket and you have to zoom in to see the bottom caption of the ad. As I dig deeper in the ad I see the women that is draped over him wearing an engagement ring. Does this mean that if you buy this cologne for your hot boyfriend that you too will get that large engagement ring on your finger? John's grip on the women's ankle seems odd to me, and the fact that we can not even see her face is even stranger. Why was the advertisement set up so we the viewers could not even see her face? All we do get to see is her exposed chest and bare legs, but we get to see all of John Snow in the photo. After first glance this advertisement seems very sexist and depicts to the viewer that men are in control. He's holding on to leg as she's casually draped over him in what seems to be a couch or chair. I question the brands intention on this ad, but based on other fragrance ads I unfortunately think it's in line with the competition.

I found this assignment to be very interesting. I learned a lot about dissecting an ad and seeing it from the publics point of view. I think sometimes being in the fashion industry clouds my judgment because I was taught that sex sells. We used sexy images all the time at my previous job to sell clothing, or sometimes the ads had no clothing so I questioned what we were even selling. The act of deconstructing an advertisement taught me how to look at something for a different angel and how you certainly can't judge a book by it's cover.....even if the cover has John Snow on it.