Quality Street

Quality Street is the set product produced in 1956 which represents women, consumerism and the brand Quality Street in a different way than it is today. The advert is constructed through technical, verbal and symbolic codes.

Consumerist culture

Quality Street is a print advert for the chocolate boxes produced by Mackintosh.
The print advert is hand drawn as it was released in 1956 and technology was limited.
As well as being hand drawn, the advert uses a rich colour palette of both primary and secondary colours which gives the advert a sense of vibrancy and luxury, reflecting the consumerist culture that followed the end of WW2.

Presentation

The 1950’s experienced a consumer boom following the end of the war.
During the war, food and other items needed to be rationed and so to celebrate having expendable income, mass audiences were now able to consume more luxury goods.
Quality Street is presented as a luxury item through the use of colour palette, choice of characters and costumes, and the serif typography.

Rule of thirds

The advert is constructed through the combination of technical, verbal and symbolic codes.
The advert uses the rule of thirds to help structure the information.
The focus is on the centre third where the product is placed and all of the written information is placed in the bottom third.

Gold and purple

The placement of the gold frame in the top third, sitting behind the main male character, can have connotations of a halo and infer the man is the protagonist and hero in the narrative.
The use of the colour purple in the bottom third helps to draw the audiences eye towards the information, as well as it being the colour associated with the brand ID of Mackintosh.

Mode of address

The choice of non-direct mode of address for the three main characters is unusual but helps to develop their characters.
The man’s gaze is towards the product and helps to guide the audiences gaze here, whereas the women's gaze is towards the men, suggesting that the women want the man as much as the chocolate.

Verbal codes

The verbal codes use several language devices to persuade the audience.
These include the word ‘delicious’ and the alliteration of ‘delightfully different’ and ‘delicious dilemma’.
The use of these devices suggests a high cultured audience who are well educated.

Intertextuality and Narrative

Intertextuality helps to create meaning within the advert. Narrative is constructed in the advert.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality helps to create meaning within the advert.
The regency period is referred to within the advert through the use of the portrait of Miss Sweetly and Major Quality.
The costumes and hairstyles of the character pay homage to the Regency period, and offers nostalgia for the audience by helping to remind them of better days.

The Regency period

The Regency period was between 1811 and 1837 when England was under the rule of the Prince Regent and was defined by elegance.
This time period shared many characteristics with the 1950’s in terms of the developments made in technology, the population boom and appreciation of architecture and fashion being considered more highly.

The characters

The characters of Miss Sweetly and Major Quality have become synonymous with the Quality Street brand.

Narrative

Within the advert Propp's theory of narrative can be applied.
The man who is centred and surrounded by the women, appears to be shown as the protagonist and the hero.
The advert can perpetuate a patriarchal narrative, reflecting the idea that society is unequal and men are at top of it making the decisions. This echoes the way society functioned during the 1950’s.

Multiple narratives

The women on the other hand surround the man as if he is a saviour, making them damsels in distress who need saving.
The positioning of the characters helps to create different narratives:
- Either the women are choosing a chocolate.
- Or the man is choosing a woman.

Costumes

The women are dressed in different colours with different hairstyles, mirroring the different choices that are available in the chocolate box.
The man's costume has connotations of formality and wealth.

Representation and Target Audience

Representation in the advert conforms to stereotypical gender roles. The advert is purposefully targeting an audience aged 25-40 which is reflected in the character choice of this advert.

Male gaze theory

The centring of the man combined with the choice he is offered between the women suggests a male dominated society.
Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory can be applied to the advert as women seem to be sexualised and shown as objects as they are both focused on the man.

Mode of address

The women’s body language is also subservient as they are placed around the man and infers that the women need to attract a man to be happy and successful in society.
The man anchor’s the audience eye to the product through a non-direct mode of address which can have phallic symbolism.

Dominant ideology

The clothing of the women, which is mainly red, can have connotations of passion, romance and desire.
The women are represented in a stereotypical light through suggesting all women love chocolate and all women need a man.
This advert can reinforce dominant ideology and suggest that women should cater for the needs of men.

Miss Sweetly

Miss Sweetly is represented differently to the two main women.
She is wearing a pastel purple which has strong connotations of femininity and elegance in comparison to the red costumes.
She also has much more flesh on shown, perhaps to reinforce her role as an object to be gazed at during the time period.

Target audience

The advert is purposefully targeting an audience aged 25-40 which is reflected in the character choice of this advert.
In this light, the characters can act as audience surrogates, meaning the audience can see themselves in the main characters.

Aspirations

The choice in characters can be seen as aspirational. The man appears to be of a higher class to the women as he is in a formal business suit, suggesting the women are lower class and have climbed the social ladder.
The aspiration attached to higher class life could be purposely intended as the Quality Street product was aimed towards working class families the 1950’s was characterised by its period of change and progression within society available.

1Overview

1.1Media Language

1.1.1Media Language

1.1.2Media Language 2

1.2Audience

1.2.1Audiences

1.2.2Audiences 2

1.2.3End of Topic Test - Media Language & Audience

1.3Representation

1.3.1Stereotypes

1.3.2Gender

1.3.3Audiences

1.4The Media Industry

1.4.1Media Industries

1.4.2Ownership

1.4.3Funding & Regulation

1.4.4End of Topic Test - Representation/Media Industry

2Component 1: Section A

2.1Magazines

2.1.1Magazines

2.1.2Pride

2.1.3Pride 2

2.2GQ

2.2.1Context

2.2.2Narrative

2.2.3Representation

2.3Advertising & Marketing

2.3.1Advertising & Marketing

2.3.2Analysing Adverts

2.3.3Analysing Adverts 2

2.3.4Theories & Principles

2.3.5End of Topic Test - Magazines & Advertising

2.4Print Advertisements

2.4.1Quality Street

2.4.2This Girl Can

2.5Film Posters (Marketing)

2.5.1Spectre

2.5.2The Man with The Golden Gun

2.5.3The Man with The Golden Gun 2

2.6Newspapers

2.6.1Ownership & Regulation

2.6.2News Selection

2.6.3Media Language

2.6.4Genres

2.6.5Newspaper Conventions

2.6.6Representation

2.6.7Audience

2.6.8Theories

2.6.9End of Topic Test - Newspapers

2.7The Sun

2.7.1Context

2.7.2Narrative

2.7.3Language & Images

2.8The Guardian

2.8.1The Guardian

2.8.2Narrative

2.8.3Language & Images

3Component 1: Section B

3.1Video Games

3.1.1Video Games

3.2Film

3.2.1The Big Six

3.2.2Technology

3.2.3End of Topic Test - Video Games & Films

3.3Radio

3.3.1The Radio Industry

3.3.2Categories of Radio Station

3.3.3Technology & Radio Audiences

3.3.4Theories

3.3.5End of Topic Test - Radio

3.4No Time To Die

3.4.1Context

3.4.2Narrative

3.4.3Representation

4Component 2: Section A

5Component 2: Section B

5.1Music Video

5.1.1Music Videos

5.1.2The Music Industry

5.2Michael Jackson

5.2.1‘Black or White’

5.3Taylor Swift

5.3.1Bad Blood

5.3.2Intertextual References

5.3.3Media Theories

5.3.4Representation

5.3.5Social Media

5.4Bruno Mars

5.4.1Uptown Funk

5.4.2Analysis

5.4.3End of Topic Test - Music Videos

5.5Lizzo

5.5.1Context

5.5.2'Good as Hell'

5.5.3Media Language

5.5.4Representation

5.5.5Audience

5.5.6Industry

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