This exemplar is work in progress from students in 11A. It will be added to with analysis of the 1950s print Persil advert.
Analysis of the 1990’s Persil Advert
Narrative
Older brother is sleeping with washing piling up. Younger brother takes the responsibility to do the laundry, which subverts the stereotype of women doing domestic jobs and children to be lazy and having to be told what to do. Then the older brother reminisces about what happened the other night and how a young female gave him her number. This subverts the traditional ideas associated with women because in earlier generations women wouldn’t approach men for ‘a date’ they would wait for the men to approach them. This reinforces the notion of women enjoying greater freedoms in the post feminist 1990s. Then the flashback goes back to the present time and the younger brother is doing the laundry and sees the telephone number on his brother’s shirt. It then appears to the audience that he has washed the shirt (using Persil) that has the number on it which the older brother wants. When the younger brother turns the washing machine on and waves goodbye, there is a flash back of the girl (Anna). The younger brother appears to be saying goodbye to the dirt, stains and Anna’s phone number. Suddenly the older brother wakes up to find his shirt has disappeared, he then runs to the kitchen to look for it then sees it’s in the washing machine, takes it out and sees brilliant whites which reinforces the quality of Persil and its ability to get rid of any stains “whether you like or not” (female voice over). But luckily for the older brother the younger brother has used his initiative and written the number down. Then the two run around chasing each other showing the stereotype of boys playing and fooling around. This also suggests they share a good relationship and are part of a happy family. The narrative clearly follows Todorov’s narrative in that it opens with equilibrium, moves quickly into the disturbance stages and closes with a return to equilibrium / resolution.
Context
We can tell this advert is based in the 1990s a ‘post feminist society’ because the younger brother is seen doing domestic tasks such as doing the laundry. This is a clear move away form the 1950s Persil print advert. The music played throughout the advert suggests that it is based in the nineties because at that time techno music was very popular with young people. We can also tell that the advert is contemporary because the young woman (Anna) is seen to be very assertive giving the boy her phone number by writing it on his back using eyeliner pencil. However we can tell that the advert isn’t before the late 90’s because she gave him her landline number apposed to her mobile number which later became more popular amongst teenagers in later years.
The Persil advert is a playlet this means it is based on something that will/can happen in real life. This is also known as ‘a slice of life’ format. We first analyzed the camera work and editing of the Persil advert. The advert opens with a extreme close up of the side of the face which then shifts the focus to the phone number on the white shirt. This technique is used to show the link between the boy and the t-shirt with the number on it. This also get the viewer to focus their eyes on what’s important. This technique is also used in the end when the problem is resolved when the number shifts into focus. At first there is a high angle close up of the bigger brother dreaming whilst lying in bed.
Characters
In the Persil advertisement there are 3 main characters we see all of which are young for instance the younger brother who is doing the washing up seems 14-15 years old, his older brother appears 18-22 year old around the same age as Anna(woman in club).
Furthermore the advert subverts traditional Persil adverts as usually woman are shown doing chores rather then men, however in this advertisement we see young men doing the washing up this shows that they are self-efficient, we also see that they have a good relationship with each other as the younger brother plays a prank on his brother and helps him out by writing the number down on paper before washing.
The female character Anna is also stereotypically attractive woman as she has blonde hair and blue eyes, however she also subverts the usual concept of a man going up to a woman, as she goes up to man, this may show her masculinity and assertiveness.
The boys in the advertisement see higher working class or lower-middle class we can see this by how the house looks and the clothes the characters are wearing.
Mise en scene/ setting.
In the Persil advert there is two- main settings, one being in the house and the other being in the club. In the club there are many people and flashing lights, with raving music at the background to set the scene. Where as in the house we have to places where the advert is set one in the young 20 year old ish boy’s room and also in the kitchen. The teenager’s room is masculine coded as the room is bare and has not got many things in there and the fact the room is red shows that it is a boy/ mans room as black, blue, red are the colours that attract males .the room is also untidy as the younger brother has to pick up the older brothers clothes from the chair and the floor which connotes that the younger brother is quite domesticated as he does all the washing. When the teenager starts to reminisce his face turns goes blue, which mirrors the lights in the club and when his face goes blue this demonstrates that he has masculine qualities. And in the club the girl goes up to him first and gives him his number whereas in the 1950s it would be the man who would be going up to the girl first this shows how things have modernized over the years
In the advert there are two main props one being the t-shirt and the other being the persil box (product). The persil box in the advert is to show how the product looks so people/ consumers can recognize it in the shops. And the t-shirt is used to show the effect the persil(product) has on the t-shirt leaving it bright white.
Technical Codes (sounds, camera and editing)
The style of the advert is a playlet, which means a slice of life. It starts with an extreme close-up of the older brother. It then focuses on a white t-shirt with a telephone number and a female name on it. After this, it goes to the man sleeping in bed. A blue light comes over his body, and it crosscuts to the dream of the club. This links the man to the shirt, as we see him in the club with a woman writing her number on his shirt. We have an extreme close-up of the eyeliner touching the shirt, which reinforces that she wrote her number on his shirt, and makes the product appeal to both male and female audiences. It then cuts back to the other man pushing the on button on the washing machine, creating the disturbance. The dream is longer and sets the equilibrium, but in reality there are quick cuts that last two to three seconds. This is evident in the dramatic scene of the older brothers’ eyes with a canted shot. A canted shot connotes disorientation and surprise.
The advert has the same music playing throughout. The music is dance music, which was very popular at the time in Britain. The sound is very fast paced, which is reflected in what we see with the use of quick cuts. The music appeals to both men and women, aged between 18 and 30. At the end of the advert, there is a voice over with a woman speaking. The woman is Mariela Frostrop, who was famous and in vogue at the time the advert was made. Also, using a woman’s voice can give connotations of trustworthiness and authority, so it makes the audience believe what she is saying. It may also imply that women are better at cleaning and know a lot about it.
The advert cuts between the house and the dream of the club. The music is the same throughout, though the music is clearer and louder in the dream.
The sound, images, and dialogue are anchored together to create a message.
Messages and Values
The 1990’s Persil advert subverts stereotypical
view of women being the less dominant gender.
The advert is promoting washing
powder to males, as they’re giving them a reason
to wash their clothes as they want to
appear groomedfor the women to impress.
In the advert the
women is seen as the dominant one in the
relationship as she is the one who
approaches him ion the club, giving him her
number and she seems assertive and
confident in what she’s doing, whereas the
male is seen as inferior, also domesticated,
yet he seems to enjoy washing the clothes
and is apparent that he is self sufficient,
revealing that overtime roles have been switched.
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