in this newspaper circular (from which i have excised the tech data at the bottom of each page in order to eliminate distractions from message) HP invites parents to buy some cool technology for their children.  but there’s some very sneaky motifs at large in here to unpack.

    the ad draws us into a region of space lit only with glowing ovals.  in the background a thin spiral line draws the eye down into this region, at the center of which float selected HP computer products.  these products do not rest on any surface, but instead appear to tumble away from us, into the spiral depths.  the copy at top tells us in two choppy sentences that “your child WANTS IT.  and you WANT to BUY IT for them.”  with these lines, we see emphasis on “want” and “buy” which is no surprise.  note, though, the algebra of the BOLD terms in each line.  “want + it” in line one becomes “want + buy it” thereby replacing the desire to possess with the desire to purchase.  [more about this in Part 2...]

    the first two frames show the same equipment, though the CPU and printer are diminished in the second frame as though they had already drifted away.  the third object, the monitor, is perhaps a little larger, or at least it is less obscured by the CPU in the second frame, and it now faces the other objects.  we should note that the image on the monitor is an abstract geometry of warm hues which really leaps from the frame of receding, cool-colored background.  further, the pattern should remind us of an eye, with its dark central pupil and the swirls of color like that of an iris.  in the second frame, the eye has turned to pay attention to the other objects, thereby acting  as analogue for the eye of the audience, and suggesting that the audience not only should pay attention to the goods, but should also peep the statement in the corner “The urge to buy is good...”

    the third frame raises the visual stakes of the pitch by substituting a laptop for the printer, thereby increasing the price and desirability of the offered package.  this is not dissimilar to the familiar message “and if you order now, we’ll add this [cool object] for only $X, a savings of over XXX%.

    ah, but more than this object substitution is at play in frame three.  thanks to the laptop’s screen, we now have two “eyes” in the frame.  we should note, however, is that these eyes are not looking in the same direction.  this indicates that they do not belong to a single, two-eyed entity but rather that the laptop signifies a newcomer to the scene: another viewer.  this new viewer is not acting in concert with the first (which again stares out into stage right) but is watching it from behind.  so this frame also raises the stakes for the audience by putting them under scrutiny just as they start to look away (signified by the first eye’s restlessness).  

    in the last frame, we get the concluding act of a bait-and-switch.  the other gear is gone and all that remains are two laptops and a selection of accessories.  the laptops have withdrawn their warm glowing screens and left the frame colder than any of the others by turning away.  

    so two things have happened here in the final frame.  first, if we think of the ad-space as an online shopping cart, our pricetag has continued to escalate.  this, however, is less sinister than the visual impact of the removal of the laptops’ warm glows.  so far, the receding of the background cool colors and of the spiral motif that draws us vertiginously into the regions of the ad have been balanced by the projection of the warm colors.  without these reds and oranges as a balance, the audience cannot help but fall, metaphorically, into the ad as though they’ve been lured into walking of the end of the world.

 

more to come in part 2.  coming soon!