Cultural Differences in Advertising with Wonderbra

Advertising is a huge moneymaker internationally and reflects countries beliefs and values. It is difficult for two countries, such as America and the United Arab Emirates, with polar values to understand or accept each other's persuasions. I choose the controversial topic of Wonderbra advertisements which is put on a pedestal in American culture and hidden behind censors in the UAE as my topic of compare and contrast.

The United Arab Emirates has strict rules on their advertisements. There can not be any skin shown, eyes are usually closed or pixilated if the ad is made in the middle east, sex, homosexuals and anything related to drug or alcohol use is also prohibited (unless it's an anti-drug/alcohol ad). They still receive imports of other magazines from other countries but they censor every publication by hand with a black marker. They cover cleavage, legs up to the knees, buttocks, stomachs, and anything else that can be seen as sexually arousing.

Wonderbra decided to play with the UAE's practice of censorship since it is probably oddly amusing to the company. The ad features a very slim model in profile view wearing a lacy bra and underwear match set. However, Wonderbra took the liberty of censoring the article with a computer generated black marker and drew a wide censor line making the woman's breast look massively huge. Thus, persuading women that if they used Wonderbra it would increase their cleavage and make their breasts look larger. However, this advertisement is likely futile, when it arrives at the UAE the censors will probably just black out the woman's butt, and stomach as well. This would leave just her face for consumers to see and thus the advertisement is not affective.

However, in contrast, the American advertisement for Wonderbra is very sexual. The average looking model (blonde, busty, airbrushed and over sexualized) is wearing nothing but a bra, looks a bit sweaty and looks at the camera with lustful eyes. A carefree motto is found at the bottom of the advertisement: "Live it up." The motto is most definitely referring to women's breast giving the allusion that the Wonderbra could lift her breast up which would result in a fun, outrageous life filled with sex and mystery. That perhaps she too could be the model in the photograph.

Even the colors and backgrounds of the advertisements play a huge part in how the advertisements turn out. It doesn't matter if you know it or not but the layouts and color schemes of advertisements speak to your brain subconsciously. There are many different ways to layout an ad and both advertisements have very distinct and common ways to attract customers.

The Wonderbra ad from the UAE uses bland grey and white tones as a background. This brings more attention to the model (perhaps in hope that the consumers will understand the joke if they look at the advertisement long enough) who has a darker complexion and is wearing a bra and underwear set that is as boring as the background. She is also not standing in the center but instead the false censor bar is right in the middle of the advertisement which automatically diverts consumer's eyes to the model's breasts and not the model herself.

However, America's version is quite different. The background is yellow and black which sets a mood and brings attention to the model's bra and face. The yellow background is to show that Wonderbra's are pleasurable and shocking and that the model is "living it up" just like the motto suggests while bringing out her tan skin tone and blonde hair. Yellow has also been psychologically tested to cause people to spend more money than usual. However, the black border is used to let the motto stand out and bring more attention to the model's bra, which is also black, and the model's face because of her dark make-up. This produces the sexualized energy that flocks to advertisements in America because "sex sells." Women will buy the product to try and be it and men will just buy the magazines and possibly buy a Wonderbra for their wife.

Essentially, advertisements are much more than a way to sell a product. They can reflect different cultures values and belief systems as well as traditional lifestyle. I learned a lot during this project and I value the United Arab Emirate's decision to censorship and in a way, I feel that America's overly sexualized nature sometimes takes away from the advertisement or the product itself. Also, I exercised the practice of recognizing layouts and color schemes which is very important for my major in mass communications. On a whole, I believe advertisements will be studied in the future to tell people of America's past.