SAAB

SAAB CAR ADVERTISEMENT ANALYSIS

How Does SAAB Create a Sense of Desire Amongst its Customers With This Advert?

The picture advertisement aiming to grab the attention of future car owners portrays the new SAAB SUV in a bright light. Succeeding at conveying an overall theme which speaks to its demographic, allowing the advert to create desire and that jump to action. It does so with its use of diction that all contributes to one main theme. The theme of speed and precision. Secondly, the overall positioning of each factor on that advert aims to attract attention and speak to the main theme. The colouring, use of objects in the background and positioning of the light all work towards making  the car look divine.

This advert grabs the attention of its demographic using complementing diction, to convey an overall theme of the car. On the top right of the page we see SAAB’s slogan, stating ‘’Born from jets.’’ Introducing the fact that this SUV was made by the same company that used to make jets. They portray this as a positive factor because typically jets are known for their speed  and motility. They use transference to shift the precision hallmark of a jet onto their SUV.  Below the picture of their vehicle we see a description characterising the car as ‘’An SUV with altitude.’’ The theme of speed and precision is carried on throughout the advertisement. The use of the word ‘altitude’ again brings back the image of jets and depicts  the idea of high altitude, elevation and peak. Suggesting that this is the peak technology in its market and is the best you can get.  The reference to jet technology later on suggests that SAAB makes great engines which are fuel efficient but fast. As described by ’optimises fuel efficiency* without sacrificing performance.’ On the other hand, besides talking about technology they focus on the experience and end their description with a short a powerful sentence stating ‘Enjoy your flight.’ Again referencing back to the elegance, precision and speed of jets which is unusual for SUV which is what makes this product stand out to create desire.

Secondly what this advert excels at is positioning. As I have mentioned before the SAAB logo is on the top right corner next to which, sits their slogan. We can assume that this advert was positioned on the right hand of a magazine because as soon as a reader would turn the page, the first thing that they saw would have been the SAAB logo. Secondly the car was photoshopped into an airplane storage room that again portrays its speed, power and precision by relating back to the jets. The car is also turned sideways allowing the viewer to see the cars main features, not only the front nor the side, but both. The windows positioned on the ceiling all lead towards the car, dragging the readers attention toward the car itself. Lastly the whole advert is mostly black and white, the only fraction of colour is in the logo. This helps the logo stand out even more, bringing attention to the company. The lack of colour makes the car appear elegant. The picture portrays an absence of emotion, not only making the car look slightly dark and mysterious but it makes it look ‘cool’. The elegance it portrays can also be connected back to the speed and precision.

In conclusion SAAB succeeds at attracting the attention of its demographic by  the positioning of the lights in the background, the positioning of the logo and the choice of colour for the advert. Not to mention the picture of the car model itself attracts attention. It develops desire mostly by comparing it to jets and using transference to shift their qualities onto the car. This is what truly makes the reader want such a product.

What Leads the Reader to Perceive Mersault as a Viceral Character?

‘INTRODUCTION’

Mersault portrays a lack of emotion throughout the book. With events such as the death of his own mother or a marriage proposal seem almost completely indifferent to him than any other mundane events. We can see this, already in the first sentence of the book. ‘’Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.’’  The fact that he does not know when his mother died hints that such an event has no particular effect on him, conveying that he simply does not care. Not that he doesn’t feel the love towards his mother, as through the book he often brings back memories, but that this event is equal to any other in his mind. This points to the fact that life itself is a meaningless drift through time in his mind.  This lack of emotion presents him as a careless and almost evil human being, due to the fact that in the eyes of others he feels no grief. In reality the reader knows that Mersault in fact does not feel any particular emotions towards other people and life in general. However the carelessness that he feels towards the life of others, rather than his own, particularly shines through in his particular situation. This later on in the book, leads to the court making wrong assumptions about him.

Besides the lack of emotion, Mersaults character is strengthened by his straight forward and completely honest replies. The main reason for why other people see him as an outsider is the fact that he does not make an effort to hide his lack of emotion.   ‘’He was just going up to the coffin when I stopped him. He said, ‘Don’t you want to?’ I answered, ‘No.’ He didn’t say anything and I was embarrassed because I felt I shouldn’t have said that.’’ His behaviour is dominated by his senses meaning that he will always portray what he feels according to his surrounding and not the emotions which he lacks. His plain honesty often surprises people because with his replies he breaks society’s moral values portraying his lack of emotion. He often realises that what he said was wrong or immoral however he will never choose to lie about what he feels just because others find it unusual. This honesty drives the whole story because he himself does not realise that such lack of emotion is unusuall however people which do not know him, only see the lack of love which he gives out at his mothers funeral. This is why he ends up with a death sentence.

Lastly besides his lack of emotion, what drives Mersault is also the fact that he cannot distinguish between what is good and what is bad. He can be classified as amoral, which is what the court fails to see.  Upon being proposed to and being asked to write the letter to Raymonds girlfriend, he simply agrees because he ‘’didn’t have a reason not to.’’ Whatever he does is based on how he feels at the moment. He lives in the present and fails to judge whether his actions are moral or whether they will affect his future self in a negative or positive way. This again connects to his lack of emotion and leads him into committing his crime as well as to contributing to Raymonds neglectance of his girlfriend.

In conclusion Mersault does not mean to do anything bad or immoral, however his lack of emotion and instinctive way of thinking leads him into situations one would not like to find himself in. Others perceive him as almost as a monster, because of his lack of emotion towards others. However the reader knows that there must be something wrong in his mind, health-wise, because he fails to care about his future and cannot tell whether whatever he is doing is right or wrong. His honesty reflects all this, to other characters in this book, most of which perceive it in the wrong way.

Liz, newspaper comparison

What newspapers do you think each of these stories is from and why?

Consider the way each story is told,

• headlines
• syntax
• diction
• ideas

1.Revealed: the truth behind 'sweet little old tax rebel'
- Article from the independent
- is a centre - left wing newspaper
- Mostly in support of the old lady
- sophisticated language because its demographic is mainly middle class men

2.I'll go to prison, says council tax woman rebel, 83
- Article in the Daily Telegraph

- paragraphs are about 2 or 3 sentences
- has a right wing bias

3. Rebel pensioner: I'd be a fool to pay council tax

- Article in the Daily Mail

- Its demographic is mostly middle class
- simple language
- short paragraphs

4. How an 83-year-old woman became a council tax martyr (with a little help)

-Article in The Guardian

-Left wing newspaper
-Sophisticated language: 'martyr' 'exemption'
- In support of the lady