So perhaps it's safe to say at this point that WSJ's advertisers are catering to what they presume is a male audience. (They certainly weren't catering to Jolique, since she would NEVER consider buying a cheesy 14kt gold bracelet.) But getting back to the A-E ad, let's examine what kinds of men A-E is targeting and what information they are using to appeal to these men. There are three different shoes with three different captions, so one can assume that A-E is perhaps appealing to three types, or archetypes, of men. In terms of Euro-American male business attire, the first shoe is definitely the most untraditional. It looks comfortable (the large buckle is useful for adjusting it to fit snugly around the foot), durable and elegant—in a word, modern. And there's the caption that accompanies it: "Saw the Movie." If this caption were unaccompanied by the other captions, one might assume that this shoe was designed for a man who likes to watch movies, either as a hobby or as a profession. Perhaps he is a film critic. (Although then the caption would probably read "Saw the Film," since film critics hate the term "movie.") But taking into account the two other captions, "Saw the Movie" takes on a different, additional meaning. Were this ad not for a retailer who sells each of these types of shoes, one might think the retailer were mocking those who only saw movies, and either didn't or couldn't read or write the books and scripts upon which they were based. However, since we know that A-E sells each of these shoes, and that it caters to "All Walks of Life," we can assume it's not trying to insult those to whom it is addressing the advertisement—potential customers. With this information, the message then is not for customers who can't read or write the book, but for those who don't have time to read or write the book, because they are too busy making "deals." We'll call this customer The Dealmaker. He is young, he is busy and baby, he is going places. One is likely to find The Dealmaker in a securities firm—like Freddie Sacker on The$treet, or perhaps at an advertising firm, or in some other form of sales. Indeed, I recall an old partner of mine who wore similar shoes. Perhaps our firm was not ready for this new modern shoe, as my colleague was the endless butt of jokes for wearing these shoes, despite his protestations of "But they're Ferragamo's, man!" (Surprisingly, this statement silenced some of his accusers who I presume had purchased shoes from the same Italian retailer, although probably in a different style.) The next shoe is for the man I like to call The Country Squire. He reads books and magazines like Barron's (to keep tabs on his stock portfolio) and Time (to keep tabs on everything else) . His shoe is also comfortable-looking (the tassel is adjustable), and the treaded sole is probably useful for mucking about the grounds of his estate and/or for keeping a firm grip on the accelerator of his Range Rover. The profession of the man who wears these shoes (if he is a professional at all, and most country squires aren't) is probably of the legal kind, as this profession requires lots of reading and writing, for which he is fully equipped. The third shoe's caption, "Wrote the Book," seems ill-matched with the crocodile loafer. Perhaps I'm hanging out with the wrong kinds of writers (which is to say, the poor, struggling kind), but I can think of few writers who have the means to afford this shoe ($1,595), except perhaps John Grisham (who seems more like The Country Squire type to me) or Charles Schwab (author of Charles Schwab's Guide to Financial Independence). A more suitable caption for this shoe might read "Produced the Movie About the Book," or "Read the Book and Bought the Stock." |
