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The
campaign is entitled, Watch.com: a Spoof of Match.com. This campaign was
created by Allie Vitas. Each piece is titled after the man in each respective
ad; the names are as follows: BigDaddy, Mr RightNow, HoboStud69, and ToughGuy6.
They were created on January 21, 2012. These ads were created digitally on
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
The
ads are digital, but intended for print in magazine with a digital component—a
Facebook page that acts as an ad for Watch.com. The copy is in Bell Gothic STD.
The green is #99cc33; the blue #22567d. The
specific subject is the mug shot that acts as a headshot. Secondary subjects
include their quotes and names. The images are in black in white and contrasted
with Match.com’s green and teal coloring. They have an image-driven composition
to catch the viewers attention. However, the type is important in this piece as
it is what adds an extra dimension of hilarity and depth to the spoof. The
compositions are clean and simple with limited color to provide emphasis. The
advertisements, although asymmetrical, are visually balanced with the main
image on the left hand side and balanced with the logo and copy on the right.
Ideally, the viewer’s eyes look into the eyes of the subject and follow them
through the advertisement to their copy diagonally down and then to the bottom
bar.
This
work pokes fun at Match.com because I always feel that the advertisements for
online dating services are over the top and unrealistic. Although I am sure
they are somewhat effective because otherwise they would not still be around, I
question their legitimacy about the people on them as well as the safety. This
is the main reason I chose to use people’s mug shots because undoubtedly there
are people on online dating services with questionable pasts. I think my work
differs from others because it looks at something more personal than
commercialism and infamous companies who make frequent blunders. The overall
idea of the spoof is in dialog with the ones on www.adbusters.com and works
from the class. It uses sarcasm as well as a sense of creepy hilarity from each
person and their mug shot. I based my work off of a Match.com ad campaign that
came out last fall. I cam across it in an old magazine that my roommate kept,
she doesn’t like throwing them out for whatever reason. Their campaign has a
digital and print aspect—they placed advertisements in magazines for women with
images of attractive men and created a youtube video to match each
advertisement. You can view the video here to witness the cheesiness that is Match.com:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYCgdFuUy0E. It is
unclear about who created the campaign and who worked on it, but following this
campaign, Match.com switched from using agencies to doing work in-house. The
media agency they have been using is Boston-based agency, Mullen (http://www.mullen.com/). I
happened upon my approach for this when I was doing a Google Image search of
“creepy men” and saw one mug shot posted. I then decided to look further into
the mug shot idea. As it turns out, for whatever reason, Miami NewTimes posts
high quality mug shots every Friday, they call it Mug Shot Fridays, http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/11/mugshots_friday_dented_heads.php).
The original Match.com advertisement wants to
show people that not everyone on Match.com is a creep or a stalker or old. The
overt meaning of this advertisement is that Match.com has more to offer. There
are attractive, “perfect” people on Match.com that they guarantee you will find
if you join. Match.com wants women to think they will find their soul mate. The
covert meaning behind this advertisement is found in the word “protect”. This
word is meant to comfort women who have been hurt who want to protect their hearts from getting hurt againMatch.com
has the trademark phrase “It’s okay to look” which calms the target audience
and intends to make them feel like it is normal and acceptable. The
advertisement of a young, attractive male in a soft black and white photograph
with white fonts that stand out. The only color in the image is the Match.com
banner in blue with a lime green accent circle. The black and white image is
supposed to draw the viewer in and the colors guide the eye through the
advertisement to the information. One of the important things that this
advertisement does is that it makes the service mean something to its target.
The advertisers at Match.com figured out that their target audience wants
protection, which it is something they dream and desire.
The spoof advertisement takes the idea of
“protection” and turns it around to make the audience feel uncomfortable. This
is done through the use of contrast, there is less balance between light and
dark which creates a sense of uneasiness. Contrary to the original advertisement, this advertisement is hard
with sharp lines and has not been airbrushed. This advertisement is meant to
say that you do not know who you are talking to when you are online.
Additionally, the text is meant to “creep out” the viewers. In the short paragraph on the bottom of the page
in the banner, it subtly states that “we guarantee someone will find you” which
eludes to the idea of stalking, another uneasy idea that sits with the
audience. It is meant to make the viewer uncomfortable, which I think works
well with this series.
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