Advertising: Analysis Of The Molson Beer Advertisement

The Molson Beer advertisement was shown in the Playboy Magazine and FHM during the years 2002 and 2003. Advertising is a form of mass media content that is aimed at persuading audiences or readers, viewers or listeners to take “positive” action on products, services and ideas that are being advertised. The fundamental idea is to steer consumer behavior in a particular way with regards to a product, service or concept (Curtis, 2013, 1). Alcohol or to be more specific, beer advertisements are aimed at persuading the reader into thinking that consuming alcohol beverages would transform their life and yield to having high profile social life. Making use of semiotic analysis, the science study of signs and sign systems (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler,2012,131),

According to the mission statement of Playboy, their magazine targets the “sophisticated urban males” (Playboy magazine) which basically suggests that the intended readers are between the ages of 18-35, which is roughly a similar age interval of the men targeted by Molson Canadian beer. Although figure one (fig.1) of the Molson beer advertisement also appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine, which is a women’s magazine, the advertisement’s target market is still young, heterosexual males, as it connects to obtaining a female’s attention with purchasing Molson Canadian beer. The advertisement was mainly shown in Canada and the United States of America, and distributed worldwide via the internet. The original advertisement that appeared in the Playboy magazine and FHM anchors the idea that Molson Canadian beer is intended for heterosexual men who are interested in seizing as much women attention as possible. The advertisement uses metonymy, which basically works by connecting meanings within the same plane. Its vague definition is creating a part stand for the entirety (Fiske, 1990, 95). The phrase “a new set of 20 inch rims”, is a metonymy since it represents cars which in turn is connoted towards men. The phrases “The game is about to change, and you’re the heavy favourite” and “its victory”

The information that is most important is printed in a different font, be it in red or in uppercase letters. The sentence “HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF WOMEN” immediately captures the attention of a male reader. The advertisement has trademarked the phrase “twin advertising” due to the fact that both advertisements carry two different meanings or stories. The advert of figure one that appeared in Cosmopolitan, suggests that males that drink Molson bear are most likely to be more confident as well as compassionate. It is also implied that Molson Canadian beer drinkers are sensitive, full of romance and attractive. Which is in contrast to the advertisement that appeared in the Playboy magazine. In Playboy the advertisement suggests that males are insensitive and are only interested in getting sexual gratification from women. The “miracle” of Molson’s twin advertising runs on the hopes that women will not pick up and read the Playboy magazine or FHM, since their intended target market is men. If women were to lay their eyes on the advertisement in the Playboy magazine it may almost definitely evoke “unwanted and negative feelings” states the advert. The advertisement is not just manipulatives but is also sexist towards both genders as it functions under the assumption that its target market is very