Analysis Of The Stihl Chainsaw Advertisement

''You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements'' (unknown) Statistics have shown that an average person sees between 400-600 advertisements a day. Does that mean that we think deeply and in detail about each advertisement our eyes come across? Do we give each one of those 400-600 advertisements our full attention, perhaps even a laugh or allow a feeling of excitement to spur within us? No. Why? Because what captivates us is specific to us only. What appeals to us is singular. Our taste cannot be too broadly generalised. The advertisement above is a solid representation of the listed points above, as it is for a brand of chainsaws. A person might look upon it and laugh at how bizarre looking it is, some question and attempt to understand

It is clear that the main goal of the ad is to consume the viewers attention. One of the ways in which this is done is the chosen setting. The extensive miles of sole desert, a single kneeling man at work, the solitary tent and a camel all fit together to create somewhat of a intimate vision of what a desert experience could turn out to be like. The audience's gaze is immediately drawn to the kneeling man and the chainsaw in his hands as he is situated in the near centre of the ad, while the rest of the selected objects are compressed into the upper left corner as if to create creates a feeling of desolation in the backdrop. The cynical humour as mentioned above originates from the juxtaposition of the advertisement near the french slogan, found at the bottom right corner of the image. 'The desire to cut things up' if roughly translated into English. The text, the smiling facial expression of the man and his dedicated posture indicate a sort of enthusiasm which juxtapose with the empty, fruitless backdrop. This is humorous in a way as the chainsaw in the mans hands spurs strong passion, even for someone in the dessert. It is key to note that the form of humour used in the ad directly relates on the depiction of a culture of the particular place, gender, race or even way of living as it may be misunderstood by foreign viewers which come from different lifestyles as the one

This advertisement covers the above points in a slightly humorous way which attract the audience, although it could be argued that the advertisement reflects racial, gender and cultural stereotypes that the audience might