Madeline's Ad Analysis

This is an ad for the Fiat 500 Abarth Cabrio (convertible for all you non-italian speakers). The ad is trying to get people to want to buy the new edition of the Abarth. The a really focuses on wanting the consumer to feel sexy in the new car because they will be looking hot while "driving topless." Everyone knows that sex sells and that is what Fiat is among for in this ad.

I think two elements of persuasion used are the symbolic images/gestures and slogan. Fiat's motto since their relaunch is "A new wave of Italians are coming to American" and their previous ads focus on beach scenes with young, attractive Italian women dancing in bikinis on the beach. So the slogan for the Abarth Cabrio of "and now topless" is just adding to the appeal of the previous because scenes. They are targeting a young generation and have done so in the past by using popular music artists like Pitbull. They are going by their knowledge of sex sells. People want to feel attractive and sexy and that is what they are aiming for in this ad. This ad was featured in Sports Illustrated, which is a magazine geared to men and we all know how men feel about topless women… Simply put, if you buy this car you'll look and feel hot because you'll be "topless."

The symbolic image/gesture in the ad is that of the scorpion. The scorpion is the logo of the Abarth collection and the scorpion has cut the string on her bikini to make her become topless. They were focusing on showing how it is now an even "sexier" car than before. They are trying to toy with the imagination of the reader to get them to think what lies ahead, not only in the ad, but in this new car which is not even shown in the ad. They are using a gesture of leaving it all up to the imagination. They want the reader to imagine the attractiveness of the vehicle while allowing them to also imagine what's going on with the half naked woman in front of them.

I think this ad is effective because it is commonly know that sex sells and that is what they are doing here. They are wanting to make people feel like it is attractive to drive topless and especially in brand new car. I think this was a smart ad choice for Fiat since they are just only a year into their return to the US market and although it was a safe advertisement they did a good job by incorporating the logo (the scorpion) by making it cause the woman to be topless, very smart on their part. They are trying to make a car that isn't necessarily sexy a sexy car and they did so very well by not showing the car in the ad. Don't get me wrong, I love my Fiat Cabrio, but it's not a sexy car. It's a jellybean on wheels and it's very feminine. For this ad being in Sports Illustrated, a magazine typically read by men it was smart to not place a car that looks like a jelly bean and can't fit someone taller than 6'2" in the ad. It would take away from them imaging this "sexy"car. Letting the men imagine a topless women rather than see a picture of a feminine car was a very smart decision. Bravo Fiat.