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                                                           Bacardi Advertisement

                                                                      by Alper Caglar

For this week's advertisement analysis, I chose to analyze a Bacardi Rum Advertisement I found within a magazine. I have attached it to this report, and it features the cropped out image of a seductive and sultry female body holding a glass of iced Bacardi rum. The ad features the slogan: "Pussy cat by day, Bacardi by night". This motto obviously refers to the visualized female figure, signifying their calm behavior at day-time and their party-loving self during the night. And they enrich this so called "night-life" with nothing other than some delicious Bacardi. Or so the ad claims.

There are uses of gender-roles and sexually appealing messages within the advertisement. And its target audience must be none other than fun loving, middle/upper-middle class males between 20 and 30 years old. Even the sexual stance of the female body with a bikini top and bikini G-String under more traditional party clothing proves to us that this ad was made primarily to associate Bacardi with sexuality. The ad gives us the subliminal message that when any female drinks Bacardi Rum, they let go of their restraints and become more sexual and revealing.

This style is furthered graphically by the general hue of the ad being red, which is a stimulating color. The model wears clothing that would only be appropriate in a summer setting, which also helps the advertisement associate Bacardi with "good-times".

Personally, when I examined the ad for the first time, I really did think it probably would appeal to most men. It had the faceless and provoking image of a sexy female, holding alcohol and swaying her body. That image alone grabbed my attention and made me work my imagination. So we could presume that the aim of the advertisement could be to seduce the viewer while relating this occurrence to the brand, instead of the image.

On the bottom right hand corner of the ad we see a sneaky image of the Bacardi bottle slipping out of the page. This little image makes us remember that Bacardi Rum arrives in the shape of the specified picture and that we could purchase it ourselves within a bottle.

These sexual innuendos and smart design cause Bacardi to seem like a very hip and trendy brand. This image that the advertisement tries to evoke makes Bacardi something more than only an alcoholic drink. It becomes a mascot of modern day interaction between the sexes as well as a beverage.