People are exposed to advertisements on a daily basis. They can be seen all over the world in television, magazines, billboards, phones, etc. Not only is it almost impossible to go a day without seeing an advertisement, but it is also very hard not be influenced by one either. Just like every other ad, the Dove and Victoria Secret advertisements try to convince the viewers to buy their product by having a meaning, creating emotion, and using color to elicit responses from the viewer.

All ads are created to relay a message or meaning to the viewers, if not, then what would be the point of advertisements? Viewers can derive multiple meanings from an ad depending on who is looking at it or what is going on in the world, but in this case the meanings of the Dove and Victoria Secret ads change because they form three different advertisements. Originally this advertisement was two ads relaying two different messages to the world, but when they were put together it created a whole new ad with a whole new meaning. First, the Victoria Secret advertisement shows skinny models of different races posing for the “Love My Body Campaign”. The meaning of this ad is very contradicting and confusing. The words “Love My Body” are supposed to mean that no matter one’s size, age, weight, features, or race, one should always love the way they look, but the visual image on the ad says the complete opposite. The slim models show that to truly love ones-self, one has to be thin, fit and flawless. Although this was probably not Victoria Secrets intent the meaning of the ad comes off this way. On the other hand, the Dove advertisement shows women of all sizes, ages, races, and weight posing for the “Real Beauty Campaign”. The Dove ad tries to evoke the message to women that beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes, therefore everyone is beautiful just the way they are and there is no need to change for anyone. Lastly, the combination of the two ads create a couple different meanings. One message a viewer could depict from this ad is that not only Victoria Secret models or models in general are beautiful, but every woman in the world is beautiful. Whereas if one compares the ads side by side it is possible for another viewer to think that the Victoria Secret ad is body shaming the women in the Dove ad. It could be said that the Victoria Secret ad shows this because the women in the Dove ad are not models or skinny, and therefore they cannot “love [their] bodies.”  

Advertisements also create lots of different emotions based on the words and pictures that are in the ad. All advertisements typically revolve around a specific emotion to intrigue the viewers interest, and by forcing the viewer to feel this intended emotion it also creates a personal connection between the viewer and the ad. The Victoria Secret Advertisement, for example, intends to make women feel jealous of the models. They wanted to make women feel like they could only achieve true beauty if they bought their product. Women strive to look and feel beautiful every day, and the Victoria Secret ad feeds off this desire that society has nailed into women’s brains. Women know that society expects women to look like the models in the Victoria Secret advertisement, so women will conform; furthering their hatred women feel towards themselves. The Dove ad, on the other hand, makes women feel beautiful and happy. It makes women love the way they look and love who they are. Women feel more confident in their own skin and feel like they do not have to change for anyone. Lastly in the combined Dove and Victoria Secret ad the emotion depicted from this ad is aggravation. Many people get aggravated when looking at these two ads because as previously stated it looks like body shaming is taking place. This is not a rare occurrence in the world today, so women get frustrated and angry when other people make fun of someone else’s physique.  Although women do not feel beautiful on a day to day basis, and always find a flaw or something wrong with them, it is not acceptable to be the person to point out someone else’s flaws. This advertisement also creates a harsher world for women to live in. When someone looks at this advertisement, one typically sees body shaming as previously stated, but instead of seeing how wrong and hurtful this ad is one can think since it is acceptable in advertisements, then it is acceptable in the real world. This in turn creates the world women live in today, others making fun of one anothers physique to try to make themselves feel prettier. Not even caring or thinking how hurtful it would be if that was said or done to them. 

Lastly, many ads try to use a color scheme to not only catch the viewers’ attention, but to create a deeper meaning. The Victoria Secret ad uses the color grey in the background to not only help the viewers see the models better, but to help the models look even more flawless. The grey color enhances the models’ features, such as their skin tone, face, hair, etc. In general, the color grey can be seen as dirty or sexy, and in order for one to be sexy according to the Victoria Secret ad, one has to look like these models. On the other hand, the Dove ad uses the color white in its image to make the women more vulnerable. This ad wants the women’s flaws to stand out because everyone has them and no one should be ashamed of them. In general, the color white represents purity, innocence, and transparency, all of which describe the women in this ad. These women have pure hearts, are innocent in how the world views them, and are transparent to society. Lastly, the combined Dove and Victoria Secret ad compared side by side have two contrasting colors for the background. Although the grey colored background looks better than the white, one could view it as the Dove women are more risky and confident in themselves than the Victoria Secret models. The Dove models embrace their flaws, while the Victoria Secret models try to hide behind them and cover them up.     

Ads, such as the Dove and Victoria Secret ads, can be interpreted in many different ways, they can impact the way one feels, and they contain a color scheme to create a deeper meaning. After comparing these two ads it can be seen how drastically each part of each ad can influence emotion or thought. These three ads may seem to only beg for consumers’ money, but when they are further analyzed they elicit emotion that was previously absent. Ads use these elements to not only persuade the viewers, but influence their opinion.
