Ads and the Deadly Sins

By: Rocawear | Spring 2006 | NYC

little picture:

From initial view of the Rocawear advertisement, there is one black man, and three woman of different races all sitting in a private jet. The man in the photo is a famous African American Actor, Derek Luke who also the only one making any engagement with the camera, his body is positioned towards the camera; also he seems to appear more as a Rapper of the time of this as ad (Early 2000's) than an actor. The three woman are all posing purposely posed to ignore the camera, they are wearing Rocawear apparel that is a bit revealing, with short shorts, tight-fitting, and low cut tops. In contrast with Derek Luke who is fully clothed, the only skin of his revealed is his face/neck and hands. And the most prevalent and striking part of the ad is the name and logo at the bottom, Rocawear in large white letters and right underneath the logo is the catchphrase of Rocawear in small white, "We Run the Strip", and the "Strip" could be referring to the Las Vegas Strip, that is also called called "Sin City".

BIG PICTURE:

From further analysis, questions arise like: Why did they only pick one famous person, and he's a man? The directors and designer of this Rocawear advertisement most likely only picked one recognizable person for the ad for him to be the forefront of the advertisement and the other three unknown (to most) women are the background which is also maybe why they were put in revealing clothing to create some sort of sexual appeal which makes up for them not being famous. This concept also emulates the traditional gender positions, with the strong powerful man whose their for business and the women in the back that are just there to sit there and look pretty.

Furthermore, there is also strategic placement of the people and text of the advertisement that correlates with natural eye movement. Most people look from left to right and top to bottom. When viewing this ad, you first look at the people and what they're wearing, and conclude by looking at the logo, name, and catchphrase which is at the very bottom in big and bold so that there is nothing else to look at which leaves the audience with the remembrance of the name and logo, Rocawear.

Audience:

The intended audience and the people in this advertisement actually contrast. The target audience of Rocawear is the urban youth (as said by the founder of Rocawear, Jay Z) which is why Rocawear is so reasonably priced; but the people in the print ad appear to be of a luxurious life, they are in a private jet and one of the woman is wearing a fur coat which don't come cheap. In this advertisement, it can also be said that young African American men seem to be the target of this ad, because of the people chosen, Derek Luke is an actor who has mostly starred in black entertainment films, so mostly the black public would recognize him. Also, many young African American men tend to desire the rapper lifestyle (this comes from the myth that the only way black men can become successful and rich in life is by becoming a rapper or professional athlete) depicted in the ad, that consists of having luxurious items like private jets and many women surrounding them wherever they go.