HA3 - Task 2 - Advertising Structures

There are a few different types of advertsing strucures that compaies use when trying to gain interest in their product. They each work better than others depeding on the message they wish to put accross...

Realist Narrative - This is an advert which has a believable and realistic story behind it. An example of an advert with a Realist Narrative is the Apple iPhone one below.

This advert is cleverly done to show people in their everyday settings using the iPhone to listen to music on. This will show viewers that it is versatile enough to be used in a variety of settings and can appeal to people of all genders, races, abilities and ages. This is good as the more people they can interest in their product, the larger their target audience becomes and the more money they can create.

Anti - Realist Narrative - An Anti-Realise Narrative is an advert which does have a story behind it however the story is obviously fictional. For instance -

This is a good example of an anti-reallist narrative as the story starts off quite normally with a man sitting down to his breakfast with Cravendale milk. It then goes on to feature cats growing thumbs and being able to human things such as reading a book and filing their nails. This advert is humorous and memorable so catches the viewers attention and makes the brand stand out amongst others.

Animation - Animation adverts are simply adverts made up of animations such as stop motion clay or cartoons. An example of one of these is -

The advert above is made up entirely of animation and text. I think it is a good example as the things which thway want to stand out (such as the facts and figures) do as they have been created using large green font. The whole advert looks sort of like an instructive diagram which is quite different to other things being advertised at the moment.

Documentary - A documentary advert is a type of advertisment that will explain a story alongside a day to day situation. This type of advert is similar to a realist narrative.

This is an example of a Documentary style advert, as it is as though they are documenting the life of an animal that needs saving/helping in some way. These style of adverts are usually focussed on a serious matter like the one above which is for the animal charity, RSPCA. 

Talking heads - These adverts are when the actors look directly at the camera which can usually be found when a brand/company are advertising something serious/scientific.

This is a good advertismet to illustrate Talking Heads as it shows you in good detail the people talking at the camera abou the product/company. In this case it is Asda talking about their 'Big Rollback' in Spring.

Stand Alone - This is when an advert doesn't ave a follow on. It is just one single advertisment which gets the point accross to an audience. Stand alone advertisements are designed to stick with the viewer without having to be repeated. I have chosen the Dairy Milk Gorilla Advert as it is very memorable.

This is a good example of a stand alone advert as anybody that watches it instantly remembers it as it is so different to anything that is already out there. As it is not your everyday boring advert, the audeince will want to watch the ad till the very end to find out what is adverising.

Series - These are adverts which follow on from each other or are very similar. These are popular as the audience like to see what the company can come up with next. A popular example of adverts in a series are the BT ones which feature a family who use BT to keep in touch with one another.

These adverts are good as they feature an every day family overcoming everyday things. In this particular one the audience are left waiting to see what is going to happen next when they discover one of the characters is pregnant. This is clever as it makes the audience want to carry on watching the advert instead of turning the channel when one comes on, therefore gaining more interest in their product.

 Advertisers also use the style of their adverts to create interest in their product/company/brand. This could include humour, an element of the surreal, drama or making it into a parody.

Humour - Humour is a great way to make an advert memorable. These days there are so many adverts which make us want to switch channel when they come on, so to make something that you not only want to watch but enjoy, is what most advertising companies are trying to do. An example of this is the Iron Bru adverts which can also be linked to the advertising structure of a Series.



This plays on the classic story of a daughter bringing home her boyfriend to meet her father. In this situation a proud Scottish man is confronted with an English man wishing to take his daughter through. The story behind the advert is that Iron Bru gets him through the meeting, as every time he dislikes something, (such as an english football shirt) he takes a sip of the drink and it makes it seem better.
The fact that these adverts are humorous makes them memorable.

Surreal - These type of adverts are usually obviously unreal and dreamlike. The word 'Surreal' means that basically, something is not real. It can often be described as dream like (something they wish could happen). I have chosen the Orangina advert below as an example.

In this advertisement wild animals start acting human after drinking Orangina which tells viewers that if they drink this drink wonderful things could happen to them too. Its humorous enough to be memorable with subtle hints of sexuality underneath it for those old enough to understand and appreciate it, and at the same time clean enough for younger people to enjoy it.

Dramatic - Simply, a dramatic advert will be over the top and often exaggerated. It can also hold elements of the untrue. I have chosen an example from Levi's.

This advert involves young people wearing Levi's clothing living their lives like young people are supposed too. Their lives look fun and carefree and each thing they are doing involves drama in some way. This is good as it makes people want to buy this brand as they want their lives like this too. It also encourages older people to buy this product as the reminisce about when they were younger, and think this product could make them relive those days.

Parody - A parody advert is one that makes fun of or mimics another advert. It is designed to be fun and memorable. An example of this is the Specsavers advert which mimics the traditional Lynx adverts.

This is popular as everyone associates a man spraying himself and beautiful women running towards him with the Lynx body spray. However this advert being for Specsavers is unexpected and this makes it memorable. It also combines its parodic effect with humour as really the advert is poking a bit of fun at the originals. It is also good advertising due to the fact beautiful women are seen running not wearing much which is another example of sex selling.

Codes and Conventions - 

There are codes and conventions in all types of the media, whether this be television, advertising, printed publications to name a few. Within these there are certain things that you would expect to see.

I have looked at a lot of these ads and have come to the conclusion that the majority follow a certain order. For example, in a shampoo advertisement, you are most likely going to see... 

A beautiful woman shown to be annoyed at her hair as she believes its dull and lifeless. She then finds out about a certain brand, uses it, and is then shown with her hair looking like she's just had it proffessionally done and her whole expression changes, and often, her whole life.

This advert follows the same concept as the rest of the Tresemme ads. As this brand want to get across that their product is Salon worthy, the models are being filmed in a salon setting complete with hairdressers styling their hair. 

At the end of the advert some technical jargon and their signature slogan "Tresemme, Professional, Affordable"is used. 

In this advertisemt Cheryl Cole is used which is clever as she is famous for her hair and looks. They have done this as they will gain a bigger fan base for their product by using a celebrity who already has a very large number or fans. People will go out and by the brand as they think that they too can have hair like their celebrity idol.

This is one of Herbal Essences signature adverts which feature beautiful young women in the shower using Herbal Essences which claims to "Awaken your senses".

There are aspects of the surreal and animation used in this advertisement also.

The woman in the ad's life is seen to change after she washes her hair, and in the end it looks glossier and healthier which attracts her "Prince Charming".

These adverts all end with a clear shot of the product being advertised (in this instance it is shampoo bottles) so the viewer can get a good look at what they want to go out and buy. The colours are usually brightly enhanced to make everything look much more over the top and eye-catching.