Louis Vuitton is a French retail company famous for their designer handbags, jewelry, travel luggage, and more. It has a long, rich history, as back in 1837, a then 16-year-old Louis Vuitton had chosen a career as a trunk-master and began his apprenticeship in the French capital, Paris. Years later, Vuitton would decide to open his own workshop in 1854, the start of a company that would become renowned for their merchandise after being hired by Napoleon's wife to personally handcraft her boxes and luggage.
Released in April 1999, this advertisement was created to promote the luxury brand on an international market with all of its extravagance. The advertisement is the work of the BETC advertisement agency, then known as BETC Euro Rscg Paris. It was published in Paris but was spread across the nation and then the globe because of the vast international connections the company has.
This advertisement depicts a woman with fiery red hair eating the strawberries, red currents, and cherries that are tumbling out of her handbag. The color red is given great emphasis as it is the color of all of the fruit, the woman's hair, and her nails. Even her cheeks are a darker shade of pink along with the hints of auburn and dark orange in the wood of the table. The background is a light color that eventually fades to white on the left side of the picture, accenting the foreground with the table, handbag, and most notably the woman.
The woman is wearing a simple, silk outfit and the tone of her skin is very light, directly being contrasted with her auburn hair and the deep red tones around her. This contrast is significant as it emphasizes the woman's sexuality in the picture in direct relation to the handbag that is providing her with these fruits. This layout of the picture with the woman right next to the handbag shows the bag's importance in love and sexuality. The lack of words on the advertisement not only shows the brands prominence, as no explanation is needed for who the brand is or what they sell, but also shifts the importance to the picture rather than any words that could detract from the photo.
On a larger scale, the color red symbolizes ideals such as romance, love, dominance, and sexuality in the advertisement. This constructs the concepts of lust and passion, clearly emphasized in the image. This is furthered through the use of fruit, a common symbol for pleasure and temptation. While the fruit is applicable to lust, it is also applicable to the idea of gluttony. Fruit can also represent temptation in the form of excessive eating or extravagance. This is also represented with the large amount of fruit prevalent in the picture.
The intended audience for this advertisement is adult women of all ages. It is directed for the top of the upper class economically as the brand is extremely expensive. Some of their cheapest available jewelry still costs upwards of $5,000 and their most expensive items go well beyond that.
It is also targeting women who follow the trends of society because Louis Vuitton models their items based off of the current fashions. Their brand is immensely popular, thus having merchandise from them would, in the minds of many, help boost someone's social status. This is apparent with their lack of words to describe who they are as a company in their advertisement. Furthermore, the audience has to have some cultural knowledge of the company's prestige in order to invest. This shows how the advertisement draws on the societal awareness of the company, which in turn furthers public opinion and works in Louis Vuitton's favor.
Overall, this advertisement conveys the connotation that if a woman purchases this handbag or an item from Louis Vuitton, they will have the same degree of sexuality, passion, romance, and dominance as the woman depicted in the picture. This idea is constructed by the handbag being the source of these red fruits, symbols of sexuality and romance. This is a manipulation of the audience because certain factors in the picture are clearly playing on the emotions of the audience. This advertisement uses the deadly sins of lust and gluttony to try to attract buyers that have an emotional response to these concepts, such as wanting these qualities, or what they imply, for themselves or others.
Works Cited:
"A Legendary History." LOUIS VUITTON Official USA Website, Louis Vuitton, us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/la-maison/a-legendary-history#tumbler.
BETC Euro Rscg Paris. "Seven Deadly Sins VII." Coloribus.com, Coloribus, www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/monogram-vernis-seven-deadly-sins-vii-1349605/.
"FINE JEWELRY." Louis Vuitton Jewelry - Women's Fine Jewelry in Gold | LOUIS VUITTON, Louis Vuitton, https://us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/women/fine-jewelry/_/N-75u08p/to-2.
"Louis Vuitton Biography." The Biography.com Website, A&E Television Networks, 2 Apr. 2014, https://www.biography.com/people/louis-vuitton-17112264.
Olesen, Jacob. "Color Symbolism in Literature: What Do Colors Mean in Literature and Poetry?" Color-Meanings.com, 7 May 2015, https://www.color-meanings.com/color-symbolism-in-literature-what-do-colors-mean-in-literature-and-poetry/.
I really enjoyed the context provided for this post as it was greatly in-depth and allowed for a full consideration of the connotative meaning of the advertisement. Furthermore, the consideration of the color scheme in a denotative and subtextual sense was strong as you considered how the color red both represented and emphasized lust and sexuality in her outfit and pose. I believe that one of the strongest parts of your post is your consideration of how brand name impacts meaning and how the advertisement manipulates the audience. I really wish that you would have developed the deadly sin more rather than just inference it's prevalence as there's dozens of ways you could have run with it but overall it was a top notch post. You went above and beyond with the citations as well and made economic and social commentary that was well developed despite the simplicity of the ad. Rock on.
ReplyDeleteHey Melissa! (yes I spelled it correctly this time:))
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting advertisement! I had not thought of analyzing an upper class advertisement like this. The color red certainly symbolizes that which you said. I was actually thinking about how the red played a role in the sexuality (lust) of the ad before I had even red your analysis!
You always do such a great job with so much in depth knowledge about your topic! I always feel like I am getting a mini-history lesson when I read your blog. It is wonderful.
Another interesting thing that I thought about was the facial expressions the woman is using. She has a very suggestive look, but she is also obviously making a mess while eating that fruit. It made me think of the iconic beautiful woman eating a messy hamburger. It would be interesting to analyze an advertisement like that and look at the sexual connotations present there! Great job! As always, it was a pleasure to read!
PS: I wrote my blog about Amazon, and I went on amazon to look up some Louis Vuitton stuff to see if they had any (of course they did because Amazon has everything!) check out this $700 key chain! It has dogs on it!! https://www.amazon.com/Louis-Vuitton-Charm-Holder-MP1995/dp/B07DLY6RTS?crid=37NUD6Q3EB5XO&keywords=louis+vuitton&qid=1540781235&refinements=p_89%3ALouis+Vuitton&rnid=2528832011&sprefix=louis+%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-25&ref=sr_1_25