VW vs Skoda

The two adverts, one a print image for Skoda Fabia and another moving image advert for VW Polo, are both adverts for cars. They both use different conventions and techniques to target their audience and persuade the audience to buy their product.

The advert for VW Polo has the theme of protection through it, and is also reinforced by the title,’ Protection’. The first scene of the advert is of a riot; there are males, who are fighting against policemen. This alludes to the 19th century revolution that took place in Europe; the middle class bourgeoisie were fighting for their rights. On the other hand, since it is a German brand, it can also allude to the Berlin wall incident. Therefore, this can suggest the primary target audience for the advert is, males, aged 17-35, of B, C1, C2 class. The ‘Protection’ theme is shown when there is a close up shot of a male is, crouching down behind a car, to shield himself from the police attacks, connoting seriousness

In contrast, the Skoda Fabia advert connotes happiness, because of the medium shot of the happy, smiling workers. The anchorage, “Manufacturers of Happy drivers” also reinforces the theme of happiness. It can suggest that they do not only make cars, but want to make the drivers of that car happy. It is further reinforced through the colour orange, which is bright and joyous, as it is a summery colour.

The sound in the VW advert is contrapuntal, as the images in the montage are fast paced, whereas the music over it is classical and dramatic. This reinforces a binary opposition between good and evil, which is further supported by the colours, black and white.
The workers in the Skoda Fabio are all white, working class. This portrays institutional racism. Similarly, all the actors in the VW Polo, are primarily white, therefore suggesting the car will only protect white people, as a result targeting their primary audience. This may also be due to the fact that Skoda are owned by VW, therefore have the same ideologies.

The second scene of the VW advert is of horseracing, which shows the vulnerability of man to animals. The male is crouched in together, protecting himself from the horse. In addition to this, the animal rights theory can be applied, as the horse is represented as an object that can be used as entertainment purposes. However, this is juxtaposed with the scene after, as the animals (dogs) are shown to be attacking an innocent male, who is on the floor.

The Skoda car is shown to be a family orientated car, through the way the workers are standing around the car. This is because it looks as if the car is their child and they are the caring, warming, nurturing parents that made it, with all their heart. The are standing around the car smiling, which can suggest that they are happy with their production, and that the audience will be too. The advert is targeting an audience of families, with children, from C1,C2,D class. This is because, even though the car has the same engine as a VW, it is known to be of cheap quality, therefore targeting an audience with low disposable income.