Volkswagen advert

Camera angles in an advert, determines how the audience reacts to the product. A shot taken from a low angle makes the viewer look up to the person or product. It creates a sense of authority and superiority. A shot taken from a higher angle looks down on the product or people, making them appear weak and vulnerable. Compared to 28 camera angles in the Levi advert, is the Volkswagen advert that has 38 camera angles. The Levi advert generally uses normal shots to create simplicity in the advert, contrasting with the Volkswagen advert, which tries to create the opposite effect.

To amplify the intensely chaotic city, various shots are used. A pan shot of the city at the beginning shows how vast it is, and a spinning crane view of the city shows how things are not in control, but the shots taken where the camera ‘shakes’, when the men are being arrested, gives the real feeling of chaos within the city. The Levi advert uses a pan shot of the product, going from down to up showing the entire length of the jeans. The low camera angle does seem to make the man the man have authority and respect.

When he was not wearing the jeans he had normal camera shots, but when he wears the jeans the audience see him and the product in a different way. This particular use of camera angle is similarly used in the Volkswagen advert. When the car parks you see another low ground shot which, once again, gives the product authority and superiority. Both the Levi and the Volkswagen adverts are narrative, telling the story of the man, and a story about a young girl. The use of slogans and logos in adverts hold great importance.

They give the advert its own individuality and they hold reputation for the product being advertised. The blue and white logo in the Volkswagen advert stands out from the black and white of the scenery. The shade of the blue gives the audience an understanding that the advertised product is modern and technical. The logo is a ‘v’ and a ‘w’ inside a circle. The simple logo also give us the impression that the ‘v’ and ‘w’ are under protection while in the circle, and the blue represents the peacefulness and tranquillity. The Levi advert is very different.

The logo is the word ‘Levi’ in red, going down rather than across, and next to it the number ‘501’ in white. The colour red is effective in the logo because it connotes the rebellious streak you will have when you put on the jeans. You will immediately seek freedom not listening or obeying anyone. The Volkswagen slogan ‘If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen’ increases the consumers need to buy the product, because it uses a simile comparing the dangers of life, to a car that has shown in the advert it can protect and rescue people if they feel particularly vulnerable in daily life.

The Levi slogan ‘The original jeans’ uses a different approach to selling the product. Instead of saying how good the product is, as done in the Volkswagen advert, it says how successful Levi jeans are. Jeans have been around for a long time and Levi are that their company has always done well; therefore have always sold good jeans. The adverts are mainly similar in the ways that they use the same type of camera angles on the product and they both use a narrative to advertise the product.

The main differences are: the Volkswagen advert has a family target audience whereas the Levi has a target audience appealing to men, women in the Volkswagen advert are seen to be more assertive than the men, contrasting with the Levi advert, trying to show that men are stronger than women, the colours used in the Volkswagen advert are black, grey and white, comparing with the colours used in the Levi advert which are dull sandy browns.

The Levi advert has a sad and lonely atmosphere, which is almost opposite to the busy and chaotic city in the Volkswagen advert, and also the Levi promotes it’s company with use of the logo and slogan, but Volkswagen instead promote their own product with the same technique. My opinion: Volkswagen advert: 4/6 Levi advert: 2/6

I generally thought the Volkswagen advert was more effective for these reasons: the product appealed to a larger and wider range of target audience, the use of colours created a better atmosphere, the use of camera angles was varied and it did create a better gender stereotype. Although the Volkswagen advert was, in my opinion, overall more effective, there were certain areas where the Levi advert triumphed. It had a better choice of song and also used the logo and slogan in a more effective way.