Reed Daw
The image I have chosen comes from a DeBeers diamond ad. 
Although at first I thought this ad would be directed strictly for women, it is for men as well who want to reignite their first-date sparks. I assume they are hammering out as many of these ads as possible for the upcoming Valentine’s holiday, which is why it is directed toward men. All men want for Valentine’s Day is a simple gift, while finding the right present for your wife is a much more strenuous process. I think the audience is married, upper-middle class couples who have solid foundations and jobs. The families have above average status; they drive a nice car, live in a two-story house, and live a very comfortable life. The affected audience isn’t overly rich because although they have everything they need, a diamond is only given as a gift for special occasions. Even though this ad is for men I found it advertised in adult women’s and men’s magazines such as Vogue, Ms. Magazine, O, GQ, Esquire, and Men’s Journal. I think DeBeers advertises in women’s magazines so the woman can drop a hint to her husband about what she wants. I think women find this ad humorous and seductive at the same time, which entices them to want a DeBeers diamond. The DeBeers ad will be displayed in men’s magazines with the hopes that a husband will be able to bring his wife back to their first kiss, his proposal, or some other equally memorable moment.
Although at first I thought this ad would be directed strictly for women, it is for men as well who want to reignite their first-date sparks. I assume they are hammering out as many of these ads as possible for the upcoming Valentine’s holiday, which is why it is directed toward men. All men want for Valentine’s Day is a simple gift, while finding the right present for your wife is a much more strenuous process. I think the audience is married, upper-middle class couples who have solid foundations and jobs. The families have above average status; they drive a nice car, live in a two-story house, and live a very comfortable life. The affected audience isn’t overly rich because although they have everything they need, a diamond is only given as a gift for special occasions. Even though this ad is for men I found it advertised in adult women’s and men’s magazines such as Vogue, Ms. Magazine, O, GQ, Esquire, and Men’s Journal. I think DeBeers advertises in women’s magazines so the woman can drop a hint to her husband about what she wants. I think women find this ad humorous and seductive at the same time, which entices them to want a DeBeers diamond. The DeBeers ad will be displayed in men’s magazines with the hopes that a husband will be able to bring his wife back to their first kiss, his proposal, or some other equally memorable moment. The DeBeers ad has a solid black background with one picture (diamonds) and one sentence. The words are sprawled out in different sizes in huge bright white font that reads in all caps: “HEY, WHAT DO YOU KNOW, SHE THINKS YOU’RE FUNNY AGAIN.” The different font sizes are used to catch the audience’s attention and even if you skip some of lines the message is still clear. This strategy is effective because at a quick glance you will read “HEY, YOU’RE FUNNY AGAIN,” making the audience curious about the ad without having to read the whole thing. Clearly, DeBeers wants us to buy this or any set of beautiful diamonds they have, knowing it will make our significant others that much happier with themselves and with us.
The color of the ad is very important; De Beers uses the two black and white colors for a reason, it looks elegant and adds an emotional appeal to the ad. White and black scream out sleekness, class, and a sense of sexiness as well. All the top car ads: BMW, Mercedes, etc., show shadow-like black cars that make you feel confident and popular. The color contrast gives off a “Ying-Yang/Male-Female,” type of energy that makes buying a diamond feel right.
The emotion this ad wants to bring out in the audience is a sense of desire; what woman doesn’t want a diamond that is “forever,” a stone that will re-ignite those first-date sparks? The solid black background reminds me of a darkening cave, representing your days counting down to get the perfect gift. By having everything you could already want the ad shows that a diamond is forever, meaning that this is a perfect, unique gift that can never be replaced and will be remembered forever. The bright words and diamonds are the light at the end of the tunnel, our talisman to success, and of course the punch-line, “A diamond is forever,” says that your relationship with your woman will create new levels of happiness when you purchase the diamonds.
Another emotion the ad wants to evoke in the audience is confidence through humor. DeBeers is showing this through the struggles of finding the perfect gift for your wife. The diamond is a symbol that defines you as the number-one husband this Valentine’s Day. The diamond is your ticket to a perfect Valentine’s Day and your woman will forget your acquired beer-belly and will remember you as her new, sexy, perfect man.
On the other hand, having the mindset of a broke, wifeless college student created a different reaction to the ad for me. The first time I looked at this image it provoked anger because of what the title reads. Why the heck do I need to get my significant other a diamond for her to like me? It made me feel inferior because if I have no money, then can I not make my wife happy? I think that if I had the money and a loving woman to buy the diamond for, my thoughts would be different.
The connection the ad made to Aristotle was to my thoughts and his analysis of anger. At first it doesn’t seem like his definition of anger connects with the ad: “an impulse, accompanied by pain, to a conspicuous revenge for a conspicuous slight directed without justification towards concerns oneself or towards what concerns one’s friends” (Book 2, Part 2). The impulse of anger asks the question of why a wife needs diamonds in order to be happy, but if my pain can be defined as buying love through materialistic things, then that would define it accurately, but I also had the pain of wishing women didn’t care about these sorts of things.
DeBeers wants men to want to be loved by their wives more, and what other way than to purchase them a huge, flawless diamond? Who would’ve known that through the power of a diamond, your woman will remember the first time she met and fell in love with you? DeBeers apparently, and through this ad they have shown that you cannot let your wife go without their beautiful selection on Valentine’s Day. DeBeers uses a carefully laid out strategy of making the audience feel like they must buy these diamonds in order to bring back those first date sparks! Either way, the ad is effective in producing the sense of need and want for what will end in an ecstatic wife and a continuous happily married couple.
I'm not seeing the image.... ?
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