Seven Deadly Sins

This is an advertisement for Dior's perfume j'adore, in 2008. It is a picture of a woman, with blonde, styled hair, wearing a dark dress, as if she is going to a party. She looks wealthy because she is wearing a nice dress and has diamond earrings. There are glittering objects in the background looking like a chandelier or drinks, indicating she could be at a fancy party. It also indicates that this women is a women of higher status, with money.

The audience of this advertisement is women of higher status. There are a few parts to this advertisements that show it is for the higher class. First, the woman is wearing a fancy dress with diamond earrings. She must be wealthy to be able to afford these things and Dior could be trying to say in this advertisement that wealthy women wear this perfume. Another part is the use of french, j'adore, meaning "i love". To understand foreign languages, one must be educated. Throughout history, a factor that has separated the lower and middle/upper classes is education. In this same way, the use of this educational language could signify this advertisement is for the upper class.

The two deadly sins found in this picture are avarice and lust. The woman in this picture seems to be almost boasting about her  higher status. Her earrings are pointed towards the camera/the audience's eyes, catching the light. She looks like she is holding her diamond earrings because they are important to her, this shows avarice. The next deadly sin shown is lust; lust is shown in the woman in the picture and is invoked in the audience. The woman is pulling down her dress and looking at the camera longingly. One could imagine there is someone on the other side of the lens that she is attracted to, or wants to do "stuff" with. Men who see this advertisement might also feel lust towards this woman. She is pulling down her dress and it is almost showing all her breasts. The logo is right on her breast and she is looking seductively at the camera. These are all techniques used to grip viewers and to make this perfume be shown as more luxurious.

These kind of advertisements are found to be offensive to women. Through these pictures, a standard is set for women and a pressure is there for other women to be this way. It also suggests a false representation of women that men can believe. Although there are issues with this type of advertising,  media continues to release these kinds of photographs because they have to power to influence in this way. It can discourage women and men who do not look like the people in the advertisements.