Task 3 responses to media products

in this essay, I will be evaluating the key themes and analysing two fairy liquid adverts. Talking about the characteristics, narrative structures, and the representation of the characters within the adverts. One of the adverts will be premenullem and the other post menullem so you can see how the adverts have progressed over time.

Also in this essay, I will be explaining the theories of Vladimir Propp, Tzvetan Todorov, Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes. This is because all of these people have come up with theories based on representation on story’s (narrative) and characters, Within such things as TV, films and adverts.
in this case I will be relating the four theories to advertising a more specifically fairy liquid adverts. This is so it relates more  my main topic of my essay.

Firstly, I will be looking at Vladimir Props theory. Vladimir props  theory is that all story’s and narratives will have set characters such as villains, hero’s and princess’s. this is because the idea is that without set characters like these there will not be any narrative or story of interest to the audience.

An example of this theory in action would be in Star Wars. Star Wars is a sci-fi film about a galaxy far far away. It relates to Vladimir Props theory as there is a villain “Darth Vader” and a hero “Luke Skywalker” these are the two main characters and the film mainly features them and how “Luke” is the hero. Relating to Props theory it shows how the story does have set characters.

Relating this to the advertisement of the washing up liquid fairy liquid adverts. In the 1960’s advert for fairy liquid features to actresses a child (the princess) the mother (the narrator). But it also features the fairy liquid which in this case the brand fairy liquid has turned the actual bottle of washing up soap into the “hero” this is because it saves the day by making the mothers hand soft and cleaning the dishes.

Next, I will be talking about and explaining Todorov’s theory about narrative. Simply the theory is that all narratives are based on an equilibrium that start balanced at the start of every narrative like a scale. Then the scales tip from being happy to being sad to happy throughout the narrative, but then it always comes back to the balance by the end of the narrative.

Todorov’s theory is made up of five stages. The first stage is the balanced scales which is at the start of the narrative. The second stage is that something within the narrative happens to disrupt the balance of the scales to either be happier or sadder. The next stage is that the characters in the narrative, realise that the scales are tipping. Fourthly the characters try and fix what ever happened to make the scales tip to one side. Finally, the scales of happiness and sadness go back to the equilibrium but the equilibrium is a new form of happiness.

An example of a narrative where Todorov’s theory relates would be in the film, Avenger’s assemble where a group of hero’s start happy then a villain comes to destroy the world. The Avenger’s (hero’s) realise this and come together to stop them. Next, they fix the problem and go back to a new happiness as the problem brought them all together. This plot relates to Todorov’s theory as it has all five stages of his theory within the film.

The 2000 advert for fairy liquid also relates to Todorov’s theory. Being it starts with a child being happy playing with a bottle of theory, but then there is a problem as the mother can’t find the fairy. Next, she fixes the problem by finding the fiary and using it even though the child is playing with it. And then there is new happiness as the plates are clean and the fairy liquid has been found.

Furthermore I will be explaining Levi Stauss’s theory. Levi Strauss’s theory of Binary opposition, the theory entails that narratives contain two main characters that are opposing to each other this could be with different viewpoints of right and wrong, and how the two characters are against each other. They are designed to make the plot of the narrative more interest to the audience.  

An example of when this theory would be in the film captain America  winter soldier. Where there are two main characters the winter solider and captain America. Where both of these characters is in some type of war against each other because they have different opiouns on right and wrong, this also relates to other theory’s because one of them is a hero and the other is a villain.

Finally I will be explain the theory of Roland Barthes. Roland Barthes Theory is that the context of a narrative has a number of meaning, so different people (audience) will interrupt the narrative differently as It is portraying different meanings.

An example of a narrative where this theory relates would be in the film Kung Fu Panda. In the film, the main character PO is portrayed as the hero and the other main character Tilun is portrayed as the  villain. But the audience could have interpreted this differently. This is because there are reasons given to Tilun’s actions so the audience ­­may interpreted this information  differently to others and not see him as a villain meaning that the narrative has different contexts.

Now I have finished talking about the four theory’s, I will continue to look at the fairy liquid advertising in the current era and the post. In this I will be looking at the characteristics that include critical approaches such as content analysis. I will also be looking  at the narrative structures such as single and multi-strand structures. Finally, I will be looking at the representation of characters such as stereotyping.

Fist I will look at the characteristics of both the 1990’s fairy liquid advert and the 2017 fairy liquid advert. The 2017 fairy liquid advert has key characteristics. An example of this would be how it features the fairy liquid bottle. In the advert, the focus is all around the product this is shown through close up shoots of the bottle and the fact that the family is talking about the product and by doing this promoting its use.

Also, the advert promotes the product by having the key characteristics of family. Fairy has always promoted its self as a family product, by its advertising feature a family playing with or using the fairy bottle. Making the product look fun as it is aimed at parents so it can be more than just a washing up liquid it can also be a toy.

Also in the advert, the brand fairy compares its self against others, this is so it looks like the more economical option rather than other brands, as it lasts twice as long then the next leading brand. This promotes the product as it gives the audience facts about the product to why they should buy it over other similar products.

Also the advert uses subliminal messages to promote the product an example of this would be in one shoots of the child playing with the bottle you can see the farther in the background cleaning the dishes, using fairy liquid. This is subliminally promoting the product as the audience would not be focusing on the farther cleaning and only see it out of the corner of their eye, so when it comes to them promoting the product they will believe the facts more as they have seen the product in action.

The platform for the fairy liquid advertisement is mainly Tv. This is because it is only a 20 second clip so it has been made a very small video to be able to put between programmes without having to spend a large amount on advertising space. Also, the advert has also designed to be put online this would be on its own channel such as Facebook and YouTube. But as well as being designed to put before a video on YouTube. This means they must make the advert interest to the viewers do not skip the advert so they want to know what happens which is why it has a story line.

The 1990’s fairy liquid advert characteristics is very similar to the current fairy liquid adverts. This is because like the current adverts. The 1990’s advert is family orientated this is shown through a mother and a daughter playing together in the kitchen like the current advert but instead it is a farther and a son playing together.

Another similar feature of the 1990’s advert and the 2017 advert is the focus on the fairy liquid bottle, like in the current advertising the 1990’s advert has close up shoots on the bottle, this is to emphases the product so it is apparent to the audience that this is what they a promoting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mki1Zto7JZo&nohtml5=False

Next I will be looking at the narrative structures of the same two viedo’s, the narrative structure is about how the story line relates to the advertisement of the product, this includes whether it is single strand or multi-stand etc.. the fist video that I will be looking at is the 1990’s advert for fairy liquid.

The narrative for this video starts with a mother and daughter in the kitchen. With the daughter pretending to have opened a shop and selling items to the mother including some washing up liquid which is not fairy liquid. The mother then continues not to buy the other washing up liquid and showing the daughter fairy liquid and how it is far better than the other washing up liquid.

This is a linear narrative as it only move’s forward in time and is single strand as it is a very simple concept. The narrative is designed to promote the product. Firstly I will be looking at the family concept of the advert. The advert is based around the relationship between a daughter and a stay at home mother, this is shown through the mother doing the washing up and the daughter playing on the table so the mother can keep an eye on her. This is designed because the advert is aimed at parents as they will be the ones doing the washing up and how their children can help and play with the fairy liquid bottle. This will make it more appealing to the target audience as they will want a happy family like the one shown through the advert. Also it is shown through the child helping the parent with the washing up and how it can be a family activity.

Also relating to the narrative structure, is that they have some sort of comparison between the fairy liquid and other brands this is through the child’s shop and how the mother will not buy the other washing up liquid. This makes the viewer think that fairy liquid is far more superior then the other product as she will not buy the product even from her own daughter. But later on, she buys fairy liquid from her daughter. This suggests to the viewers that fairy liquid is the better buy as it is a better product.

The 2017 fairy liquid is the next narrative structure that I will be looking at. This is because it is more recent so gives a good comparison to how the narrative structures have changed. From my research, I can tell that the narrative structures of the fairy liquid have not changed dramatically, they have only become more modern. An example of this would be how they have the changed from it being a mother and daughter playing with the fairy liquid it is now a father, mother, and son. This is so that it shows a full family together rather than just the mother and daughter doing the washing up.

Another example of how the advert has been made more modern would be how the son now instead of wanting to sell the fairy liquid from a shop wants to turn the bottle into a space ship. This is more modern because it relates to the progression of technology in the 20^th centenary so it relates more to the current audience then a shop would. As it is about relevant technology.

But overall the advert is very similar this is through the family concept to the narrative so fairy have the same target audience as they did back in 1990’s to present day.

Finally, I will be looking at representation of the characters. For this I will still compare the 1990’s advert and the current advert. The main change between the two adverts is the representation of women. In the 1990’s advert it is very apparent that they have represented the mother as a stay at home mother how does the house work and looks after the child. But in the 2017 advert they have made it so it is a farther and a son and how the farther also does the house work and cleans the dishes.

In the 1990’s the women being represented as a stay at home would have been acceptable. But in 2017 this would be seen as sexism as the mother may not be the person who stays at home doing the house work and this is only a wrong stereotype. Unlike in the current fairy liquid advert where they break stereotypes by having the farther being the one staying at home and looking after the son. Also, this is shown by the son helping the father wash up so he can play with the bottle quicker.

Also in the 2017 advert there is a shoot of the mother washing up as well. This is so that it is apparent that both parents do the house work so it is not leaning towards just one parent doing the dishes that invites more of a audience to get the product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ESlmZALZI