Jaron Anderson

English 1010

Visual Analysis

Sex sells. Plain and simple, it has for years, it wasn’t as racy as it is now but it’s the

marketing ‘go to tool’ regardless of what the company might say to protect its image. From food

to make-up there is usually some form of subliminal or blatant advertisement of how a product

my make one seem sexy, wanted, or just make us feel better about ourselves. We have all bought

something for one of these reasons, you may think you haven’t but I can almost guarantee you

have. I know I have, from a vitamin that is good for health, a fitness dvd regimen, or even the

product I use form my hair has had some sort of sexual gimmick behind it. Some can be so subtle

and make it almost as if it is second nature to buy the product.

Attention is key and my ad uses pop star Katy Perry as its ‘trigger.’ Katy appears holding

two bags of Popchips, both which she is cleverly holding in front of her breasts and the ad

reading, “nothing fake about ‘em” along with a quote from Katy stating, “I’m no into phonies.

Good thing there’s nothing fake or phony in Popchips. They only taste like they’re bad for you.”

We all can agree that this is a prime example of sex selling a product and that this would grab

our attention, whether on television or a print ad. Zambezi of Los Angeles, California is the

marketing firm who is the creator of the said ad. Zambezi and Popchips also have three other

ads, all with a sexual implicit base regarding the ad. This isn’t the first act of racy ads from

Popchips either. They were under fire on ads involving Astion Kutcher acting as different

characters for a fake dating website. Claims involving racism were associated with the ad as

Kutcher played an Indian. Complaints poured in claiming the racist agenda of the ad.

It’s apparent that a claim can be made about the ad involving Katy Perry, that sexy pop

stars eat Popchips so you too can be sexy when eating them or if you are seen eating them.

Another claim can involve her breasts, which can be taken, as you don’t have to be fake to be

sexy because being all natural is sexy and even devious as well, so to speak. The point of view

draws our attention to her neck, at least in my opinion, which is considered a sexy and alluring

part of a woman’s body or even here lips could be the point of view because of the bright pink

lipstick she is wearing. There seems to be a smooth transition into the balance, contrast,

repetition and detail of the whole ad. The dark and light blues of the background are integrated

into Katy’s dress as well as the bags of Popchips, especially in the wording “all natural” at the

top of bags. All the text in the ad is white, from the top to the bottom and in the wording

Popchips on the bags. All these create repetition in both the visual aspect of the ad and the text,

which seem to balance it nicely.

It’s pretty safe to say that the message applies to the audience of almost everybody,

which makes this ad pretty sneaky. Using a pop star at the level of Katy Perry really draws in

that huge pop crowd and fan base. Not to mention she is considered a sex symbol and has been

featured in teens, women’s, men’s magazines, and commercials. Bursting her out of just the pop

culture bubble and appealing to nearly everybody instead of just one or two generic audiences.

This ad is such a good representation of how well sex sells and how these marketing firms are

very good at drawing in existing and potentially a new customer base. I think there is one thing

we can take away from this ad; when you’re feeling like a snack, think popped, think Popchips.

Never fried. Never baked. Just all natural.