Sarah Erlikh Dr.

Jessica Ohara English 137H October 16th, 2012 Successful and Sexy- Who Said Perfection Came in Threes? Louis Vuitton has been a prestigious fashion power house since 1854 when it was initially founded, and it continues to be one today. From 2006 to 2012, Louis Vuitton has consecutively been awarded the title of the world's most luxury brand with a net worth of over twenty billion dollars. The brand is famous for its LV monogram, which appears on almost all its products. Whether it is located on brown leather trunks or glamorous, shimmering, watches, the LV icon portrays a lavish lifestyle. Although the LV emblem strongly attracts perspective customers its the symbol paired with a beautiful model that really helps the advertisement catch the daily shopper's wandering eye. By portraying beautiful women proudly displaying Louis Vuitton bags, the bags become desirable by female shopper. When shoppers see advertisements of models carrying Louis Vuitton purses, they automatically feel the need to purchase their own handbag in hopes that they will also be viewed as a beautiful woman. A specific ad for the Fall/Winter 07/08 campaign featuring Scarlett Johansson does much the same by exhibiting the Louis Vuitton ideals in a direct manner. Louis Vuittons advertisers effectively use ethos, logos, and pathos in their advertisements to attract shoppers that by purchasing Louis Vuitton products they can become capable, driven, power figures, as well as enthralling, sexual, deviants like the models they idolize. Throughout the years, Louis Vuitton has grown into a respectable company by marketing products that appeal to customers seeking a more extravagant lifestyle. The primary argument to

Louis Vuittons longstanding popularity is fame. On a consistent basis, Louis Vuitton advertisers use well-known, respectable, models and actresses to advertise the companys products through situated ethos. Advertisers believe that shoppers look up to well-known models or actresses and desire to become just like them. In the same way, they focus around the idea that if shoppers have an immense respect for the people in the advertisements, they will, in turn, also have high respect for the product and company that is being advertised. In this advertisement, Scarlett Johansson, one of the most respected, beautiful, confident, and wealthy actresses in current day Hollywood, intensifies Louis Vuittons strong- standing reputation. When shoppers see Scarlett Johansson, a successful person they strongly admire, advertising a Louis Vuitton product, they believe that by buying the product they can have the same reputation as her. Successful women are often expected to play dual roles in our society. They are expected to be attractive and sexually pleasing to men, while at the same time, be strong, capable, and ambitious. These expectations connote a certain level of pandering to the desires of men, but simultaneously demonstrate a capability of achieving the same kind of success that a man can attain. Stereotypically, sexuality together with success adds up to form the perfect woman. In this advertisement, Scarlett is portraying the epitome of the perfect woman by wearing expensive jewelry and lingerie while holding this expensive Louis Vuitton bag embellished with the distinctive gold LV monogram. Shoppers see her as having the reputation of a successful, confident, actress carrying a Louis Vuitton bag along with having the ability to sexually appeal to men; this convinces them that by buying the bag they can have this dual identity. This use of situated ethos causes shoppers to trust Scarlett Johansson which essentially causes them to trust Louis Vuitton to fulfill their internal desires.

Just as analyzing the ethos of the image uncovers the ways in which advertisers are successful in persuading women that by buying the Louis Vuitton handbag they can transition to having a dual feminine identity, the logos of advertisement conveys the same idea. When people initially look at the image they are drawn to the inextinguishable sexual appeal of the whole advertisement that is intensified through Scarletts seemingly obvious sexual position. She seems to be experiencing some type of pleasure that can be seen by her slightly parted mouth, thrown back head, and artfully mussed hair. In addition, the positioning of her limbs around the hanging rope connects her stance to one of a female performer which once again intensifies the sexual aspect of the whole image. On the other hand, Scarletts features can also be analyzed from a nonsexual side. People can interpret Scarletts stance as being that of a successful, authoritative figure. When they examine the formation of her lips they may think that she is about to say something worth listening to, and for that reason she holds her head high; she is both confident and proud of her accomplishments. Her piercing gaze causes people to believe that she has some sort of power over them which can often translate into success. This close, double-sided examination of Scarletts characteristics might frequently cause shoppers to make a direct connection to another powerful woman: Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe became popular in the 1950s and has since influence peoples ideologies of many cultures to this day. They believe that she was and continues to be femme fatale- the ultimate woman- because she was not only the universal sex symbol, but also one of the most victorious and wealthy women to hit the entertainment industry. In this advertisement, it is quite visible that Scarlett exhibits much of Marilyns exquisite dual feminine qualities and therefore causes shoppers to believe that she is like Marilyn. Louis Vuitton advertisers appeal to logos by using an implied enthymeme that beckons perspective customers. The specific enthymeme goes as

follows: the women are sexy, successful, power figures. The women carry Louis Vuitton. If perspective shoppers carry Louis Vuitton, they will also be sexy, successful, power figures. The pathos seen in the analysis of the whole image combines with the ethos and logos of the image to persuade shoppers that to be appealing, triumphant, women, they must be owners of Louis Vuitton products. Perspective shoppers connect emotionally to the advertisement through the concept of duality exhibited by the colors used throughout the image. When looking at the advertisement, people see that the color white clearly overshadows all the other colors; Scarletts skin, hair, clothing, glasses, flowers, rope, watch, and bag are all white. The vast amount of white makes it pertinent to understand the underlying meaning of the color. In many contexts, people emotionally connect the color white with the concepts of purity, innocence, and freshness. In addition, white can symbolize drive and strength. These traits correlate to the hegemonic, ambitious side of a woman; the side she uses to advance in her everyday life. On the contrary, the colorful parts of the image are considered its focal points since peoples attention is directly drawn to them; Scarletts red lips and blue eyes, her few colored flowers, and the LV monogram on the bag are all focal points. It becomes evident, that the colorful objects must symbolize the concepts of seduction and sexuality, relating to the devious, sexual side of the woman that she uses to please her partner behind the scenes. Advertisers connect the two sides of a woman back to the Louis Vuitton handbag they are trying to sell. It is mostly white, showing the dominant side of a woman, but also has the gold LV monogram showing the more muted, seductive side of the woman. Louis Vuitton advertisers try to persuade people that to become that confident leader with a sexy side every woman must flaunt both sides of her personality and by owning this Louis Vuitton handbag a woman can grow to do just that.

Through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos Louis Vuitton is effective in advertising its products. Louis Vuittons advertisements efficiently pair the strength of the LV symbol with the persuasion of the beautiful models to convince shoppers that they too can be women with two fold qualities if they merely buy the product. Scarlett Johansson, in the Louis Vuitton advertisement, appears to be a successful, powerful woman as well as a sexual, mysterious deviant. Her mere fame and reputation brings a lot of credibility to the advertisement. While examining the advertisement perspective shoppers see Scarlett holding the bag and essentially connect her qualities with the qualities of Louis Vuitton products; if they own Louis Vuitton products they can exhibit those same qualities. Louis Vuittons effective advertising techniques have continuously helped it become the strong company that it is today and they will continue to help it keep its substantial standing.