breaking it down

surface meaning:this ad is showing a beautiful women holding a very nice purse. she's probably going to a fancy event on account of her outfit. she's a famous actress which means she's rich which also means the purse may be expensive.

advertisers meaning: the advertiser was trying to portray an elegant look for the purse while eluding Mila Kunis' sex appeal by placing her around fog in a semi lit room which illuminated her beautiful smokey eyes. her dress is somewhat relieving , showing  cleavage and the outline of her body.

cultural meaning:this ad is expressing the wealth of  the women.  this ad is also expressing the gender roles of a women because she is in a dress and holding a very nice purse.

stereotypes

I honestly believe racial stereotyping is necessary in advertising. when creating an ad, you're trying to relate to a certain type of consumer. I believe this also ties back into the idea of myvertisement. The consumer needs to relate to the ad in order to even think about purchasing the item, therefore stereotyping is in a sense used as marketing technique. I think stereotyping is necessary  but needs boundaries and limitations. I do not think racial stereotyping is a thing  of the past.  theres a MC Donald's ad that my mom and I found very racist. Not only are there only black people in the commercial but they are also rapping! When i asked my mom how she felt about the commercial  she told me it was the same stereotypical portray of African Americans doing what uncle SAM wants them to do, entertain. I feel like this ad is another set back for African Americans yet again. In this ad, MC Donald's is trying to reach out to one certain type of consumer, which is the black community. unfortunately i have not been able to find that commercial  but here is a link to another semi racist commercial. although there are only food objects rapping, they are still trying to relate to a certain type of consumer. I also noticed that most MC Donald's are placed in urban city areas. coincidence? i think not! In a way advertising has an ethical responsibility to portray what is socially acceptable by the majority of the consumers. When catching commercials, the average American needs a sense of security. People do not want to watch anything that may cause them to think to hard or bring them discomfort.   

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9oR2EmU854

what makes a brand relevant

Relevance is very important  when it comes to a brand. The relevance of a brand lets you know how popular the brand is amongst  different social classes and social groups. Relevance also lets a consumer know if that brand will be acceptable by their peers.If they see their peers wearing or consuming a similar item, then they know that the item is relevant. Celebrities also play a very big role in the consumers mind when deciding if the brand is relevant or not.  In clothes, consumers tend to wear what they see their idol wearing, so that they can be more like that person. Its a sense of  bond that the item brings between the consumer and their idol.  How relevant a brand is can also be determined by how popular it stands with middle. You can determine just about any items relevance by middle Americas opinions because of its diversity and variety of social



As you can see from the picture below, YSL became very popular with young people after seeing Justin Bieber wearing it at the VMA awards last year.YSL has been around for years but was  mostly popular with older adults. Now, you can spot the YSL brand just about anywhere but even more so on young hip adults then before.