Ad Deconstruction

The adverstisement to the right is that of the alcohol, Skyy Vodka. In this blog, I will deconstruct this particular advertisement and allow you to better comprehend who this advertisement is trying to reach and how it effects the audience it is trying to reach. Equally I will deconstruct the messege of this ad as well as the composition and the effects and reactions that resonate with this ad.

What is this Ad Trying to Say?

Set in modern times, this advertisement takes place on a warm, sunny beach front with and overly exaggerated background of blue sky. In the foreground there is a woman sun tanning in a minimal swim suite, taking off her sun glasses-that are reflecting the deep blue sky- to look up at a man (only the lower part of his body visable in ad) who is holding a Skyy Vodka bottle and two martini glasses.

The primary audience is mid-twenties to early thirties men in the business world. The details that suggest this particular audience is the clothing that the male is wearing and his dominating stance over the young woman. His clothing suggests someone with a little more money and a classier lifestyle from the suite all the way down to the polish of his shoes. He is standing over the body of a young, blonde woman with the martini glasses and vodka as she looks up at him.

Though there is a Skyy Vodka bottle in the left hand of the male, the main focus of the of the ad is the sky above the woman's body and in between the legs of the male. What you get in this ad is this idea of 'the sky's the limit,' as a young man takes control of a situation and gets the beautiful girl on the beach with the help of Skyy Vodka.

In this particular ad, the angle of the ad allows the viewer to focus his/her eyes on the woman's breasts. The woman is clearly unproportioned this way to then attract the viewers eyes back into space where the blue sky is exposed. The technique of using her body as and "arrow" gives the viewer a starting point as our eyes naturally follow straight lines. Looking passed her breasts, her feet come to a point directly below the man's crotch, exposing a pocket of sky between the body of the man and woman. If you look at the negative space between the man's legs and the women's feet, you will notice and upside down 'V' shape. This pattern is used throuout the ad-the diagonals of the man's legs, the woman's eye brows, the martini glasses, the opening of the male's suite jacket- to direct the eyes of the viewer.

The explicit messege in this ad is, obviously, swaying people to drink Skyy Vodka. But Implicitly, the ad is saying that if the viewer drinks Skyy Vodka, the possiblities of this scenario are more likely to happen. The makers of this ad do so very subltely. There are no catch phases or slogan stamped onto the ad. Just the two people, two martini glasses, and the vodka. The setting speaks for itself.

Overall, my initial reaction to this advertisement was, "holy crap! Do you think her boobs are big enough?" But once I got passed that and realized the audience the ad was reaching, I came to the conclusion that it was a very clever advertisement. What I found even more interesting is that most alcohol ad usually have "please drink responsibly" somewhere in the ad. This ad did not which also hints towards an audience of more mature people, as if they already know to drink responsibly. I believe that this ad was intended to grab the attention of yound males but i think it unintentionally appeals to women too. The idea of meet a handsome, business oriented, man when tanning at the beach, sounds pretty good to me!