Sunday 30 December 2012

X: Creative Advertising in 80's

The culture of the 80's was quite troublesome.The UK and US were in a Conservative high politically with Thatcher and Reagan in power; this was also the beginning of a more business and capitalist formed society with companies introducing privatisation and financial deregulations. Even though there was a financial growth within the service sector unemployment was at a high causing public outrage.
The look and culture of the era had its iconic images, there was an idea for the "New Man" or "New Woman" for society to latch on to. The "New Man" was more androgynous by being more feminine and showing more emotional sides, this also allowed a more liberal attitude to the homosexual community through music and other art forms; the New Romantic trend in music is a good example of this.
"New Woman" showed a new status as well as confidence, women are more in control with their work lives showcasing independence especially with the image of a female Prime Minister present in that culture. With this trend came a change in women's fashion with the introduction of more masculine clothing such as the Power Suit.

With this present in the background there came a post-modern shift for the world of advertising in terms of production and style.


Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the ad that redesigned advertising for the 80's era. Levi's "The Laundrette" ad showing a direct snapshot of 80's advertising culture and how it has evolved from it's predecessors. Mostly seen as a template for post-modern advertising utilising what came before to make something new and in this case it was the coolness and style of the 50's. The Laundrette is often seen as a game changer within the industry...
With it's composition lifted from 50's style, music and film composition (seemingly a popular era for young adults at the time) as well as the focus on the male figure playing both to the straight (female) and homosexual audiences this is a great showcase in understanding an audience's interests. A blog post on how BBH developed the ad can be found here: http://thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/levis-501-the-story-behind-launderette/

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