What the Hail?
The advertisement I wanted to use is from the super popular video game Grand Theft Auto 5 (aka GTA V). I would describe GTA V as an open world crime simulator. The fun of the Grand Theft Auto games comes from the huge open world. You can explore a fictional version of Los Angeles and do whatever you want. You can go golfing, jet skiing, or you can commit horrible crimes.
The ad I want to talk about is a poster that was released in anticipation of the game. It shows a female police officer arresting a girl.
The first thing I noticed was the high sexual appeal. This comes from her loose shirt, tight shorts, and the fact that she is being handcuffed. Another interesting thing is that she is looking directly at the audience. It is almost as if she’s inviting us for fun and promiscuity. The highly sexual nature of the ad targets a male audience.
The text explains why sexuality works so well when targeting male gamers
“this communicative strategy works because competitiveness and a sexually predatory attitude is an accepted (though not necessarily acceptable) part of the dominant discourse of masculinity.” (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, Media and Society, pg. 185)
When a guy sees this ad he assumes that by playing the game he has a position of power over women. The sexualized nature of this ad encourages gamers to go to strip clubs and pick up prostitutes during gameplay.
Another thing I noticed is how the ad invites the audience to challenge authority. Even though the girl is being arrested it doesn’t seem like she cares (she’s more concerned about looking slutty). This shows that the police don’t have power over her. Also it is possible that the reason for her arrest is that she stole the purple car in the poster (it is called Grand Theft Auto), thereby encouraging players to steal cars in the game.
Looking at this ad encourages you to disregard the rules laid out by society. From a young age we are taught by the media and society to respect authority and not to do certain things.
“We have used childhood in relation to readers to show how people from a young age are ideologically socialised…the point is that all media text, all forms of language and representation, carry ideological meanings” (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, Media and Society, pg. 181)
Breaking the law can be really fun because we know we’re not supposed to do it. It can be fun to push the boundaries laid out by the media and society and see what we can get away with. The ad encourages the audience to challenge these rules and entices them with the thrill of stealing cars and fighting police officers.
The ad is very successful in both appealing to its target male audience and showing elements present in the game. GTA V was such a big deal that it earned 800 million in its first day of sales.
Fun Fact: Law Suits against the GTA franchise total over $1 billion dollars
Sources
O’Shaughnessy, M., Stadler, J. (2012). Media and Society, 5th ed.
http://game-server-hosting.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/250px-GTA_Logo.jpg
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