GUCCI GUCCI GUCCI

Author: Gucci
Date: Spring 2011 add Campaign

When I first glanced at this picture I saw two women dressed in very fancy, expensive clothing. One of them is sitting down looking off into the distance while the other is leaned over about to kiss a guy who is also sitting down and he is dressed in nice clothes as well. They seem to be at a house and in the background there is another man leaning against a wall. There is "Gucci" written across the add in white lettering.
After I analyzed the photo In depth I saw a bigger picture. The add is trying to sell clothing and how they are doing this is by one, making people envy the models and the clothes, and two, by making the audience lust over it.
Since Gucci is a very popular and expensive brand their adds are going to portray that. They used three gorgeous models and each look confident and powerful. Having these aspects portrayed is a very good marketing technique because when the audience sees it they want to not only look like the people on the add, they want to buy the clothing so that they too can feel confident too. We see this especially with the model leaned over about to kiss the guy. She seems very confident in herself and see seems to do what she wants. The add also gets the audience to envy the brand by having the models up close so that they can see the clothes. The clothing looks expensive and very fitting. The audience is drawn to this and if you are rich because that is the target audience of this brand, considering how expensive it is, you would want to buy the items. lastly for envy, people will want to aspire to be these people because of the setting they're in. It is placed at a very nice, rich house, not somewhere run down. This is done on purpose because it shows that if you buy Gucci you are probably rich and the add wants to allude to those certain people. Lust is also seen in this add because the audience feels like if they wore clothing like that then they can get guys like the one sitting down.

I noticed the layout of the add as well. Like I said above, the two women and one of the guys are sitting close up to the camera, and this is done to show off their clothes. The models are also shot in a very neat area. There is not much around but it looks very sharp and this is done like this because it portrays the brand name. Gucci is very sharp and extremely high priced, and the layout definitely shows this. The "Gucci" name doesn't even have to be placed on the add for someone to know that it is for high priced clothes and rich folks.

Story of My Name

 (Erin in Runes)

My name has always been, and will always be, Erin Judith Mulligan. After asking my parents why they decided to name me Erin, they told me there was no particular reason except it wasn't "foofy" and it went well with Mulligan. Since they didn't have a particular reason for giving me my name, I decided to do some research. 

The name Erin is of Gaelic and Irish origin (there was a reason it went well with my last name). Erin is a derivative of the Irish word "Éirinn" and it is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland.  It was used mostly in the phrases, "go hÉirinn" "to Ireland", "in Éirinn" "in Ireland", "ó Éirinn" "from Ireland". Poets and nineteenth-century Irish nationalists used Erin in English as a romantic name for Ireland. It is actually still used today in some poetry. It is unfortunately a very generic name, used by both sexes. The only really good part about it is that no one can make fun of it, or give me a crazy nickname.

I think it is quite interesting and neat to be named after a place, but It doesn't define who I am, I can make my own decisions on who I want to be and how I want to be perceive by others. My parents did put a meaning behind my middle name though. Judith is actually my grandmas first name, and I personally find it to fit an old lady's, which I sometimes get made fun of for. I would never change it though because it makes my grandma really happy and it's nice knowing she'll always be with me.

I decided early on that when I get married I'm sticking with Mulligan. My mom actually stuck with her last name as well, Gurak, and I think it's perfectly fine to do so. A women shouldn't have to take on her husbands last name if it doesn't please her to do so or because it is seen as "a stepping stone in life". Personally I like the lineage connection to my family and birth, and the paper work that comes along with changing your last name isn't worth it. I feel like if a women wants to change her last name or doesn't want to, it's entirely up to them and what they want. In society today more and more women are keeping their maiden name because of reasons like mine or it could be reasons relating to feminism. Either way I decided to choose this route because it's practical, not political.

In reference to Anna Quindlen's essay "The Name is Mine", she talks about having "two me's", the me who is the individual and the me who is a part of a family of four". There has been moments where I have experienced both.  A time where I feel like a part of a group is during college applications. I'm fighting to be recognized through my essays and grades. I have to make a name for myself and show that I'm not any teenage but that I'm someone of importance, someone to look at. I have to pour my individuality into my essays and make them my own. I have to make my name standout among thousands. I can't be seen as another senior applying. I have to be seen as Erin Judith Mulligan, a girl that is different than any other. This is why I agree with Anna Quindlen. You can be two different Me's with two totally different personalities.

Margaret Atwood & Wing Young Huie

Picture: http://www.wingyounghuie.com/p929219206/e66b2c695

       Between the years 2007 and 2010 Wing Young Huie created the University Avenue Project consisting of over a few hundred photos. The photo I decided to analyze from his collection is of an African American man dressed in a yellow chicken costume. He is sitting on a curb and in his left hand there is a sign that seems to be an advertisement for a store, explaining a "good deal" they have. His face expression is neutral and he is looking off into the distance. The man is leaned over listening to music through headphones under his costume. There is a car in the front view of the camera so he is most likely sitting in a parking lot. Although that’s about all we can gleam from a quick glance and the visual cues, Huie thankfully included a small paragraph on the photographs he took. 


       Huie photographed the different diversity in the St. Paul neighborhoods. For three years he photographed storefronts, big box retailers, blue-collar neighborhoods, and burgeoning condominium communities consisting of the highest concentration of international immigrants in the country. He tried to reflect in his pictures the ever-evolving American experience. As I looked closer into the picture of the man in the chicken suit I realized he could actually be an immigrant. Judging by the job he has and how it is not so fought after suggests this might be true.


        We can draw connections between Huie’s photo and how Margaret Atwood presents the differences between Offred and the others (men, the regime, the Wives) in her book. As humans, to define someone as “other”, or being fundamentally different, we fist give them a social status. Atwood states in the book that the Wives, the Eye, and the Commanders are all of high authority. Although it is stated nowhere, the subject of Huie’s photo is someone of low class statues. Huie probably didn’t and doesn’t intend to define anyone as an “other”, but his visuals do. The costume he is wearing, the place he is sitting, the look on his face, all show a difference between him and other middle-class Americans. We can’t help but conclude he is not living a lavish life like others might be and we can’t help but place him in a certain group of people. Yet, if he was made visually into an “other”, Huie’s idea to document his situation and create public empathy for him as well, hopefully, gets people to take the time to learn about someone before placing them in a “class”. Atwood does the opposite. She uses written language to show the reader the “others” status. She right away in the book establishes that the Aunts have power over her, “Aunt Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrolled; they had electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather belts” (Atwood 4). This establishes the Aunt’s status over Offred and where she stands in the Gilead society. It shows how different they are compared to the Handmaids. Atwood also describes the relationships between the Commanders, Wives, and Offred. She presents “others” clearly in the book unlike Huie’s photo.