Band-Aids have been around since the 1920s, and they are an internationally known product. Band-Aids must be marketed to an international audience, and since most everyone knows what a Band-Aid is, the company must rely on marketing techniques to show consumers why the Band-Aid brand is the best choice to purchase. In a Band-Aid advertisement released in 2010 by an advertising company, JWT Dubai, there is a picture of the Hulk’s hand with a tiny Band-Aid wrapped around it, and the entire page is colored with different shades of green.
This ad is not covered in crazy pictures or an array of vibrant colors; it is simple and concise. This simplistic advertising of the Hulk’s hand makes this ad easy for anyone to comprehend, and it also conveys several different powerful messages to show a consumer the effectiveness of this product. Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 and is a Fortune 500 corporation that has worldwide pharmaceutical sales of around 65 million dollars.
Johnson & Johnson sells medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer-based packages (Wikipedia, 2011).
Three brothers founded Johnson & Johnson in Brunswick, New Jersey, and then an employee invented Band-Aids. In 1921 Band-Aids were made available to the public, and it was the first commercial dressing made for small wounds (Johnson & Johnson, 2011). This corporation now operates in over 57 countries, and its products are sold in over 175 countries. Johnson & Johnson ranks at the top of Harris Interactive National Corporate Reputation Survey, and the Barron’s magazine has ranked them the world’s most respected company.
The U.S. State Department awarded Johnson & Johnson with the Benjamin Franklin Award for public diplomacy for funding international education programs. (Wikipedia, 2011). Johnson & Johnson is a globally known company, and almost everybody has used a product from this company. Even though Johnson & Johnson is a large and well known company, advertising is an essential tool to keep reminding consumers who can provide the best at home medical products. This advertisement was marketed internationally, and The Hulk, is an internationally known hero.
The target audience was geared more towards men, children, and parents. Men are more likely to know who The Hulk is, and that is why this ad was placed in various men’s magazine. This ad was placed in different video game magazines that are read by mostly boys and men. Another placement of this ad was on the Internet, like children’s clothing sites. This could be effective because a mother could be shopping for clothes for her son, and she sees the ad and can relate to it because her son loves The Hulk. This ad could be placed in nearly any magazine, and be effective because of the nature of the product. Even though this ad is aimed more at men and boys, it has other ways to attract women to the product. This ad was also placed in some women’s magazines like home and garden, crafts, and even fashion editorials.
Even if a woman did not know who The Hulk was, she can still conclude from the advertisement that the Band-Aid heals, protects, and is strong. This ad can appeal to men and young boys more than women, but no matter where it is placed it can still convey a message of strength and healing. By using the comic pop culture icon, The Hulk, it shows the strength and flexibility of the Band-Aid. The main point of this advertisement is to show how flexible the bandage is. The idea was that Bruce Banner put the Band-Aid on before he became The Hulk, and when he turned into The Hulk, the band aid was so flexible and strong it did not fall off. The Hulk is associated with strength, so by seeing the Hulk’s hand the idea of strength is revealed. The message is no matter how active you are or where you go, the Band-Aid will stay put.
Another message that can be relayed is that The Hulk seems indestructible, and even super heroes use Band-Aids, and no household should go without them. By using the renowned hero The Hulk, the product’s benefit truly comes to life, and the ad speaks volumes using no words. Some ideas and messages are conveyed to a consumer in other ways than words. In this advertisement the color green is used to help emphasize the idea of the ad. The color green is used worldwide to represent safety and is considered the most restful color. Green can also represent nature, healing, growth, and balance. The purpose of Band-Aids is to heal wounds, and the various shades of green exemplify the healing and safety elements of the bandage. The different green shades are used to initiate feelings of safety and healing, and the advertisement wants the reader to associate their brand with those feelings. The subject of this ad is the contrasting tan bandage on the Hulk’s finger.
The contrasting tan color illuminates the product, and the combination of the colors help create the idea of the importance of the hand and its bandage. A lighter green of shade is placed in the center of the ad, and that creates a spotlight effect to enhance the focus of this ad. By just using colors alone, this advertisement sends a subtle message to its audience. When designing this ad, advertisers also had to consider the placement of the images and product. When people read a page, the normal reading pattern is from top to bottom and left to right. The Hulk’s hand starts at the upper left hand side of the page, and advertisers make a visual path down Hulk’s hand to the product that is being advertised in the middle of the page. Since there is a monochromatic color scheme, it is difficult to lose focus of the main subject.
After the reader views the bandage, the visual path continues down Hulk’s bandaged finger to a box of Band-Aid brand bandages. The placement of the Band-Aid box at the bottom right hand corner makes the brand the last image a reader sees before turning the page. The effective mapping of the images draws attention to the important elements of the ad, and in a specific order the advertisers want a consumer to see the ad. This advertisement proves that a product can be marketed effectively by using simplistic placement techniques and monochromatic color schemes.
The color choices effectively set a calming and healing mood, and the strong and powerful hand shows the strength and flexibility of the product. Even if someone did not know who The Hulk was, this ad could still be beneficial because it shows a strong hand with a little Band-Aid wrapped around it, and it could be inferred that the little Band-Aid is strong. The Hulk Band-Aid ad was voted one of the top 40 most creative ads by adsoftheworld.com in 2011, and it still circulates on the Internet as a brilliant ad.
Johnson & Johnson. (2011). Johnson & johnson. Retrieved from http://www.jnj.com/connect/about-jnj/company-history/
Wikipedia. (2011, November 25). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_&_Johnson
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