Advertising Themes in Turkish Magazines Boxer Magazine Essay

Advertising Themes in Turkish Magazines

Boxer Magazine is a Turkish language magazine published in Turkey. As the name implies, it is intended to appeal to a predominantly male audience. Naturally, its advertisements present products and services intended to appeal to and be purchased and consumed by Turkish male customers. The following is an analysis of the specific advertisements in the June 2011 issue of Boxer.

By contrast, Elele Magazine is a Turkish language magazine published in Turkey. Unlike Boxer, it is intended to appeal to a predominantly female audience. Naturally, its advertisements present products and services intended to appeal to and be purchased and consumed by Turkish female customers or on behalf of females by males. The following is an analysis of the specific advertisements in the June 2011 issue of Elele. There is a very obvious difference in the themes of the advertisements that only becomes more apparent by virtue of having just reviewed all of the advertisements in the male-oriented magazine.

Boxer Magazine -- Advertising Directed to a Male Audience

This advertisement for the HTC Cellphone depicts a man dressed for business who is clearly conducting an important conversation by cell phone. He is classically handsome and projects the image of male power and dominance that is universally appealing to males and especially appealing to males within highly patriarchal societies such as Turkey. The background contains various images also meant to convey the image of dominance and power, such as other men dressed for business, office buildings, and expensive automobiles.

The Boxer advertisements are for sports cars (Fiat 500, Alfa Romeo MiTo, and Renault) and everything in those advertisements convey images of power and speed, including the bright colors and the manner in which the vehicles dominate the landscape. The obvious connotation is that the vehicles depicted are all powerful and exciting products intended for powerful and dominant men. One vehicle is presented in front of a background of other vehicles all of which are considerably smaller by virtue of the photographic perspective than the featured vehicle. Naturally, this dominance is highly consistent with the principal images that Turkish men prefer to project about themselves to others: namely, that they are more powerful and more important than other individuals.

Another vehicle is depicted as rapidly overtaking the other vehicles sharing the road. It glistens sharply and sparkles in the electric reflections of the nightlights of the city; by comparison, the other cars are dimly lit and do not capture the attention of the observer. This presentation is consistent with the preference of many Turkish males, (especially those wealthy enough to afford to purchase the products presented in the advertisement) to be noticed by other. In one advertisement, a very attractive female is obviously distracted by the vehicle. The entire image suggests that she is interested in whoever is driving the vehicle and that it is something about the vehicle itself that has captured her attention and generated her desire to know the driver. This theme is also consistent with the self-image of many males in general and of many Turkish males in particular: namely, that they are simultaneously interesting to women and also mysterious to them.

The advertisements for alcoholic beverages EFEA Beer, KAYRA wine, and Absolute Vodka) seem to fit the same general pattern as the advertisement themes used by advertisers to promote automobiles and cell phones. Specifically, one product…