Statement of intent

  My aim is to advertise high heels through the use of female empowerment rather than the use of sexualisation and objectification. I plan to use my image as a humorous role reversal to shift the ideologies put in place for women. By putting a man in the woman's place within this advertisement, although still slightly sexist, it offers men a chance to experience life in this world of offence many women were and still are expected to accept and live in. By being sexualised and walked all over, women have commonly been used in advertisments to appeal to the male demographic; yet by swapping the roles, this may help to question modern day sexism as many still believe a women's place is "in the kitchen.” So how offended and outraged would men be by a sudden turn of events? My ideal target audience is mainly adult females from 20-50 from demographics A-C  and a preferred reader would most likely be a strong feminist such as Bell Hooks. Her ideologies can sometimes be radical but I feel she would agree with my outlook and find humour in my representation as i aim to empower women and give men a taste of women's ongoing oppression, but aim do it all in a stylistic and light hearted manner. I am going to reverse the image by placing a male model in the same positioning as the woman in the advert, bare skin from the top so he is exposed and represented as vulnerable and easy to walk over as is implied from the original advert. Makeup will be used to cover up any blemishes or red patches, I've also decided to fill in the male models’ brows and use blush to over exaggerate the image and add to the humour, representing him in an almost sensitive and feminine manner which is something most men are opposed to. My choice of background is a yellow gradient as this is most like the original image and allows for a range of font colours to be placed in correlation to the change in shades. The darker yellow colour also creates contrast between the models complexions making them stand out more and draw attention to our product. This also appeals to our target audience as yellow is commonly associated with happiness and freshness and as it is a strong and bright colour. This adds to our representation of empowerment. The colour yellow can be used to represent women empowerment and make them feel confident, something I would like to be associated with the brand. Our male model will be wearing a ring on his ring finger to imply he is taken and perhaps even "owned" by the female in the high heels as this was also implied by the representations and symbolism within the original image. I can picture my advert appearing in magazines specifically aimed at women but also on certain social media sites such as facebook or Instagram as a reminder to both men and women that modern day sexism still appears and is relevant for both genders. This may also appear to remind women that heels can symbolise authority, empowerment and seriousness, they don't always have to be sexualised like the women themselves. Hopefully this would prompt my target audience to purchase due to our preaching of women's rights and clever yet humorous ideologies.