Freud acknowledged that we all have certain impulses and urges that may not be appropriate to act on. It was Freud’s thinking that these thoughts could come to fruition without any consciences in our dreams. Freud divided the mind into three separate categories .One of the categories he named the Super Ego; which he basically described as what helped prevent you from acting on your unconscious desires and urges wile your awake. However in our dreams the Super Ego is irrelevant and almost inactive wile we sleep. This allows are unconscious mind to take over and play out are wants and needs with out any repercussions. Are unconscious mind is full of are most unfiltered and at times more provocative fantasies and dreams. This is why it is natural for anything that has to do with are unconscious thoughts is more likely to grab are immediate attention at ease. This is no ground breaking discover as advertisers have been taking advantage of targeting the unconscious mind for years.The theory by the advertisers is by accessing your unceses with…FINISH TRAIN OF THOUGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I choose one ad in particular to examine the use of targeting the unconscious mind in advertising .The ad itself was in an recent issue of GQ magazine. The ad is for Perry Ellis and is spread over two full pages; Perry Ellis is an high end line for men. The right page shows a beautiful shot of a beach from a distance. Both the sand and the water look as if they have never been damaged by any living life at all. It easily gives off an mysterious hidden island vibe as each pebble in the sand is consistently the same color, and the water is as clear as could be .The left page has a man and a women coming out of a oversized tepee looking tent spreading out the entire page. Both the male and female are extremely attractive and both in the late twenties to early thirties. They are both wearing all white from top to bottom and the woman seems to only be wearing his shirt and her underwear. It is impossible to see what is inside the tent as it is completely pitch black; all we can see is the man holding the women’s hand leading hear out of it .
What stands out the most to me is how the man is holding the girls hand leading her out of the dark unknown tent. The advertiser may be insinuating that the girl could not make it out if it were not for the man.We live in a male dominated world, and even though women are given more opportunity today than ever before, it is still a world where most believe men are more capable than women in every facet of life. Wither or not that remains to be true, the message the ad unconsciously portrays confirms that belief. By being fully clothed and leading the way by gently dragging along the female by the hand , the picture demonstrates that the male is more prepared than the female.The women is not only half naked, but her over sized shirt is clearly the males not hers.This shows that in the world of the photograph , it is a mans world and the women is simple a bystander.
Todays