Ashley Madison's Advertisements

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“Life is short. Have an affair”, this is the slogan of Ashley Madison, a popular social media and dating website. According to the Ashley Madison website, their target audience are “cheating wives and cheating husbands looking for an affair.” Ashley Madison has gained wide spread popularity, with more than 42 million users registered on the site. The company has been able to reach its customer base through advertising in ways that appeal to the consumers in various ways. One such advertisement depicts an attractive couple in the troughs of passion, and across the screen a message flashed, “this couple is married… but not to each other.” In the doorway there is another woman, less attractive and overweight, presumably the man’s wife. She is …show more content…

A large part of Ashley Madison ads are seen and heard on late night television or radio. For people experiencing stress or unhappiness in their marriage, this can lead to bouts of insomnia. In a study conducted by Lisa Lustberg and Charles F. Reynolds III, at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine there is a direct correlation between stress and insomnia (255). Other platforms used by Ashley Madison to advertise are adult magazines and websites, billboards near airports, and/or other social networking sites. By using such area, it sets up a context in which their message may be received well. The uses sex appeal to arouse emotion immediately. The sexy, half clothed couple, depicted in the beginning of the ad helps capture the audience’s attention right away. Gallup & Robinson, an advertising research and consulting firm, that in more than 50 years of testing advertising effectiveness, it has found, “the use of the erotic to be a significantly above-average technique in communicating with the marketplace.” In an effort to keep the audience’s attention and maintain the message construct, the ad employs a comical approach. This is done by portraying the wife as an over exaggerated character both in her appearance and in her actions. To further assert control over the views emotion and build the pathos strength of the message the ad not only uses sex appeal to provoke, but also …show more content…

Many advertisement use testimonial as a way to assert credibility. Usually this is done by hiring a well-known celebrity or an expert such in the subject. In this case it is a reverse testimonial, and Ashley Madison are the experts. The husband, in the ad, represents their target audience and once he is caught in the act, Ashley Madison offers the advice, “You should have used Ashley Madison.” This quote is offering an alternative option for target audience, essentially saying sign up with us, have an affair, but avoid being caught. According to the Ashley Madison official website, they offer, all paid subscribers, a guarantee that they will “find someone [to have an affair with]” as well as a guarantee of anonymity. After doing research it has been found that was a guarantee the site was unable to uphold. Another way they attempt to establish ethos is by placing attractive people in the ad. Although there are very few words said during the advertisement, there is a strong level of attractiveness created. According to Sarah Trenholm, in Thinking through Communication, the sender is able to “increases attractiveness by emphasizing familiarity, similarity, physical attractiveness, and liking” (244). In this ad the initial characters are physical attractive, and for those in the target audiences looking to or who have experienced an affair it appeals to their sense of

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