Ad deconstruction

Gore-Tex is a company that sells waterproof clothing. This particular ad is featured on a full page of Rock and Ice magazine. This magazine is a climbing publication and it is convenient that Gore-Tex provides protection against the elements that the sport often faces.
The Gore-Tex ad is striving to sell their new fabric that the company compares to a shark’s outer layer. The target audience for this ad is outdoor enthusiasts and more specifically climbers. The ad draws the attention of readers with the illustration. The design of the head of a shark combined with the body of a male pulls readers into the ad. The point of the ad is to make the reader believe that the new Gore-Tex fabric will keep anyone protected. Gore-Tex provides one paragraph of text based on the strength of a shark’s outer skin and then compares this to the strength of their new product.
The actual product that the advertisement is about is unclear. They mention that as a company they have developed a solution to extreme conditions of nature called Gore-Tex Pro Shells. What are these shells? Are they similar to a turtle’s? The question of what the product looks like and what it actually is remains unanswered.
The advertisement is definitely designed to appeal to climbers. It could also be argued that the ad caters to males due to the fact that the head of the shark shares a body with a naked male. It seems that Gore-Tex targeted males under the assumption that the majority of climbers are male. The male body in the advertisement is also quite muscular. This could be viewed as a technique that appeals to males who desire a muscular physique or males who value being in shape. This in turn could speak to male climbers who might be reading the magazine.
The advertisement claims that the Gore-Tex solution provides “protection under the toughest conditions.” The ad also states that a shark’s solution is quite similar because they also have “an extremely tough exterior of scales [to] protect the body.” The weakness of the language only lies with the content. This is because more attention is given to describing the shark’s tough skin than actually describing the product they are selling. The ad does state, “To find out more about the Gore-Tex Product solutions visit gore-tex.com.” It seems they should have used their two paragraphs of text more wisely and included the information in the actual advertisement instead of leading potential customers on a wild goose chase to find out what in the world they were actually trying to sell.
The composition of the advertisement is very interesting. As I mentioned before, the head of a shark is combined with a male’s body and this creates a striking image that draws the attention of readers because of the obvious juxtaposition. It seems that the location of the ad is underwater but it is unclear. This is just insinuated by the combination of the content and the colors of blue used throughout the ad. The shark is an underwater creature and the majority of colors in the ad are blue.
There is a key phrase within the advertisement that grabs the reader’s attention as well. The bottom center of the ad hosts the Gore-Tex logo. The logo includes the slogan of the company, which is “Guaranteed to Keep You Dry.” The slogan within the context of the advertisement seems ironic. What does a shark living its whole life submerged in water know about “staying dry.” If a shark were to stay dry it would die. This seems a bit contradictory to the advertisement if the company wants to appeal to the safety obtained through wearing their “pro shells.” This is certainly an unintended effect I got from the advertisement.