A Hugo Boss Essay

The print advertisement that I chose for this paper, is a Hugo Boss advertisement for the sale of its men’s perfume line particularly the men’s gift set. Hugo Boss is a company that was started in Metzingen Germany and was founded by Hugo Ferdinand Boss after whom the brand was named. Hugo Boss is known for specializing in high-end menswear apparel, and has expanded like most other brands to include shoes, accessories and fragrances. I chose this particular print advertisement because after viewing several other print advertisements, this one attracted my attention the most. I was drawn to it because it was colorful and had many images that not only caught my eye, but also seemed to be very dynamic and at the same time able to catch my attention. When you first look at the advertisement, the images seem to jump from the page; at first, it actually looks like a messy piece of artwork or a picture that someone doodled on while they were bored. But when you take a closer look at the advertisement and dissect its different components, the underlying message that it gives to its viewers is actually very interesting and quite alluring. The advertisement is composed of three main images, a young man, standing with his finger to his lips, a Hugo boss perfume bottle with images coming out from the lip of the bottle and at the bottom of the advertisement an image of a sample Hugo Boss Men’s Gift Set. Aside from the images, there are printed words, one is a stamped text of â€Å"HUGO† the perfumes brand and the other is the tagline, which says,   â€Å"it’s just a fragrance. The rest is up to you.† I think that this particular print advertisement appeals to a young market. You have only to look at the images used and the words uttered to see that this is geared towards a younger age group. This particular advertisement targets both men and women ages twenty five to thirty five years old, who are young and excited because they are either just beginning their lives or beginning to rise up in their respective endeavors. I say this because of the composition of the print advertisement. First of all, the man used for the advertisement is a man who looks like he is in his mid to late twenties. Admittedly, when advertisers portray their products they get models that will most appeal to the age group they are targeting and usually they get their models from that precise group. The appearance of the man in the advertisement evokes a feeling of casualness that makes you think of fresh graduates, young, hot and out to get the world. This assessment is based not only on the male image model but the images that can be found beside him, which is the Hugo Boss perfume bottle that seems to be overflowing with other images. The images that are coming out of the bottle make me think of the circus coming into town. I am not sure why that particular image popped into my head, but I suppose it is because as a child, the circus represented a child’s dreams in life and this particular advertisement seems to sell that very image to the public. The bottle spewing these images reminds me of the time when the circus would come into town and as the main tent would unfold you would suddenly see a swarm of animals, animal trainers and performers going about. These animals, animal trainers and performers at first seem to have no direction, but as the unfolding of the main tent continues you begin to realize that they all have a purpose and they are not just randomly moving about. This is what seems to be happening with the Boss advertisement. Upon first glance, the image seems not to make any sense but if you take the time to look at it, the images coming out of the bottle are actually images that correspond to the different aspects of a person’s life. Among the images that can be seen are buildings, people, apartments, and a vinyl record among others. These images as I earlier mentioned correspond to the different parts of a person’s life. How is this you might ask? The answer is actually very simple. If you take a look at all of the images that are placed in the advertisement, you see that the buildings could correspond to the business aspect of a person’s life, their careers or work, while the throngs of people could be interpreted as those people that they interact with every day at work, or out on the streets or even while on a gimmick or night out with friends. In addition to these images, what strengthens my belief that this advertisement was made to target a young group is the tagline that the advertisers used. It’s simple, witty and straight to the point, â€Å"it’s just a perfume. The rest is up to you.† I love that the company used this tagline because it makes you think that anything is within your reach. I feel like the advertisement is telling me that all you need is Hugo Boss, a spray of this is like putting one foot in the door and the rest to quote the advertisement â€Å"is up to you.† The purpose of the advertisers in using this particular tagline in my opinion is to give that ego boost that men and women generally need in order to keep moving forward. We all should be honest enough to admit that we do not want change if we are not sure that we are headed in the right direction. Very few people are actually willing to take uncalculated risks when it comes to their future. This advertisement makes you feel that if you use the product advertised, all the confidence that you need in order to do the things that you want to do will magically appear. It makes you feel that one whiff of this and things will go your way. Your work life will improve because your presence seems to be more pleasing, and this may give you that opportunity to make that sales pitch that you need, or get on the good side of your boss who you have been dying to corner in order to give your ideas on the latest project that you are working on. What is so great about this advertisement is that in spite of the fact that it is actually geared more towards men, the advertisers have found a way of drawing in the women as well. If you think about it, although men are obviously being targeted, not all men will purchase this scent for themselves. This advertisement and its packaging is also perfect for the woman in a man’s life. This advertisement is like candy to a baby. Although women generally know what to give their man, this particular advertisement is something that will attract women who have given the men in their lives practically everything.