COMM 605 Observation Paper #2 — Liz, Horgan February 22, 2010 This observation centers on an advertisement I saw a few days ago (see attached, page 3). ‘The advertisement shows a women (Whoopi Goldberg) tied to a stake in a red flowing robe with the verbiage “There’s a 1 in 3 chance Joan of Arc’s robe wasn’t so easy to ignite” (O Magazine, 2010) followed by an inset picture of Poise Liners (used for bladder control problems). At the very bottom of the advertisement is the statement “Discover the truth at lin3likeme.com”(O ‘Magazine, 2010). The advertisement got my attention because it seemed to belittle Joan of Are and trivialize her faith, her actions and her martyrdom. Joan was portrayed in history as a figure that, inspired and led based on her connection with God and her extraordinary verbal and physical presence in France at a time of political turmoil. She paid the ultimate price of being burned at the stake at the age of 19 (Wikipedia, 2010). Yet in this advertisement, her death and its horror are thrown out and the focus instead becomes on the burning and the vision of the fire. If Joan of Arc had had bladder problems, and if, as is inferred, she would have wet herself, her clothing ‘would not have bumed as easily and...what? History would have been different? The sense make is that she would have died more slowly. What a bad ad! tk ! Qo) sc | sire communications suggests that pairing a product with a saint, a heroic figure, can DF od credibility. A simple example of that would be akin to how important and life changing Joan of Are was to the French (Wikipedia, 2010), and how important and life changing the Poise product is to the heroines of today, namely the magazine readers of “0”. Yet this was not the initial focus because of chosen ad tag line/message. Instead, it is my opinion that the intention of advertisement was to shock, to get the attention of Genter) Ethem)o take action.By making the reader question the meaning of such a bizarre statement, the answer was then provided at the bottom of the page, “Discover the truth” (O Magazine, 2010) at the product website. Now Iunderstand the objective of this advertisement...to engage me, the reader, and yes! ‘So I did, I went to the website. There I found multiple ads for the product using similar ‘motivate me to do something, to act__ iconic females — the Statue of Liberty, Mona Lisa and Cleopatra. The message “Did a little LBL [Light Bladder Leakage] slow down these great women in history? Hear thei stories” (2010, > in3likeme.com) finally allowed me t6 uncover the meaning behind the advertisement. Here was an uplifting, inspirational message, one that says you can do anything, even if you have urinary issues and live an ordinary life. In today’s clttered world of messaging, this advertisement used a two-step approach in order to have this pra Stand out from the crowd. Action, in addition to impression, is key to marketing and sales,’ fi wild’ iteresting to find out how effective this ad campaign is. _//,, Wie thanking God I'm in the 2 in 3 category of women that don't have thes issues, Pm ‘thinking that ifthe odds shift and I become a 1 in 3, I'll grab the Poise things next time I’m at the store. Lo Wome | biz -— } wee Lanstior lb Dre a ps Hagges ath ~ ‘eo ip bone te a ) Rosikeo ens! I. VeReferences (March, 2010). O, The Oprah magazine, 11(3), 52. (February 19, 2010). hhttp:!/www.Lin3likeme.com/ Joan of Are. (February 19, 2010). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en. ikipedia.ong/wiki/Joan_of_Arc ee pRte Re rts E Gai petty 9- tren sd n't so easy to ignite. a Discover the truth at SRR cca