My essay concluded that there is no such thing as ethical advertisement. Anything which attempted to be completely ethical would fail to sell the product especially alongside competing adverts. This small zine presents a series of adverts which use some of the unethical advertising techniques mentioned in my essay and looks at how they are used and if they can be in a more ethical way. The zine begins with less ethical adverts and begins showing that almost everything an advert consists of can be considered unethical, including type, image and colour. The last advertisement example uses minimal type, colour and image so as to prove the final statement of my essay; that completely ethical advertisement design leaves very little choice for design outcomes for the designer and leaves the design very dull. This brings to light a quote I use in my essay 'much of the color, interest, wit and amusement of life might be lost without its presence'.
I have chosen to analyse and produce a series of printed adverts for Chambord. I have chosen this brand as it is very interesting. The company could be considered unethical due to it selling alcohol which is bad for people. It could also be argued that alcohol is a social lubricant which is good in moderation. It has to be acknoledged that advertising for unethical causes will always exist. So I am to take their product and advertise it with diferent techniques in hopes to see how it could be be more ethically inclined.
Chambord Liqueur is an infusion of red and black raspberries, Madagascar vanilla and XO cognac. According to legend, Chambord was inspired by a raspberry liqueur produced for King Louis XIV during his visit to Château de Chambord in the 17th century.
The brand is well known for their spherical bottle which relates to the globus cruciger which has importance within french religion and royalty. What I really find interesting about this brand is how they have capitalised their brand around the theme of royalty and the ways in which they use this within their advertisements.
Their old bottle design was much more traditional and featured a crown on the bottle lid. The bottle design has since been simplified, but still creates a sense of royalty or class which irrationally makes the audience associate the brand with royality. I believe to advertise more ethically the brand should use practical information about the product to sell it. Instead they rely on irrelevant information as seen below which tells the history of the product in a way that suggests it has significant value.
It is clear throughout their advertising that the product is aimed at women. The royalty imagery is much more effective towards women as it suggests power.
The use of sexual imagery within their adverts has become less apparent over the years, but they have been known to design adverts as seen below which features a small amount information about the actual product. Although it is hard to see, the type at the bottom of the advert tells the audience about a certain drink that can be made with Chambord. I believe that this information is more relevant to the audience purchase of the product and thus more ethical. Sexual imagery should either be secondary or non-exsitent.
On their website Chambord have displayed Chambord cocktail recipes as seen below. Their brand identity has developed quite bit into a modern, quirky fashion style that fits better with their modernised bottle design.
In some ways this type of advertising is more ethical than their previous as it does not imply superiority through associating themselves with royalty. This advertising does seem illogical though. They are trying to present themselves as cool, quirky and generally weird. The adverts do not display much about the actual product or its practical uses.
I plan to experiment with the use of the royal theme to see if there is a way in which it can be used more ethically. If used subtly as seen below with 'A royal affair' tagline it is not as forceful. The use of classy imagery is mandatory in advertising such a product as it needs to be presented well to the audience. The brand is not going to present their product is a cheap, messy way. Associations with fashion as seen below are more ethically inclined as it does not have such a strong message of superiority above the audience than others.
Displaying the product in a picturesque scenery seems quite unethical as it suggests a certain lifestyle that comes along with the product. This is false and should not be implied in the adverts content.
