Transformers, Robots In Disguise

Dear Followers,

A Closer Look: Japanese Pepsi Nex Billboard


With the advance of modern technology, visual media has become the predominant mode of advertisement. The average person is bombarded with thousands of visual images every day, and one cannot look around without finding an advertisement in many parts of the world. In this new environment of visual entrapment, we as the viewers need to be able to evaluate the messages behind these images more than ever. As marketing executive Jay Chiat explains in his “Illusions Are Forever,” we need to “come closer to seeking our own truth” or forever be overwhelmed by the constructs of visual media. What follows is a thorough analysis of a single example of this visual media.


Some of us have been lulled into the belief that the less words an advertisement contains, the simpler the advertisement is. The lack of words and presence of a simple visual image convinces us that what we are viewing is a harmless statement, allowing us to lower our natural skepticism “radars”. After all, we can usually easily counter worded arguments, but visual arguments are not so easy to counter. Advertisers take advantage of this natural tendency in order to exploit the full force of the visual argument. The Pepsi Nex advertisement that ran as part of the 2009 Pepsi marketing campaign in Japan is the epitome of this marketing strategy.


The advertisement, consisting of a small amount of text, a large Pepsi Nex canister, and a Japanese female seems plain, enhanced by the white and black color scheme. Right away, the enlarged characters こっち (here) draw the viewer in. Following the natural progression down the connected black end of the period and the side of the Pepsi Nex canister, the viewer passes over the Pepsi logo before ending on the Japanese female on the far right. Nothing special, right? Wrong. The very way that one’s eye follows the advertisement displays the advertiser’s intent to exploit the visual imagery while avoiding the text on the left-hand side. Recognizing simple nuances such as this is key.


Before I discuss the individual strategies used in the advertisement proper, a contextual analysis of the advertisement is in order. A new craze for personal health has grown over the past two decades as new research and movements have spread information concerning the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. Companies have found lucrative outlets in items like low-calorie food items that masquerade as healthy foods to exploit this new craze. One such item is the zero-calorie soft drink which combines great taste with smart health. Because the ultimate goal of the advertisement, as with any, is to sell Pepsi Nex, PepsiCo makes implicit arguments to suggest that drinkers can enjoy the two advantages mentioned in the previous sentence. They do one heck of a job.


Everything about the Pepsi Nex advertisement suggests a sense of “skinniness.” Every detail, from the text to the pictured female, unconsciously forces the reader to associate Pepsi Nex with this “skinniness” in order for them to accept the health benefits of the soft drink without question. The most obvious use of this technique is demonstrated by the Japanese female on the right-hand side. Everything about her signals this “skinniness,” from her thin legs to her stereotypical hourglass waist. Speaking of hourglass, the enlarged Pepsi Nex canister that she is leaning on shares this characteristic. Notice how a vertical position is emphasized as well. A more subtle argument of “skinniness” is given by the color and text of the advertisement. The use of heavy white space emphasizes a sense of emptiness in parallel with the zero-calorie nature of the drink. The slender Japanese characters that make up the text of the advertisement, when put against this emptiness, are slender, much like the legs of the Japanese female.


This presented “skinniness” is meant to invoke a negative feeling in the viewer, almost an insult, in order to prompt the viewer to buy Pepsi Nex in order to improve themselves. The underlying assumption here is that “skinniness” is something that is desirable. The Japanese female helps exploit and develop these feelings in the viewer. Beautiful females have often accompanied advertisements for good reason: they work. Females feel pale in comparison to this perfect woman with a computer-edited complexion. Playing on the female sense of insecurity, Pepsi Co convinces girls of all ages that by drinking Pepsi Nex they can have the same features as her. For males, the presence of the female invokes sexual feelings of pleasure. By drinking Pepsi Nex, males can engage with females like the one pictured. This dual function helps Pepsi Nex appeal to a vast audience, a key marketing strategy.


However, to stop here would do the advertisement injustice. This advertisement has another layer of appeal that must be discussed. One of PepsiCo’s central advertising techniques is to portray the company as hip and modern. Statistically speaking, soft drinks are more popular among teenagers and young adults. To tap into this selling base PepsiCo takes a few approaches. Once again I will focus first on the female. What is she wearing? She has on a short brown coat, gold dress, and high heel shoes. The use of the color gold suggests that this female is luxurious and wealthy. Secondly, the nature of her clothing is very modern. She is part of the young generation, appealing to hipsters and clubbers alike. Recently I went to a seminar at the University of Minnesota named “The Art of Japan,” where I learned that the Japanese make heavy use of hairstyle to demonstrate emotion in art. No wonder she has such a contemporary and easy-going hairstyle.


Secondly, Pepsi exploits design to demonstrate a sense of “hipness” through what I call contemporary simplicity. Clean-cut characters are very modern and contemporary. The straight lines and design used in the Nex portion of the logo suggest “hipness” as well, resembling the font one might find on a album cover or popular magazine. A black and white color scheme gives the advertisement an overall feeling of cleanness and serves the dual purpose of forming contrast as well. This helps the red and blue Pepsi logo pop out at the viewer when put against the white backdrop and black figures. The logo, a representation of PepsiCo, is portrayed as very lively in itself through the use of active colors. Contrast adds to the feeling of cleanness mentioned before as well by giving everything a definite border line. This helps make the text, Pepsi Nex canister, and Japanese female pop out of the advertisement almost.


I mentioned before that diet soft drinks want to emphasize taste and health benefits. PepsiCo exploits the small amount of text used in the advertisement to send a message about the product itself. The opening line, こっち。 (here), suggests that Pepsi Nex is a new product in Japan, probably introduced overseas from the United States. Many consumers have learned to use new and good as synonyms. After all, the latest products must be the best. Continuing downward, おいしところが、いい。 (but taste is good) emphasizes the taste component we discussed above. By emphasizing the great taste, Pepsi is assuaging the viewer about the quality of the product. This is supported by the text next to the canister. あと味すっきり (clean aftertaste) gives the reader a logical reason for why Pepsi Nex is superior to other diet soft drinks. These are perhaps the only explicit arguments made by the advertisements.


Author Marshall McLuhan, in his “The Medium Is The Message,” discusses how messages are shaped by the conventions of the media on which they are conveyed. The Pepsi Nex advertisement in question was placed on a billboard in a busy Tokyo subway. Subways, because they are located underground, are usually dark places. They are very busy, Tokyo being a special case because of the dense population of Japan. In this context the white backdrop becomes a necessity in order to draw the viewer’s wandering eye to the advertisement. Doesn’t an ice-cold Pepsi Nex sound good after a long and busy day at work?


Rhetoric shapes the way we view the world. Every detail contributes to an argument as a whole. This analysis itself is making an argument. By focusing on a foreign advertisement, I have emphasized the universal nature of marketing rhetoric while demonstrating my belief that multicultural outlooks are desirable. This analysis should serve as a reminder to beware of the visual image as well. What may seem like harmless images are carefully crafted advertising ploys that will play with one’s emotions and shape one’s conceptions of truth before one even recognizes what is happening. As with Transformers, with advertisements there’s more than meets the eye.


Optimus Prime v. Megatron,
Noel