Diamond Rings

 

This billboard ad is very striking.  At first glance, it looks like the women is giving the viewer of the billboard ad the "F" word.  On closer inspection, one notices that it is not her middle finger, but it is actually her ring finger.  Then when the viewer looks to the woman's right, he sees the words, "She's tired of waiting."  All of a sudden, the viewer realizes that the woman wants an engagement ring and is tired of waiting for her fiance to give her one.  Then when the viewer looks to the woman's right, everything makes sense: the advertisement is for a diamond company.

The advertisement uses irony to bring forth its message because of its unexpected use of what looks like the "F" finger.  The ad is very controversial because it is associating the "F" finger with marriage.  Although I found the ad funny, the ad could easily offend some people.  Some people may argue that you should never use the "F" finger even if it is just in jest.  The use of the "F" finger arguably represents the moral decay of our culture.  When you add the seriousness of matrimony to the equation, it is no wonder that some people are offended by this add. 

Another subtle use of  irony and deception in the ad is the use of the ring finger instead of the middle finger. The middle finger is associated with invectives while the ring finger is associated with  marriage. Notice in the picture how the woman's hand looks almost as big as her head.  The designers of the ad really want to highlight the finger.  This is also very little clutter in the ad.  The simplicity of the ad allows its controversial feature to be highlighted.   



I think this billboard ad was successful in getting consumers attention.  When I saw the woman imitating the middle finger, the billboard instantly caught my attention.  But the problem is this ad is that people can imitate this message in many different ways.  People may think the ad wants people to think that marriage is a waste.  The other message is to buy Keystone jewelery.  This is very risky because many consumers who don't pay attention to ads will see this as a negative ad.