There is a constant struggle between the everyday American and obesity. Everyone is looking for the new quick and easy way to shed their extra pounds and there are thousands of companies that earn millions off of the people looking for that quick fix. Slim fast is arguable the most famous weight loss plan. The slim fast product is perceived as helping people lose weight fast and easily, while also tasting good. This advertisement epitomizes those very aspects of weight loss to lure people into buying their product.
To start off, this advertisement follows the rule of thirds or the golden mean which causes the advertisement to be proportionate and easy to look at. The advertisement allows the eyes to focus on the cake and the scene taking place on the cake because the background is slightly faded out. The question is placed under the cake so the viewer is not distracted from the cake because the background of where the question is placed is also slightly faded out. The white color of the letters allows the brain to associate the phrase with a wedding because brides usually wear white dresses, which also means this advertisement is geared towards females. The white lettering also allows the eyes to easily transition from looking at the white cake to the question. The same goes for the placement of the slim fast product because it is made to be vivid and clear on a faded out background.
In terms of the gestalt principles, this advertisement allows the viewer to feel a number of ways. A wedding is considered by many people to be one of the most important days of their lives and everything needs to be perfect. The cake in this advertisement shows that because of how intricate the flowers are on the side and how smooth the icing on the top is. The imperfection is shown by the bride falling through the marvelous cake and creating a disaster on something that was supposed to be perfect, such as a wedding day. This slim fast advertisement also uses principles of metonymy by using the bride falling through the cake. The bride falling represents the embarrassment of being overweight in a wedding dress while the skinnier male is still on top of the cake and unable to save the overweight bride. Embarrassment is something that cannot be shown through one image; rather it has to be implied. This advertisement does a very sneaky thing by making it seem as though they are only marketing toward women who are getting married. However many women not getting married will see this advertisement and think that it works for women who need a very fast solution before their quickly approaching wedding day. When women think this they will believe that slim fast is the go to plan for losing quick weight, especially if summer is approaching.
Overall this slim fast advertisement is very sneaky and effective. Slim fast preys people who either need to lose weight or may be slightly self-conscious. This advertisement can also cause someone to become self-conscious and make them feel as if the only solution is the slim fast drinks.
Josh -- this is a great ad, one that allows for a good ideological discussion. What are the values that support our understanding of this ad? I think you may be a bit confused about gestalt -- it does not address symbolism in imagery but our psychological need for order. Don't forget to proofread your posts...this one has a number of tiny efforts in grammar, capitalization, etc.
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