Bass Pro Shop Ad

While looking for ads to break down I came across hundreds and hundreds of ads all promoting different products. Of all the ads I found one stood out the most. It was an ad for the Bass Pro Shop. This advertisement seemed to have a massive amount of thought and detail and put into it. 

Bass Pro Shops ad reinforces a stereotype about gender identity. It shows a man out on the water fishing, not at home with the kids or helping out. He is out on the water enjoying himself. The advertisements is almost saying that men belong out in the wild fishing and having fun, not at home with their families. Any fisherman, with a family,that were to see this advertisement would immediately wish that they were on that boat, with that fish in their hand. Not at home taking care of a child. The ads goal is to set up an amazing fantasy world for men so they can see themselves in a gender role that they would prefer and not the role they are currently in. 

This ad not only said something about social identity and gender roles, but also about about masculinity and femininity. While the ad does not say much about femininity it says a bit about masculinity. First there is the pose of the man, the photo is taken while the man in the photo is in an action shot, which is generally more masculine than if he were modeling. The man in the picture is also very spread out, he is standing with one arm holding a fishing rod out in one arm and a fish out in another. Then there is the clothing. The fisherman is wearing looser clothes, while it is hard to see exactly what he is wearing, one can tell that he is defiantly wearing a fishing vest of some sort and those are very loose fitting clothes. Lastly there is dominance, the fisherman is presenting a certain amount of dominance over the fish by holding its mouth he has complete control over it. All of these things together give this image a certain masculine feeling. 

This advertisement seemed to have a massive amount of thought in and effort put into it, in order to create a fantasy world. The image uses a combination of lighting, poses, angle, and setting to create a magical world. 

First there is the lighting and setting. The setting is on a lake in some reeds but it is the lighting and time of day that stand out the most. It seems to be dawn, which as all fisherman know is the best time to fish, and the sun has just risen. The lighting causes a silhouette over the fisherman, almost in a way that any one that looked at it could see themselves in the place of the fisherman on the boat. The way the sun is also breaking through the clouds, gives off an almost paradise feel to the lake. The combination of these two elements start off the real feeling of a fantasy world. 

Next there is the pose that the fisherman is in. He is holding a fish, just pulled out of the water. You can tell by the way the water comes of the fish, which also helps with the fantasy world because it immediately draws your attention to the fish so its the first thing you notice, and all fisherman love a nice picture of a fish. But back to the pose, the fisherman also has a fishing rod in his hand, and has some fishing gear on him. Fishing rods to fisherman are equivalent to, shoes to women. So having a fishing rod in the hand brings any fisherman into a a fantasy world. 

The last detail in the ad that really stands out is the angle from which the picture is taken. The picture is taken from the same level as the water. It almost looks as if you are looking up at the fisherman. By looking up at the fisherman it makes the viewer of the picture almost feel as if it is somewhere that would like to be but can not quite grasp it but its implied that if they go to bass pro shop they can become that fisherman. 

This ad had one main goal, and that was to get people to come buy things at the Bass Pro Shop. It did not do this by showing how low their prices were or even by showing their products. Rather the company decided to take a picture and use it to provoke the consumer. It is able to do this by convincing fishermen that they belong out on that lake rather than at home.