Analysis of The Kooks Music Advertisement

1. Character: Thisparticularmusic
advertdoesn'treveal anyformof
character, otherthanan image of
a blue heart.Thiscouldbe a
representationtowardscharacter
inthe waysinwhich a heart is
stereotypicallyusedwhenin
reference tothe themesof love
and romance.The way that
they've chosentouse the colour
blue forthisheartcould possibly
juxtapose thisstereotypeby
representingthe character's(the
band) to have an 'ice cold heart,'
suggestingthatthe albumdoesn't
containthe ideaof love and
romance and may be quite the
opposite.However,whenlooking
more intothe music
advertisement,we seethatwithin
the blue heart,the word'Listen,'
whichisthe name of the album,is
writteninvariousdifferent
languages.Thiscouldbe in
reference tothisalbumbeing
'close to the band's heart.'
Setting:The
advertisementdoesn't
establishanyspecific
setting,due toitentirely
beingcomputerbased.
The typographyused
throughoutthe whole of
the advertisementisThe
Kooks'well known,
iconicfont.Thiswould
be a USP as fansof the
bandwouldrecognise
thisautomatically,
knowingthattheirnew
albumhas been
released.The fontwhich
isusedis quite
masculine and
sharp/bold.Thiscould
be a representationto
the style of band which
The Kooksare, as well as
the musicwhichthey
produce.
Narrative Event: The narrative eventisshownwithinthe typography
of thisadvertisement.The waythatthe font issharp andrigidwould
questionpeople,whoaren'tparticularlyfamiliarof thisband,aswhat
theirstyle of musicislike,astheirfontisveryindie/rockbased.
Bartheshermeneuticcode couldbe appliedwiththisadvertisementin
termsof the mainimage as there isa narrative engimacreatedwith
how the audience isn'tquite sure onthe representationof the heart
and the colourscheme.Due to all the possible connotationsof the
colourblue,suchas the ideaof sadnessor,inopposition,the ideaof
an 'ice cold heart,'the viewerisleftintriguedandaskingquestionsas
to whatthe style of thisalbumis.Intermsof thisjuxtapositionof the
connotationsof the blue heart,Levi Strauss'binaryoppositiontheory
couldbe appliedwiththe ideaof warmth/coldness.Asthe heartis
usuallysymbolictothe ideaof love,romance andwarmth,the colour
blue issymbolictothe ideaof coldnessandsadness.The waysinwhich
the advertisementchoosestoshow the commentsinwhichhighclass
newspapershave describedthe new albumwouldmake people
engagedandcaptivatedintolisteningtotheirmusic.The comments
are quite specificandunique,forexample 'aradical chance of clear.'
The word 'radical'suggeststhat thisbandmay be extreme ordifferent,
attractingattentionaspeople wouldbe intriguedtofindoutwhythis
musicisso highrated.
Iconography: The colourof the heartisiconicin termsof the colourblue possiblybeingsymbolicof coldness;suggestingthe
ideaof the band'shavingthe 'ice cold heart,'whenlookingatthe image.However,withoutlisteningtothe musiconthis
album,the connotationsof the colourblue couldalsobe tosuggestsadness.Intermsof the heart,itcouldhave possiblybeen
iconicto the ideaof the musicbeingpossiblyaboutheartbreakandsadness.The typographyusedisiconicwhenlookinginto
the band as a whole.Thisparticularsharpandrigidfontis usedinall formsof advertisementwithThe Kooks,whichwouldbe
recognisable forfanswhentheysee thismusicadvertisementinamagazine oron a poster.Also,the mainimage,beingof the
blue heartwith'Listen'writteninsidewouldbe iconicasitwouldbe seenas a type of logofor thisparticularalbum.Due to it
beingsucha unique image,withastriking,boldblue colour,fanswill automaticallybecomefamiliartothisimage beingin
reference towardstheirnewalbum.
Technical Codes: The advertisement,being
computerbased,hasusedtechnical codesinterms
such as the colourscheme toattract an audience’s
attention.The colourswhichare mostly usedis
blacktypographyagainsta white background.This
has the elementof the indie genre,beingblack
and white andsimple.However,the waythatthe
image isa boldand strikingblue colour,whichis
more eye-catching;creatingthe advertisementto
become recognisable andmemorable.The image
of the heartis shownasthe humanorgan,rather
than the traditional heartwhichtendstobe used
to representthemessuchasromance and love.
Thisis differentasitcreatesa more hard-core vibe
interms of lookingatwhat type of musicthey
produce,suggestingthe indie/rockgenre.The way
inwhichthe advertisementhasincludedbig
namednewscompaniessuchasThe Independent,
quotingpositivethingsaboutthe album,would
alsoattract an audience'sattentionastheywould
be engagedandcuriousas to howgood thismusic
is.