UNIVERSITY OF VAASA 

 

Faculty of Philosophy 

 

English Studies 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miia Kontteli 

 

“The Moment Perfected”  

 

Alcohol Advertising in GQ and Men’s Health Magazines 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Master’s Thesis 

Vaasa 2017 



 

 

 

 

  



1 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

 

DIAGRAMS 2 

 

ABSTRACT               3 

 

1 INTRODUCTION 5 

 

2 ALCOHOL, CULTURE AND ADVERTISING 10 

2.1 Alcohol and Culture 10 

2.2 Alcohol and Print Advertising 16 

2.3 The Visual and the Verbal in Advertisements 19 

 

3 REPRESENTATIONS OF ALCOHOL IN MEN’S HEALTH AND GQ 30 

3.1 Exquisiteness 32 

3.2 Lifestyle 41 

3.3 Relationship 48 

3.4 Tradition 56 

 

4 CONCLUSIONS 61 

 

WORKS CITED 64 

 

APPENDICES 

Appendix 1. Grey Goose Le Melon Vodka 68 

Appendix 2. Markham Vineyards Merlot 69 

Appendix 3. Michelob Ultra Light Beer 70 

Appendix 4. Hennessy Very Special Cognac 71 

Appendix 5. Santa Margherita Prosecco 72 

Appendix 6. Chopin Vodka 73 

Appendix 7. Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 74 



2 

 

Appendix 8. Ketel One Vodka 75 

 

DIAGRAMS 

Diagram 1. The percentual share of each category in the alcohol advertisements of 

Men’s Health and GQ magazines.            32 

 

  



3 

 

______________________________________________________________________ 

 

UNIVERSITY OF VAASA  

Faculty of Philosophy  

Discipline:   English Studies  

Author:   Miia Kontteli  

Master’s Thesis:  “The Moment Perfected”  

         Alcohol Advertising in GQ and Men’s Health Magazines 

Degree:   Master of Arts  

Date:   2017  

Supervisor:   Tiina Mäntymäki  

______________________________________________________________________ 

 

ABSTRACT   

 

Tämä pro gradu -tutkielma käsittelee alkoholin representaatioita alkoholimainonnassa. 

Aineistona käytettiin alkoholimainoksia vuonna 2014 julkaistuissa amerikkalaisissa 

GQ- ja Men’s Health -aikakauslehdissä. Materiaali sisälsi 10 Men’s Health -lehden ja 

11 GQ-lehden numeroa, joissa esiintyneistä mainoksista 41 otettiin mukaan 

tutkimusaineistoon. Tarkoituksena oli tutkia minkälaisia alkoholin representaatioita 

mainoksista löytyy ja miten nämä representaatiot on luotu. Toisin sanoen: kuinka 

mainosten tietyt elementit ja konnotaatiot luovat erilaisia alkoholin representaatioita? 

Mainoksiin sovellettiin laadullista sisällönanalyysia, ja tämän lisäksi muutamia 

tutkimukselle keskeisiä lukuja käytettiin havainnollistamaan aineistoa paremmin. Ensin 

erilaiset representaatiokategoriat muodostettiin aineiston pohjalta, jonka jälkeen 

mainokset jaettiin kategorioihin. Kustakin kategoriasta valittiin kaksi 

esimerkkimainosta, joiden sisältö analysoitiin tutkielmassa. Tutkimuksen pohjana 

käytettiin konnotaation ja representaation käsitteitä sekä erilaisia visuaalisen analyysin 

käsitteitä. 

 

Mainokset voitiin jakaa selvästi neljään eri kategoriaan, joita ovat erityisyys, 

elämäntyyli, ihmissuhteet ja perinteisyys. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat, että 

erityisyys on selvästi useimmin mainoksissa esiintyvä kategoria. Siihen kuuluvat 

mainokset korostavat alkoholijuomien hyviä puolia, ja pyrkivät näin antamaan niistä 

jollain tavalla erityisen vaikutelman. Elämäntyylimainoksissa tuotteet liitetään jonkin 

tietyn elämäntyylin osaksi, ja luodaan konnotaatioita siitä, että katsoja voisi saavuttaa 

tietyn elämäntyylin juomalla kyseessä olevaa tuotetta. Ihmissuhteiden kategorian 

mainoksissa luodaan representaatioita erilaisista sosiaalisista tilanteista ja ihmisten 

välisistä suhteista, jotka liitetään alkoholijuomien kulutukseen. Perinteisyyttä esille 

tuovissa mainoksissa alkoholituotteet esitetään nostalgisessa valossa tai pitkiä perinteitä 

niiden valmistuksessa korostetaan, jotta tuotteet saadaan vaikuttamaan luotettavilta ja 

arvostetuilta. Lisäksi mainosten analyysi osoitti muun muassa sen, että mainokset 

korostavat alkoholijuomien positiivisia puolia, eikä alkoholin haittoja tuoda esille. 

______________________________________________________________________ 

 

KEYWORDS: alcohol advertising, print advertising, men’s magazines, 

representations, connotations 



4 

 

 

  



5 

 

1 INTRODUCTION 

 

Nowadays advertising is such a ubiquitous and important part of culture that it is 

difficult to avoid coming into contact with it. Advertisements can typically be found on 

the radio, internet, television, busses, billboards and in newspapers and magazines. 

Advertising does not even always follow the forms of traditional and clearly 

distinguishable advertisements, such as advertisements on television and magazines. An 

example of this could be films and TV-series that contain product placement so that the 

products will gain more exposure. This is a more subtle technique that could also be 

called subliminal advertising, since a viewer might not regard it as advertising. The 

overall aim of advertisers is, naturally, to promote the sales of their products and 

services but also to inform people about new products, remind them of already existing 

ones and to change their attitudes towards brands and products. This can be achieved by 

creating needs and desires within the target audience, by making people feel imperfect 

and indicating that a product could improve the quality of their lives. Marcel Danesi 

(2002) claims that advertising tries to appear as persuasive as possible in order to 

influence our attitudes and lifestyle behaviours. This is done by showing us how we 

could satisfy our deepest needs and wishes through consumption. (Danesi 2002: 178) 

 

Danesi (2002: 179) writes that the term advertising derives from the medieval Latin 

verb advertere, which means to direct one’s attention to. Advertisements often tend to 

be eye-catching, even sensational, in order to attract interest. This conspicuous impact is 

created by producing advertisements that are large in size, colourful, erotic, provoking 

and so forth. Advertising is abundantly dependent on connotations. We form 

conceptions of different brands and products and learn to categorise them by their 

qualities, whether something is cheap, luxurious, upper-class, hipster, environmentally 

friendly, healthy, sporty and so on. As we purchase certain products we send messages 

to others about our status, lifestyle and affluence. Buying certain products and thus 

making a connection between those goods and ourselves is also a way of constructing 

our identities. 

 



6 

 

Magazines are filled with advertising. When you scan through a magazine, it is quite 

usual that it begins with many, sometimes dozens, of spreads of advertisements. 

Advertising in magazines is quite certainly profitable because both advertisements and 

magazines play important parts in consumer culture. Magazines usually aim at giving 

people advice on, for example, how to dress and what equipment to use, so the 

advertisements support the rest of the contents in them by giving the reader information 

and options on what to purchase. A large amount of their contents is usually related to 

consuming. Advertisements are carefully selected for each type of magazines in order to 

share and support their style and to promote a similar lifestyle. The number of 

magazines that are sold each year is also great, which communicates that they are very 

popular. Magazines are also very easily at hand. They can be found at hairdressers, 

waiting rooms, libraries and of course, stores. They give us information about fashion, 

health, nutrition, relationships, celebrities, business and career related issues, sports, 

entertainment, hobbies and so forth. 

 

In this study, the alcohol advertisements in two American magazines Men’s Health and 

GQ (Gentlemen’s Quarterly) are analysed. The question that I wish to answer is: what 

kinds of representations of alcohol can be found in the advertisements and how are these 

representations created? In other words, how do specific elements and connotations in 

the advertisements produce different representations of alcohol? The different types of 

representations are first identified and then further divided into categories in order to 

clarify how frequently they occur. Two examples of each category are introduced and 

analysed by using qualitative content analysis. It is useful to study this topic because of 

the notable cultural significance of alcohol. Another reason for choosing this topic also 

stems from a personal interest in alcohol advertising, since I have worked at Alko
1
 for 

several years.  

 

According to their media kit (2017) Men’s Health is said to be the number one source of 

information for and about men. It is described as “the brand for active, successful, 

                                                 
1
 Alko Inc. is a company owned by the Finnish State that retails alcoholic beverages. Alko has the 

monopoly of the retail sale of beverages containing more than 4.7 percent alcohol by volume. (Alko 

2017) 



7 

 

professional men who want greater control over their physical, mental and emotional 

lives.” It is said to give men the tools to improve the quality of their lives by informing 

them about all the necessary things such as fashion, grooming, health, nutrition, 

entertainment and so on. With 37 editions worldwide, Men’s Health is the world’s 

largest men’s magazine. The latest number of the total audience of the magazine is 

13,575,000 and the circulation rate 1,852,715. (Men’s Health 2017) GQ is described as 

a magazine that provides information of style and culture: “With its unique and 

powerful design, work from the finest photographers and a stable of award-winning 

writers, GQ reaches millions of leading men each month” (Condé Nast 2017). 

According to Condé Nast International (2017), there are 18 international editions of 

GQ. The total audience of the magazine is reported to be 7,000,000 and the circulation 

rate 964,534 (Condé Nast 2017). 

 

These two magazines differ from each other by style to some extent, which makes them 

a good pair for studying alcohol advertising. Men’s Health mostly covers topics such as 

training, nutrition, sex, relationships and so forth, whereas GQ concentrates more on 

style, fashion, culture and current matters. There are similarities in these magazines, but 

one could roughly claim that Men’s Health focuses more on health and GQ on style. 

Men’s Health could be described as men’s Cosmopolitan while GQ appears to wish to 

attract the type of men that could be defined slightly older, upper-class career men, 

interested in style and culture. The advertisements in these two magazines also differ 

from each other, but one common factor for them is that they both contain alcohol 

advertising. 

 

A great deal of research has been done on alcohol advertising but most of it has 

concentrated on the effects of the advertising on people and their health, for instance, 

whether alcohol advertising affects teenagers and their drinking habits. In addition to 

the health perspective of alcohol advertising there are also studies conducted about the 

contents of alcohol advertisements and media representations of alcohol. An example of 

recent studies on the topic could be for instance Kimmo Kortelainen’s Master’s thesis 

(2015), in which he has studied the associations that Finnish beer advertising in 

television creates. The results show that associations on sociability, humour, 



8 

 

masculinity and nature and naturalness occur the most. Another example is a study 

conducted by A-Reum Jung and Roxanne Hovland (2016) that aimed at finding what 

advertising strategies appeal to men and what to women in alcohol advertisements in 

magazines. They found out that the messages of the advertisements aimed at men and 

women were similar, but they were presented differently. The most commonly used 

strategies aim at affecting the viewer’s emotions. According to Marjatta Montonen 

(1996), content analyses on alcohol advertising in the 1970s and 1980s showed that 

most of the appeals in the advertisements were based on wealth, prestige and success or 

other desirable values. In the 1990s the same features could still be found in the 

advertisements and it appeared that the prevalence of lifestyle advertising and the 

themes that were utilised in advertising varied depending on the medium and beverage 

type in question. (Montonen 1996: 73) The analysis chapter of this thesis shows that this 

is still commonly the case with alcohol advertising today. 

 

The material used in this study consists of alcohol advertisements in Men’s Health and 

GQ magazines. 10 issues of Men’s Health and 11 issues of GQ are included in the 

study. The magazines are from the year 2014. The material lacks one issue of GQ 

magazine which is the issue of March 2014, since it is not available either at Finnish 

libraries anymore or in electronic form. Thus the material consists of all the other GQ 

issues published in 2014 and all the issues of Men’s Health magazine published in 2014. 

These particular magazines have been chosen because of their popularity; both of them 

have a wide reach which means that also the alcohol advertisements in them are seen by 

a large audience. 

 

The magazines also contain many alcohol advertisements, which is the reason why they 

have been chosen for instance over women’s magazines that do not seem to contain that 

much alcohol advertising. The alcohol advertisements in these two magazines differ to 

some extent since Men’s Health only contains advertisements of mild beverages 

whereas GQ contains advertising for both mild and strong alcoholic beverages. This 

particular year has been chosen on one hand because the material should preferably be 

recent and on the other hand because all of the magazines of the year 2014 had been 

published at the time when the material was collected. These magazines contain 51 



9 

 

advertisements altogether, but since some of the advertisements are the same, 41 of 

them will be taken into consideration. 12 of the advertisements appear in Men’s Health 

and 29 in GQ. As mentioned before, the advertisements in the magazines should support 

the rest of the contents. This is probably the reason for the difference in the amount of 

the alcohol advertisements in these two magazines. Men’s Health concentrates more on 

health so it would be controversial if it was filled with alcohol advertisements. It should 

be noted that Advertorials
2
 are not included in this study. 

 

This study draws on qualitative content analysis. However, the numbers that relate to 

the study are also briefly discussed in the analysis chapter but since the material is not 

sufficient for a quantitative analysis they are not discussed on a large scale. According 

to Rose (2001), content analysis, particularly earlier, meant quantitative analysis that 

was thought to provide a scientific and objective approach to analysing mass media. 

Nowadays the idea of content analysis is that it can be both quantitative and qualitative 

and that these two are not mutually exclusive. (Rose 2001: 54–55) My aim is to analyse 

the advertisements in detail by using qualitative content analysis. The qualitative 

content analysis will mostly be based on the semiotic concepts of connotation and 

representation. There are also tools that are useful when analysing images that will be 

utilised in this study, such as the concepts of salience and distance. These concepts and 

tools should provide a good understanding of the material.  

 

 

  

                                                 
2
 An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of an editorial. Advertorials appear for instance in 

features mentioning or recommending brands. (Brierley 1995: 85) 



10 

 

2 ALCOHOL, CULTURE AND ADVERTISING 

 

In this chapter the theoretical background for this thesis is discussed. First the role of 

alcohol in different cultures and situations is covered. The chapter also deals with 

alcohol advertising in print magazines and how the contents of these advertisements can 

be analysed. Thus, the terms and concepts that are utilised in this study are introduced. 

 

 

2.1 Alcohol and Culture 

 

As David Goodman Mandelbaum (1965) claims, there are many substances that people 

are familiar with and consume in order to get different kinds of bodily sensations, and 

alcohol is culturally by far the most important one. It has been a widely used chemical 

already in ancient times in ritual and societal situations. (Mandelbaum 1965: 281) 

According to Schivelbusch (1986), during the Middle Ages alcohol was seen both as a 

source of pleasure and nutrition. Before the cultivation of potato, beer and wine were 

regarded as food, and the skill of brewing beer was a normal part of housekeeping in 

Central and Northern Europe. It was common to have beer already for breakfast in the 

form of soup. (Schivelbusch 1986: 30)  

 

Alcohol is an important part of our culture and some see it as a positive and others as a 

negative matter.  In some countries it is also a taboo, and an object of restrictions and 

even prohibition. For example, the age at which one is permitted to buy alcohol varies 

between different countries depending on how alcohol is perceived in them. In America 

it was prohibited to manufacture, distribute and sell alcoholic beverages during 1918–

1933 (Pennock & Kerr 2005: 383). According to Heath (2000), many other countries 

have tried to ban alcohol as well, but most attempts have been quite short-lived. Other 

kinds of limitations in many countries have included measures such as high pricing and 

taxation, sales limitations, health warnings and advertising control. (Heath 2000: 39)   

 



11 

 

If one posed the question “when is it suitable to drink?”, the answers would vary 

considerably. Someone might claim that the answer is whenever one wishes to drink, 

whereas for instance Muslims, Mormons and other people choosing to abstain from 

drinking, would probably reply that there is no occasion when it would be suitable 

(Heath 2000: 31). In some societies beer and wine are regarded as gifts of the gods, a 

belief that is similar to the ones in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Aztec 

Mexico, while in some societies drinking is illegal, such as in Saudi Arabia and 

Afghanistan  (Heath 2000: 37). This shows that there are very different attitudes 

towards alcohol usage.  

 

Alcohol, just as any other substance that has an intoxicating effect, can cause problems, 

such as addiction. Drinking has a different effect on different individuals, and whereas 

others might become cheerful, some become aggressive or depressed. It is well-known 

that if consumed too much, it also has a deteriorating effect on one’s health and might 

even cause death. According to the World Health Organization (2014: 4), excessive use 

of alcohol might lead to violence, injury or alcohol poisoning. This is the reason to why 

many countries try or have tried to constrain the consumption and selling of alcohol 

with different measures. 

 

Alcohol is strongly connected to culture, and different cultures have different rules and 

customs concerning the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Mandelbaum (1965) 

claims that it varies greatly what kind of beverages are consumed, when and where, at 

what pace and how much, and whether there are any accompanying activities that 

people do while drinking. The age, sex, behaviour and roles of drinkers are also culture 

bound. (Mandelbaum 1965: 281) According to Heath (2000), in some countries it is 

acceptable and normal to drink wine or beer with food in the middle of the day, in the 

middle of the week, or even in the morning, while in some cultures that kind of 

behaviour might be frowned upon. Many North Americans and Northern Europeans 

would consider drinking in the morning wrong and perhaps a sign of alcoholism, but 

some cultures indeed consider the drink food or otherwise an essential part of the diet. 

For instance in Chile, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece it is acceptable to consume 

alcohol in the morning. (Heath 2000: 13–14) 



12 

 

Similar to the aforementioned way in which people in ancient times viewed alcohol, 

most people also today associate it with festive and social situations. Alcohol is widely 

connected to different celebratory occasions such as birthdays, weddings, New Year’s 

Eve, anniversaries, holidays and different initiation rites (Heath 2000: 168). Drinking is 

often considered a social act that increases the sense of solidarity or affinity, helps 

people to relax, gives them something to do with their hands and possibly something to 

discuss (Heath 2000: 172). Sometimes having a drink feels itself celebratory and can 

turn different situations into a celebration (Heath 2000: 169). As Heath (2000) claims, it 

is, however, very interesting to note that the amount of drinking and the state of 

intoxication that people wish to attain varies greatly between cultures. In some cultures 

people are accustomed to drinking often but without ever being drunk. Some people 

might not drink that often but connect drinking automatically with being intoxicated and 

even with becoming oblivious, and could not imagine it being any other way. (Heath 

2000: 125)  

 

For many people drinking with others is a positive shared experience that often takes 

place in a setting that the drinkers have chosen themselves. Toasting represents one of 

the social aspects of drinking and it is commonly seen as an act of expressing social 

unity and as a sign of acceptance from the group that one is drinking with. (Heath 2000: 

172–173) “Buying rounds” in a bar is also a highly social form of drinking, with each 

member of the group buying drinks for everyone by turns (Heath 2000: 15).  Drinking is 

widely considered such a communal activity that non-drinkers might be treated with 

suspicion. Abstaining could be regarded as a deviant form of behaviour, and a non-

drinker is sometimes considered a tedious person who judges others for enjoying 

drinking. An abstainer might even be perceived as an unreliable person who does not 

drink in order to be able to take advantage of others while they are in a state of 

intoxication or oblivion. (Heath 2000: 100) 

 

Reasons for abstaining are diverse. As mentioned earlier, in some cultures drinking is 

forbidden or at least frowned upon due to religious reasons. Heath (2000) notes that one 

reason might be the mood altering effect of alcohol, although some people also 

experience that as a positive thing. One might be afraid of losing control over oneself or 



13 

 

experiencing feelings that are unpleasant such as aggression or depression. Drinking 

might also fortify a person’s depression or aggression if he or she has suffered from 

these earlier. (Heath 2000: 171) Others might simply not be that fond of the taste of 

alcohol and some claim that they dislike the burning sensation in the mouth or throat 

that alcohol might cause (Heath 2000: 168). 

 

The reasons for drinking are not, however, only bound to social situations. Alcohol is 

also closely connected to relaxation and enjoyment in peace. A glass of red wine at 

home after a day at work might function as a way of relaxing and being able to clear 

one’s head of all the work related issues. This is how drinking marks when a person’s 

working time changes to leisure (Heath 2000: 14). To some people drinking alcohol 

might even function as a vehicle of escapism if they are encountering difficulties in their 

lives. Alcohol might make it easier to change one’s mood, trying to stay in a positive 

state of mind and forgetting hardships or becoming numb (Heath 2000: 170). 

 

Where one decides to drink depends on the situation and culture in question. In some 

countries pubs and bars are visited on a regular basis and drinking there is a communal 

and social event also on weekdays after work. Drinking at someone’s home could be 

described as a more intimate occasion. In some countries it is usual to have pre-parties 

at someone’s home before going to a bar. A host/hostess serving alcoholic beverages is 

closely connected to hospitability when visiting someone’s home, but when it comes to 

pre-parties, all of the guests are usually expected to bring their own beverages with 

them. (Garvey 2005: 87–106) 

 

Another aspect relating to the consumption of alcohol is the culture of, for instance, 

wine or beer tastings and combining alcoholic beverages with food. In this way alcohol 

might also act as a hobby to some people. This sort of lifestyle also communicates 

sophistication because we tend to connect especially wine with high class. The 

consumption of alcoholic products in this manner does not aim at intoxication but 

emphasises the enjoyment and appreciation of the beverages, tasting and trying to 

identify the characteristic features of each product by using one’s vision, sense of smell 



14 

 

and sense of taste. These tasting events do not courage the participants to consume the 

beverages but instead the drinks are spat. 

 

What people drink is a matter of culture, gender, age and class. Different brands and 

types of drinks are associated with different things and we have certain perceptions of 

them. For example, it is very likely that beer is commonly associated with men who 

consume it while watching sports, and champagne is considered a drink of wealthy 

people. Sweet beverages and cocktails are considered to be more feminine whereas for 

example vodka appears to be more masculine. These conceptions cannot, however, be 

called universal because they are culture bound. Different individuals might naturally 

also have different views on the matter. A study conducted by de Visser and McDonnell 

(2012: 627) on university students supports the view by showing that beer, especially 

pints, and spirits are considered masculine drinks while sweet or colourful drinks, such 

as cocktails and mild, flavoured alcoholic beverages that are referred to in their study as 

‘alcopops’, are connected to femininity.  

 

The study also revealed that drinking is generally regarded as more masculine, and for 

instance heavy episodic drinking (‘binge drinking’) and public drunkenness are seen as 

especially masculine and thus quite inappropriate for women (de Visser & McDonnell 

2012: 636). There were, however, no significant differences in women’s and men’s 

drinking in the study which indicates that the traditional idea of men drinking more than 

women is no longer accurate (de Visser & McDonnell 2012: 624–625). The results of 

the study also showed that being able to drink great quantities and to ‘hold one’s drink’ 

(not vomiting or in other ways showing inability to continue drinking) are important to 

the idea of masculinity and linked to traits that are considered masculine, such as risk 

taking, physical resilience and aggression (de Visser & McDonnell 2012: 619). One 

reason for associating certain alcohol products with femininity or masculinity is most 

certainly advertising. As an example, when we consider beer, it is very often connected 

to sports and men in the media. Beer brands also commonly act as sponsors for different 

sports events, which only reinforces the image. This kind of image marketing affects the 

ways in which people connect certain types of alcoholic beverages or brands with 

certain things.  



15 

 

Alcohol can be said to play a part in self-presentation and in constructing our identities, 

including our national identities. If a person would, for instance, drink only champagne 

and refuse to drink anything else because he/she wants to consume only the best, that 

person would want to identify himself/herself as a champagne drinker and thus perhaps 

also as a wealthy person. Our drinking behaviour is a part of our identities whether you 

were a person who drinks on a regular basis or an abstainer. Our decisions to drink, or 

not to drink, and what beverages we prefer to consume always communicate something 

to other people. 

 

According to Thomas M. Wilson (2004), national identity consists of different features 

that we connect to nationalities, and what we eat and drink form an important part of it. 

As an example, if someone asked you what things you associated with France, wine and 

cuisine, such as baguettes and cheese, would probably be at the top of your list. These 

are factors that set nationalities apart from others and construct socially meaningful 

identities. (Wilson 2004) What we drink and eat is important to our national identities 

partly because of the tradition and heritage that we connect to it. We feel pride in stating 

that something has been consumed already by our ancestors or earlier generations and 

that we, too, consume it even nowadays.  

 

When one learns to know a foreign culture, it is usually quite important to become 

acquainted with its culinary culture and delicacies in order to obtain a better 

understanding of the culture in question. These kinds of national features construct 

national identity, create a feeling of belonging to a certain nationality and differentiate 

‘us’ from ‘others’. This means that the characteristics of our drinking play a part in 

defining who we are, were and want to be. Wilson (2005: 12) claims that at the end of 

the day drinking may be as important to nations as are their myths, heroes and grand 

narratives. The origin of an alcoholic product matters to consumers because we value 

them on the grounds of where they are from. Thus, nationality is a key factor in alcohol 

advertising as well, and it also shows in the material of this study since the 

advertisements tend to communicate where the products are from. 

 

 



16 

 

2.2 Alcohol and Print Advertising  

 

Alcohol advertising has faced restrictions in many countries in order to prevent the 

negative effects of alcohol consumption, but according to Marjatta Montonen (1996), 

there have been many studies that question the efficiency of the restrictions. The results 

of these studies have been controversial, and even though some have shown that the 

advertisements tend to be seen as attractive, promoting drinking and communicating 

only the pleasures and lifestyles linked to the beverages without communicating the 

actual qualities of the alcohol products, alcohol advertising has not disappeared 

anywhere. (Montonen 1996: 66–68) Alcohol products, in the same manner as other 

products, need to be advertised in order to make them known and to induce people to 

buy them.  

 

When targeting consumers, advertisers, including alcohol advertisers, have to decide on 

the medium or media that will be used. Are they going to use the radio, television, 

internet, newspapers, magazines, billboards, direct mail or perhaps the cinema as a 

vehicle for their advertisements and commercials? In deciding this, the advertisers have 

to take into account some important questions, such as who are the target consumers 

and how could we get the greatest amount of coverage at the lowest price while 

reducing the degree of wastage (Brierley 1995: 107–108)? In other words, how can the 

advertisers reach as many people as possible belonging to the target audience, with the 

lowest possible costs and so that there will be as little as possible of those exposed who 

do not belong to the target consumers? All media have their advantages and 

disadvantages, and nowadays it is usual that advertisers do not settle for only one, but 

use combinations of different media in order to reach a large number of people. As an 

example, it has been proven that combining television and magazine advertising for 

fast-moving consumer goods (products that are sold quickly at a low price, such as 

food, certain alcohol products, and personal hygiene products) increases sales (White 

2000: 136). 

 

Men’s Health and GQ, and many other magazines, contain advertisements in large 

quantities. According to Anna Gough-Yates (2010), many magazines get a remarkable 



17 

 

proportion of their revenue through consumer advertising. The number is estimatedly 

around 30 per cent. (Gough-Yates 2010: 158) Print advertising does indeed have many 

advantages. First of all, it has the advantage of a physical presence, which makes it 

possible for people to re-read magazines and cut things out if they please (Brierley 

1995: 113). Magazines are also often read alone in peace, so the reader has time to 

immerse himself/herself to the contents. The pace of the reading of magazines is 

something that the reader can decide himself/herself. Magazines are easy to take along 

and they can be read in many places such as at the beach, in the bathroom while taking a 

bath, in the toilet, on public transport and so on (Brierley 1995: 113). People are 

presumably more receptive to magazine advertising because of these reasons and also 

because they have chosen and purchased the magazines on their own initiative.  

 

Magazines are also easily available in several public places, which increases the 

chances of people reading them. Nowadays when a great deal of information and 

entertainment is in a digital form and most of us are accustomed to that, the value of 

concrete print magazines might increase in a surprising way. Getting a magazine in 

one’s hands might feel refreshing compared to the constant contemplating of all of the 

digital devices that people are encompassed about. As a result, magazines might be 

experienced as luxurious products that are connected to self-indulgence and leisure. 

Many magazines are marketed as and considered luxury products, which is due to their 

rather high prices, high quality of paper and contents that communicate exquisiteness. 

Gough-Yates (2010: 163) comments on the issue by stating that “the combination of 

sensory experience, portability, and high quality design in the glossy print magazine are 

going to be impossible for publishers to replicate online”. 

 

According to Iain MacRury (2010: 259), the results of a comparison conducted by 

World Advertising Research Center in 2007, show that the largest amount of money is 

spent on advertising on print media and television. White (2000) claims that magazines 

are attractive to advertisers because of their specificity. The audiences of different 

magazines are quite clearly defined as based on their interests, age and sex, which 

makes it easier for advertisers to make their products known for the right groups. The 

variety of different types of magazines is great and thus advertisers can easily choose 



18 

 

the ones that fit their purposes. For instance, a TSE/Rightscom study conducted in 2005 

showed that in the UK there were over 3000 consumer magazines and over 5000 

business and professional publications (Gough-Yates 2010: 154). Magazines also tend 

to have a broad reach since they are often borrowed between friends, passed on, or read 

at libraries and waiting rooms. This means that one copy of a magazine might have 

several readers. (White 2000: 170–178) All magazines have their own distinct style and 

the contents convey a certain image of how the editors picture their readers. The 

advertisements in the magazines are not just coincidentally selected, but they support 

the same message that the magazines are sending of how the readers should be like and 

live. According to Gough-Yates (2010), all of the contents of a magazine, including the 

covers, photographs and articles, are coherent with how the publishers view their 

audience. The carefully defined style of a magazine also wishes to attract advertisers 

who target a similar audience as the magazine. Gough-Yates (2010: 159) 

 

All media have their limitations, and magazine advertising is no exception. Since there 

is a large amount of different magazines, the competition is hard. Electronic media are 

also posing a threat to the traditional print media, and Gough-Yates (2010) states that 

the overall sales figures of magazines are falling these days. The ways in which we use 

media is changing and fragmenting, and the lifestyles of people seem to be so hectic 

that there is not that much time for reading magazines anymore. (Gough-Yates 2010: 

161) Many people prefer reading magazines and newspapers in an electronic form and, 

for example different types of internet blogs are gaining popularity providing their 

readers similar contents as magazines. Magazine readers are able to skip and ignore 

whole sections and only scan through an issue, paying attention only to certain things 

(Brierley 1995: 113). Magazines also have the disadvantage of being able to offer only 

the visual dimension of communication. Television, however, gives its audience an 

audiovisual experience that has more ways of affecting the viewer, but of course 

television also has its own disadvantages. As an example, people might find television 

commercials very intrusive because they interrupt the programmes which they are 

watching (Brierley 1995: 114). 

 

 



19 

 

2.3 The Visual and the Verbal in Advertisements 

 

The contents of advertisements vary greatly depending on the media used. They can be 

constructed of sound, pictures, film and text. As for this thesis, sound and film are 

irrelevant because the material consists of print advertisements in magazines. These 

advertisements construct meaning by using images and written text, which makes them 

multimodal texts. According to Anders Björkvall (2009), texts that employ more than 

one single communication channel are called multimodal texts. In this context the term 

text does not mean only written text but also images, illustrations, layout and other 

visual elements that are intended to communicate. Thus, we may regard paintings and 

songs as texts just as much as articles and other written work. (Björkvall 2009: 7–8)  

 

Advertisements have different styles with which they try to appeal to the consumer. 

According to Martín-Santana and Beerli-Palacio (2013), one common technique used in 

advertising is the testimonial style which includes the use of famous, unknown or expert 

endorsers. These characters might be for instance celebrities, ordinary people who are 

claimed to use a certain product, experts that recommend products, such as doctors, and 

created characters. (Martín-Santana & Beerli-Palacio 2013: 140) The use of endorsers 

might also contain risks, since people react to them in individual ways and might not 

always identify themselves with the given endorsers. The results of a study conducted 

by Zhang and Buda (1999: 9) support this, since they showed that the amount of an 

individual’s need for cognition effects on how he/she sees the credibility of an 

advertisement with different endorsers. In the material of this thesis most of the 

advertisements do not depict endorsers or spokespersons but use only images of the 

products and written text. The advantages for employing this kind of advertising style 

could very likely be avoiding unwanted associations and lack of identification. 

 

Advertisements in print media can be particularly impressive because vision is an 

important sense to us, and it has been an important part of most of our lives since we 

were born, even before our verbal abilities developed. As John Berger (1972: 7–8) puts 

it “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.” He 

goes on claiming that seeing is what establishes our place in the world and that actually 



20 

 

seeing something is very different from just knowing or believing in something. Berger 

also claims that what we know or believe affects the way we see and that seeing can 

never be quite covered by words.  

 

As an example he presents a picture of a painting called ‘The Key of Dreams’ (1930) by 

René Magritte. The painting depicts a sequence of images in frames portraying a horse, 

a clock, a jug and a valise. Some of the images have been labelled incorrectly, and 

beneath the image of a horse we read the door, beneath the clock the wind and beneath 

the jug the bird. The fourth image of a valise, however, has been labelled correctly as 

the valise. In this painting the conflict between words and images is presented to the 

viewer reminding him/her that images can be more trustworthy than words and that the 

viewer should always be alert. (Berger 1972: 8) Images can, however, also be deceitful 

since they are not always what they appear to be. Manipulation of images is very 

common these days which makes it difficult for the viewer to know whether a picture 

depicts its subjects in an authentic way or not. 

 

Mirzoeff (1999: 1) claims that ”human experience is now more visual and visualized 

than ever before from the satellite picture to medical images of the interior of the human 

body.” Poster (2002), on the contrary, states that what Mirzoeff says cannot be true. He 

seizes on Mirzoeff’s claim that proposes that humans nowadays are more visual. He 

enquires if Mirzoeff perhaps suggests that we now use our eyes more than before or 

whether we have begun to translate experience from other senses into our visual sense. 

He gives an example of how people already in the Middle Ages expressed measures of 

distance by using visual terms such as how far one could see a certain object. This quite 

specific way of measuring shows that people now are not more visual than people 

before, but only that the visual regimes are different nowadays. (Poster 2002: 67–68)  

 

What Berger (1972: 10) especially emphasizes is that every image presents a way of 

seeing. This means that for example a photographer has to select from a great variety 

what he/she wishes to photograph and how to present it, and in the end this person also 

has to make the decision of which one(s) of all the images in the camera he/she is going 

to use for his/her purposes. When studying images we always have to keep in mind that 



21 

 

they are someone’s view of the world and that person’s attitudes, thoughts and 

ideologies affect the images. In the same way the viewer interprets an image in an 

individual way that might not always correspond to the interpretation of the 

photographer. 

 

According to Schroeder (2002: 121), it is very common that meaning is constructed 

through pictures in advertisements. Many advertisements contain little information 

about the products advertised, and some of them contain only the brand name and an 

image. The consumer is thus expected to make a connection between what is presented 

in the image and the brand or product advertised. Judith Williamson (1978) is a 

frequently cited scholar who has studied the semiotics and meaning in advertisements 

already in the 1970s. One of her well-known examples of the construction of 

connections between images and products is the perfume advertisement for Chanel No. 

5 depicting the famous French actress Catherine Deneuve (Williamson 1978: 25).  

 

The advertisement contains no narratives about why she appears in it, there are only the 

images of her and the perfume bottle. There is no real connection between Deneuve and 

the perfume but the advertisement aims at creating one that would make the viewer link 

these two. This way Deneuve’s qualities are being transferred into the product making it 

appear glamorous and beautiful, just as Deneuve. (Williamson 1978: 25) Although there 

is no real connection between Deneuve and the perfume, they are seen as the same, as 

parallels in the advertisement, because products and brands need to have certain features 

connected to them. This is called differentiation. Brands need to have a certain image in 

order to differ from other similar brands and products, even though in reality there 

might be only a little difference between these brands. (Williamson 1978: 24–25) The 

consumer is, thus, lured to think that these certain attributes that are connected to a 

product, transfer to him/her, too. This is how advertising and consumption are 

connected to our identities and how products and brands are seen as representing a 

certain lifestyle. 

 

It is very interesting to think that when it comes to perfumes their most important 

attribute to the consumers is the character of their scent. However, the scent is usually 



22 

 

not described verbally in the advertisements. The character of the scent is only signalled 

to the viewer through images and their perceptions. How do we know how Chanel No. 5 

smells like if we are only provided the image of a famous person and of the perfume 

bottle? This same advertising technique is commonly used in alcohol advertising. Most 

of the advertisements in the material do not contain any information about the taste of 

the beverages and if they do, the taste is only referred to with a few words even though 

the taste is probably very important to the consumer who is contemplating which 

product to purchase. According to Julie Sedivy and Greg Carlson (2011: 19–20), 

products such as perfumes are typically not advertised or sold by highlighting their 

inherent and functional features, whereas when advertising for instance washing 

machines or tools these properties are usually emphasised. The price of the products is 

also seldom mentioned in fashion or perfume advertisements but we tend to expect that 

in advertisements for tools the price should be included. 

 

The concept of representation plays an important role when analyzing different media. 

Seppänen (2005) points out that any image, including the advertising image is a 

representation. This means that it represents something from someone’s point of view, 

in a certain way. With the concept of representation we are able to analyse, for example, 

how different media produce and present reality. (Seppänen 2005: 77) For example, 

different presentations in the media in a way recreate the objects that they are 

presenting, so they become representations. Thus, an image of a famous person in an 

advertisement is a representation of that person. Hall (1997) defines representation as 

follows: ”Representation means using language to say something meaningful about, or 

to represent, the world meaningfully, to other people”. It involves the use of language of 

signs and images which represent different things. Representations might be reflective 

(simply reflecting an already existing meaning), intentional (expressing only what for 

example the speaker, writer or painter intends to say) or constructionist (constructing 

meaning in and through language). (Hall 1997: 15) All viewers make their own 

interpretations of representations. These interpretations may be studied further with the 

help of the concepts of denotation and connotation. 

 



23 

 

In semiotics, the concepts of denotation and connotation are central. van Leeuwen 

(2001) states that in the visual semiotics of Roland Barthes, the meaning consists of 

layers. Denotation is the first layer, when the viewer sees what or who is being depicted, 

what he/she does, and so forth. Denotation could be described as the literal and evident 

meaning. Connotation, then, is the second layer that reveals broader concepts, ideas, 

beliefs and values. Thus, connotations function on a more individual level since 

different people create and form different connotations in their minds. When seeing an 

advertising image one could for instance consider what the represented people or 

objects in the image stand for, and what kinds of messages does the image convey? For 

someone an image of a rose, for instance, might bear connotations of love, romance and 

elegance, while the rose itself in the image is the denotation. (van Leeuwen 2001: 94–

96)  Certain connotative meanings become myths, as Barthes has called them. A myth is 

a certain kind of shared knowledge of things. Myths are concepts that deal with widely 

known phenomena such as being blond-haired. There is a well-known myth about 

blond-haired people that claims that they are not as intelligent as others. (van Leeuwen 

2001: 97) 

 

In semiotics, the concept of signs enables the meaningful communication of our 

thoughts to other people, and thus also the production of representations. According to 

Hall, sign is a term that means words, sounds, objects or images that carry meaning 

(Hall 1997: 18).  

 

These signs stand for or represent the concepts and the conceptual relations 

between them which we carry around in our heads and together they make up 

the meaning-systems of our culture. Signs are organized into languages and it 

is the existence of common languages which enable us to translate our thoughts 

(concepts) into words, sounds or images, and then to use these, operating as a 

language, to express meanings and communicate thoughts to other people. 

(Hall 1997: 18) 

 

Hall notes that the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure divided signs further into two 

elements that are called the signifier and the signified. Signifier is the form and signified 

is the meaning of that form. An example of this could be, for instance, the word tree that 

in this case is the signifier. The image that is created in our minds after seeing or 



24 

 

hearing that word, then, is the signified; an image of a tall plant that consists of a trunk, 

branches and leaves. (Hall 1997: 31) Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen (2006) view 

that, for instance, advertising is sign-making where signifiers such as colours and 

perspective create meanings (signifieds). Representation, then, is a process in which 

sign-makers aim at representing an object or entity and this process is affected by their 

culture and experiences (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006: 6–7) 

 

Lister and Wells (2001) claim that when it comes to the analysis of images, there are 

certain conventional operations that one needs to be aware of and pay attention to. One 

of them is framing that basically means the way a subject is placed in an image, what 

the environment or moment that the subject is depicted in is, and what is shown and 

what is not. The frames are the edges or boundaries of pictures. For example if we see a 

portrait of a person where there is only a black background, we cannot draw that many 

conclusions of that person’s location or any other details that might reveal something 

about him/her based on the background, because the image offers us very few clues. 

Lighting also directs the gaze of the viewer and highlights or fades out certain objects in 

an image. The camera position gives the viewer a certain viewing position which could 

for instance be face-to-face with a subject in the image or above that subject. These 

positions can also create power relations such as the feeling of looking down on or up to 

someone. All of these factors also contribute to the sense of proximity, meaning the 

feeling of physical closeness to a subject in an image. These conventions operate 

together in images, forming a photographic code. This code consists of signs that, 

working together, provide a meaning to us. (Lister & Wells 2001: 75–81) 

 

In addition to the above-mentioned properties there are also others a viewer should pay 

attention to when analyzing images. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) discuss the term 

composition which means the placement of objects and elements in an image and the 

way the image interacts and what it represents. Composition does not, however, only 

apply to pictures but also, for example, to visuals that combine text and image, such as 

advertisements, and graphics on televisions and computers. Composition covers 

information value, salience and framing which I have already dealt with in the previous 

paragraph. Information value means the way in which elements have been placed in an 



25 

 

image for example to the left, right, top or bottom, and what information this placing 

gives to the viewer. Salience, then, tells how eye-catching an element is in an image. An 

element can be made more or less salient by its size, the amount of light and differences 

in sharpness, colour, by the placing of elements, and so on. A subject that is in the 

foreground of an image appearing to look straight at the viewer tends to be more salient 

than a subject not facing the viewer and that has been placed in the background. (Kress 

& van Leeuwen 2006: 175–177)  

 

The size of the frame determines whether an image appears to be a close shot, medium 

shot or long shot. This affects the feeling of distance between the objects in an image 

and the viewer (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006: 124). A close shot means that the distance 

is intimate or personal, a medium shot signals social distance and a long shot 

communicates impersonal distance (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006: 148). Kress and van 

Leeuwen, quoting Edward Hall (1964), state that at intimate distance the viewer is able 

to see the head or face, and at close personal distance the head and shoulders of a 

person. At far personal distance the viewer can see a person from the waist up, at close 

social distance the whole figure, at far social distance the whole figure and some space 

around it, and at public distance the torso of at least four or five people. (Kress & van 

Leeuwen 2006: 125) These distances are based on the same distances that we tend to 

have in social interaction in the real world as well. 

 

In the Western world we are used to reading from left to right and top to bottom, and 

many compositions take advantage of this. However, when it comes to for example 

advertisements, the case is not that simple. According to Kress and van Leeuwen 

(2006), the code for reading them is not that strict and the salience in them affects 

greatly to how they are read. People tend to look at the most salient element first and 

then move to the next most salient element and so forth. Sometimes the hierarchy of 

salience is not that clear and the viewer might look at different things in an arbitrary 

order. (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006: 204–208) 

 

Colours also have an important role in images and advertisements as a whole, forming a 

channel with which advertisements aim at affecting their viewers. According to White 



26 

 

(2000: 102), colours add to salience, create contrast or emphasis and evoke different 

feelings and associations. We connect different feelings and things with colours, such as 

red as a colour that signals love or warmth, white signaling purity, blue referring to 

coldness and so forth. In images colours can indeed be used to create salience since 

especially bright colours tend to get our attention. Using colours can also create 

coherence if there is a certain colour-coordination or theme. One typical technique is to 

use the same colors that are connected to the product in the advertisements as well. 

Colours also affect the memorability of advertisements and the brands in them. As 

White (2000: 102) states, a colour can become a characteristic that is always connected 

to a certain brand by consumers, such as Marlboro cigarettes and the colour red.  

 

Advertisements aim at affecting the viewer with how they contact him/her. Based on 

Michael Halliday’s (1985) thoughts, Kress and van Leeuwen divide images into 

“demands” and “offers”. A demand is an image that demands something from the 

viewer. For instance, a person depicted in it might with his/her gaze, and possibly also 

with accompanying gestures, invite the viewer into forming an imaginary relation with 

him/her. The image might also contain written text that addresses the viewer directly 

and for example asks him/her to do something. There are also offer pictures that speak 

to us indirectly. In these there is no contact made with the viewer, but he/she is in a role 

of an invisible beholder who is allowed to peep. (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006: 117–119) 

Sedivy and Carlson (2011) also discuss the different ways of addressing a viewer and 

state that the use of personal pronouns, especially you, is a technique that aims at 

making the viewer feel like he/she is addressed directly, as if he/she is engaged in a 

conversation with an advertisement and thus expected to do something. This technique 

is based on the way in which communication functions in social situations. In these 

situations we are accustomed in greeting and being greeted, being asked and answering 

and so forth. This type of action and reaction way of communication is thus expected to 

transfer into advertisement as well, so that the viewer would feel like he/she is obliged 

to respond or react just like in real life situations with other people. (Sedivy & Carlson 

2011: 164–167) 

 



27 

 

In alcohol ads, alcohol is always represented in a positive light and problems are not 

presented. The ads analysed in this thesis even tend to imply that something good will 

happen as a result of drinking certain products, such as men getting female company or 

people having pleasant moments with friends. They are also often connected to a 

luxurious lifestyle that makes them appear very appealing. This is of course not 

surprising since the aim of advertising is to promote the sales of products and to affect 

people’s opinions about them. There is usually only a warning text somewhere in the 

corner of the advertisements in a small font saying “enjoy responsibly” or something 

similar. Other than that the advertisements do not refer to any negative sides or effects 

of drinking alcohol but emphasise the positive associations instead. 

 

Knowledge of nonverbal communication is also useful when analysing advertisements 

in which there are people depicted. Nonverbal communication is a way of expressing 

ourselves to others either consciously or subconsciously and it can reveal a great deal 

about us. In communicative situations, nonverbal messages are usually more important 

than verbal messages. If one says he/she is in a good mood but shows a sad face, we 

tend to believe that person’s nonverbal signals. Thus, in a way those signals are more 

effective. As Desmond Morris (2002) claims, we are frequently unaware of many of our 

actions, which makes them very revealing to others. We concentrate on speaking to 

such a great extent that we sometimes might forget that our movements, postures and 

expressions are also important in communication. (Morris 2002: 16) Michael Argyle 

(1988: 1) divides nonverbal channels and signals into following categories: facial 

expression, gaze, gestures and other bodily movements, posture, bodily contact, spatial 

behavior, clothes and other aspects of appearance, nonverbal vocalizations and smell. 

However, for this thesis smell and nonverbal vocalizations are not relevant, so they will 

be left out. 

 

According to Argyle (1988), the face is the most important channel when it comes to 

nonverbal communication. With our faces we are able to express a large quantity of 

emotions and feelings towards other people. They play an important role in social 

interaction because they change rapidly and are closely observed by gaze directed to 

faces. Faces and their expressions are also closely related to our personalities and 



28 

 

uniqueness, which can make it difficult to identify different expressions. We are able to 

make a great quantity of faces, but not all can be recognized with a certainty. An 

experiment by Osgood (1966) showed that even though fifty performers were asked to 

pose forty different faces, only eight emotions could be discriminated, and different 

studies have shown that only six emotions have been found by all who have 

investigated the problem (Ekman 1982). These emotions are: happiness, surprise, fear, 

sadness, anger and disgust/contempt. (Argyle 1988: 121) As presented by Argyle, 

another very important nonverbal channel, and also a signal, in social behavior is the 

gaze which shows for instance how much we are interested in others. The gaze is a 

signal for the recipient and a channel for the gazer. The duration of a gaze can also tell 

things about our attitudes and emotions; glancing and staring come across very 

differently. Eyes can also be said to have different expressions for example by how far 

they are opened. Our eyes may signal staring, looking ‘intently’, ‘looking daggers’, 

‘looking through’ and so forth. (Argyle 1988: 153–154) 

 

The next category by Argyle (1988) is the bodily movements and gestures, possibly 

connected with speech, which are important during social interaction. Gestures mean 

voluntary bodily actions by hands, head or other parts of the body, which are intended 

to communicate, such as nodding your head to express understanding or moving your 

hands while explaining something. Argyle divides gestures into three minor categories: 

emblems, illustrators and self-touching. Emblems are the nonverbal acts, usually hand-

movements, which have a commonly known direct verbal translation, such as the 

hitchhike sign. Illustrators are movements directly tied to speech, serving to illustrate 

what is being said. Self-touching or ‘body-focused movement’, then, means the way 

that we touch ourselves in different situations. Examples of these could be keeping 

warm, covering the eyes, grooming and expressing or trying to hide our emotions. 

(Argyle 1988: 188–199) 

 

Argyle divides human postures to three main categories: 1) standing, 2) sitting, 

squatting and kneeling, 3) lying. Postures can also reveal very much of our attitudes and 

feelings. For example if someone is not sitting or standing straight, it could send a 

message of being lethargic. Postures are also culture-bound, and there are correct 



29 

 

postures for different occasions such as eating, riding a horse, sunbathing and giving a 

lecture in different cultures. (Argyle 1988: 203–204) Bodily contact and touch are the 

most primitive forms of social communication. Examples of these could be touching a 

person while talking to him/her, embracing, kissing and grooming. “Bodily contact is 

involved in some of the most basic types of social contact – sex, feeding, fighting – as 

well as in sheer affiliative behaviour, such as grooming and play in primates.” (Argyle 

1988: 214) 

 

Spatial behavior means for instance how much space someone needs in order to feel 

comfortable, how close to other people does he/she feel good being and so on. The 

amount of space a person has can tell us something about power and hierarchy, as in the 

sizes of offices of people with different amount of power; managers usually have bigger 

office rooms than people in lower positions. Spatial behavior also relates to how close 

to other people we feel comfortable being, because we usually choose to sit and be near 

to people whom we know or are fond of. Spatial behavior can be said to be a very 

straightforward signal, since it can easily be measured of distance or orientation. 

(Argyle 1988: 168) When a person takes a great deal of space, for instance when sitting, 

it is regarded as masculine behaviour. This is why girls are commonly taught to sit in ‘a 

lady-like’ and ‘pretty’ way. 

 

When you encounter a new person, you probably pay additional attention to his/her 

appearance. Some aspects of physique can be changed only little, but still the way 

someone appears can define what we think about his/her personality, and we make a 

great deal of assumptions based on appearance. People communicate with others, 

intentionally or not, through the way they dress and how they look like in other ways. 

There are different parts in our appearance that signal different things, such as our 

physique, style of clothing, use of make-up and so forth. (Argyle 1988: 232)  Smell has 

also been mentioned as one channel that can affect the way in which others see us. 

Then, finally, there are also nonverbal vocalizations which mean that we can produce 

sound without any verbal features, such as sighs, laugh and so on.  



30 

 

3 REPRESENTATIONS OF ALCOHOL IN MEN’S HEALTH AND GQ 

 

In this chapter the alcohol advertisements in Men’s Health and GQ magazines chosen 

for this study are analysed. The analysis is qualitative content analysis. However, the 

quantitative results of the categorisation of the material are also briefly discussed. This 

should provide a better understanding of the material as a whole. The aim is to find out 

what kinds of representations of alcohol can be found in the advertisements and how 

these representations are created. In other words, how do specific elements and 

connotations in the advertisements produce different representations of alcohol? The 

different types of representations are first identified and then further divided into 

categories in order to clarify how frequently they occur. The magazines contain 41 

different alcohol advertisements of which 12 appear in Men’s Health and 29 in GQ. The 

different representational categories that were identified are 1) exquisiteness, 2) 

lifestyle, 3) relationship and 4) tradition. These categories relate to the theory chapter of 

this thesis in the following ways: alcohol tends to be marketed as a great product that 

does not have any negative attributes (exquisiteness), our alcohol consumption 

communicates many things about our lifestyle and wealth to other people (lifestyle), 

alcohol is closely connected to celebration and social situations (relationship) and lastly, 

we tend to appreciate the heritage and traditions of our culture and what we drink and 

eat form an important part of it (tradition). 

 

The features of the exquisiteness category consist of how a product is marketed as being 

extraordinary, fine or special by its qualities in order to attract attention and to 

differentiate it from other similar products. An advertisement belonging to this type 

could for instance claim that a product is the best to ever have existed and emphasise the 

high quality of it. In the lifestyle category a product is connected to a certain lifestyle, 

such as sporty, healthy or luxurious way of living, which could be pursued by buying 

that product. Further, in the relationship category products are connected to friendship, 

love, kinship and encounters that are based on socialising or relationships. Tradition 

refers to elements in the advertisements in which tradition is emphasised, for instance, a 

long tradition in the making of a product or other ways in which tradition or nostalgia 

relate to the product. These categories have been chosen since they appear to be the 



31 

 

ones recurring the most in the advertisements, and they could be clearly identified and 

named. After the advertisements have been categorised into these, two representatives 

of each category are chosen for a more thorough qualitative analysis.  

 

When analysing the material one soon notices that the categories are not mutually 

exclusive but overlap in many cases. One advertisement might represent many of these 

categories while another fits into only one. Placing advertisements in categories is not 

always absolutely clear since analysing them is to some extent always subjective. 

Representations are always experienced and interpreted individually, and connotations 

are subjective and might appear very different among different individuals. In this thesis 

the advertisements were, however, strictly divided into categories in a way that one 

advertisement was always placed into one category only. The results show that 

exquisiteness is clearly the most frequently appearing category in the material. Lifestyle 

and relationship are the second most frequent ones and the prevalence of these 

categories is quite similar in quantity. Tradition shows to be the rarest of these 

categories since both magazines contain only a few advertisements signalling this 

attribute. In Men’s Health’s 12 alcohol advertisements 2 were categorised as containing 

elements of tradition, 5 exquisiteness, 3 lifestyle and 2 relationship. In GQ there are 29 

alcohol advertisements of which 1 was placed into the category of tradition, 22 into 

exquisiteness, 4 into lifestyle and 2 into the relationship category. One should bear in 

mind that the prevalence of some of the categories was more frequent than the results 

show due to the fact that the advertisements were each placed in one category only. In 

many cases the advertisements, however, could have been placed into several of them. 

The following diagram presents the shares of each category percentually. 

 



32 

 

 

 

Diagram 1. The percentual share of each category in the alcohol advertisements of 

Men’s Health and GQ magazines. 

 

 

3.1 Exquisiteness 

 

This representational category is the most frequently appearing one in the material of 

this thesis. The advertisements that belong to the category represent alcoholic beverages 

in a way that emphasises their exquisiteness and superiority. Usually these types of 

connotations are created by indicating that a certain product is of high quality and class 

and contains some extraordinary qualities that make it appear better than the competing 

brands. 

 

One advertisement that belongs to this category is an advertisement for the French Grey 

Goose Le Melon Vodka (appendix 1.), a melon flavoured vodka. It appears in GQ’s 

issue of June of 2014. This advertisement does not portray people but only material 

objects. It is perhaps surprising that this is actually the case with most of the 

16,67 % 

3,45 % 

41,67 % 

75,86 % 

25,00 % 

13,79 % 
16,67 % 

6,90 % 

0,00 % 

10,00 % 

20,00 % 

30,00 % 

40,00 % 

50,00 % 

60,00 % 

70,00 % 

80,00 % 

Men's Health GQ 

Tradition 

Exquisiteness 

Lifestyle 

Relationship 



33 

 

advertisements in the material of this thesis. Perhaps the reason could be, as already 

mentioned in the theory section, that having people in an advertisement is more of a risk 

since there is a possibility that the viewer does not identify with or relate to those 

people. Thus, placing only a product in an advertisement could be a safer option.  

 

The advertisement for Grey Goose Le Melon Vodka consists of one image and written 

text. The setting of it is a room and it depicts a bottle of the vodka and two glasses 

placed on a table. The bottle is placed on the left side, and the glasses on the right side 

next to the bottle. The image is a close shot since the bottle and the glasses are placed 

on the foreground and it appears that they are very close to the viewer. One of the 

glasses is placed right next to the bottle but the other one is slightly further on the back, 

more as if it was on the background, since the picture of it is not as sharp as of the other 

glass and the bottle. In this particular picture the size of the bottle is also notably large 

and it reaches almost from the bottom of the picture all the way up, making it the most 

salient element in the advertisement. It is almost fully visible, except that one cannot see 

the mouth of the bottle due to the framing of the image. The bottles tend to be the most 

salient objects in most of the advertisements for this thesis. It is not surprising since the 

advertisers presumably wish that the potential buyers would remember how the bottles 

look like in order to increase the sales. 

 

The glasses could be described as straightforward looking glass tumblers with a thick 

bottom part that are commonly used for spirits served with ice. The tumblers contain 

ice, vodka and pieces of orange melon that is referred to as the cavaillon melon in the 

text. The pieces of melon are pierced with a stick that seems like a nail. The background 

is blurred but it appears as if there was a cork of the bottle on the left side of the table. 

There is also something else on the right side of the table that cannot be identified with 

certainty because the framing shows only a small amount of the object, but one could 

guess that it is a handle of a spoon or something equivalent that has been used to stir the 

drink. Due to the blurred background, the bottle and the glass in the front become very 

salient. 

 



34 

 

On the right side on the top of the image there is the text section. An utterance “fly 

beyond” is written in white upper case letters and big font. On the upper part of the 

letter ‘o’ there is a white bird that is a symbol of Grey Goose’s brand and thus it 

presumably portrays a goose. It is, however, interesting that even though the name of 

the brand is ‘grey goose’ the colour of the geese in the advertisement and on the bottle 

is white. This same goose occurs on the bottle in the same place on the ‘o’ letter but this 

time the location of it is the first ‘o’ on “grey goose”. Under the text “fly beyond” there 

is a text “presenting Grey Goose Le Melon” on one line and “the fruit of kings” on 

another line in white upper case letters but in a smaller font than the previous utterance. 

The last sentences, then, are the smallest ones in size and not written in upper case 

letters. They read “The precious Cavaillon melon of France. Exceptionally sweet and so 

extraordinarily delicious, kings are said to have traded royal treasure for a taste”. On the 

bottom of the page on the left there is a text “sip responsibly” and the Grey Goose web 

address. 

 

One thing that should be noted about the bottle is that it does not have a label. Instead, 

everything has been printed directly on the surface of the bottle. There is also a larger 

goose above the name of the product on it. The glass of the bottle is cloudy except on 

the spot where this big goose is portrayed, which makes the encounter of these two 

surfaces of the glass form the silhouette of the bird. Thus, there is actually no picture of 

the bird or it has not been drawn except for its eye and one curve of its beak. Since this 

part of the glass is clear, one is able to see an image that has been printed on the inner 

back side of the bottle, portraying slices of cavaillon melon served on a plate and behind 

that there is one half of a melon. In the background of these appears to be some sort of a 

green landscape and a cloudy sky. In addition to the big goose there is also a flock of 

geese next to it on the bottle and on the capsule of the bottle.  

 

The advertisement evidently represents the category of exquisiteness. First of all their 

slogan “fly beyond” already signals a certain superiority by suggesting that by drinking 

Grey Goose Le Melon Vodka you will be flying beyond others. This slogan refers to the 

high quality of the product and the aim of it is to persuade the viewer to think that the 

properties of the quality and superiority transfer to him/her as well if consuming the 



35 

 

product. The rest of the text also supports the beverage’s exquisiteness by claiming that 

the vodka is flavoured with Cavaillon melon that has an astonishingly delicious taste. 

The fruit is described as such high quality melon that it is called the fruit of kings and 

that kings were willing to trade royal treasure for a taste of it. These are all very 

laudatory words and descriptions of the melon that flavours the product; hence the 

viewer is made to think that the product has to be as fine and desirable, too. There are 

drops of water on the surface of the bottle, so it appears to be ‘sweating’. This is also a 

matter that affects the allurement of it since it communicates that the beverage is cooled. 

This makes the viewer imagine what the drink would taste like when served in this 

temperature which is the ideal temperature for it. 

 

What adds even more attractiveness to the advertisement is that since the product is 

French, the melon is called Cavaillon melon. This creates exotic connotations and 

makes the product appear desirable and special even though apparently Cavaillon melon 

and Cantaloupe melon are basically the same fruit. This particular melon might only be 

called a Cavaillon if it comes from France. This is the same situation as with 

champagne or cognac, since they both have to be produced in certain areas in France 

and made according to a certain method of certain ingredients in order to be entitled to 

be called these. France is commonly connected to delicious and high quality food and 

drink culture that appeals to many people, so this product might appear especially 

tempting to people who value this country and its culture. In addition to mentioning the 

country of origin on the bottle, Frenchness is also highlighted with including the French 

flag on it in a cropped form. 

 

This brand utilises geese as the symbol of it to a great extent both verbally and visually. 

The connotation of these birds appears to be freedom and the ability to fly, which makes 

the viewer connect the vodka with being free and able to do what one wants. Drinking 

the vodka apparently also makes the drinker “fly beyond” which creates connotations of 

not being equivalent or on the same level with others but somehow above or ahead of 

them. The colours of the image are consistent with the colours of the bottle. The colour 

of the writing is white which matches with the colour of the geese. It creates 

connotations of purity and freshness. The background of the image is not single-



36 

 

coloured. It seems to be a room that has lighter and darker spots due to the amount of 

natural light reflecting on different parts of it. The overall appearance, however, seems a 

warm orange that is similar to the colour of the melon in the glasses and on the bottle. 

The part “le melon” on the bottle has also been printed in orange. This colour seems 

appealing and pleasant to the eye and reminds of honey which is also very sweet like 

the melon is said to be.  

 

The pieces of the melon in the glasses still have some of the green peel on them in a 

similar way to the pieces in the picture on the bottle. This green matches with the colour 

of the landscape on the bottle. Green is presumably used in order to make the viewer 

think of nature and freshness. The table in the image is black which matches with the 

text on the bottle, and is usually connected to elegance and style. The lighting of the 

advertisement is pleasant because it is warm-toned and not too bright. It appears that 

there is a window at the back of the room and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling 

where a brighter light is coming from. The bottle and the glass on the front are naturally 

well-lit because of their importance. 

 

As mentioned in the theory chapter, images can be divided into “demands” and “offers” 

on the grounds of whether they speak to the viewer directly or indirectly. This 

advertisement is a demand image because of the utterance “fly beyond”. This slogan 

attempts to influence the viewer by its imperative mood that sounds appealing. Of 

course all of the alcohol advertisements that contain the warning text saying “drink 

responsibly” could be regarded as demand advertisements but since this text is an 

obligatory part of all of them, it is not included in the features that define in which one 

of these two groups an advertisement belongs in this thesis. 

 

Since this beverage is marketed at men in a men’s magazine, one could assume that it is 

regarded as a masculine drink. This is not, however, that simple since it is presumably a 

little sweet and tastes like Cavaillon melon. These are known to be the qualities 

connected to feminine drinks, but on the contrary it is also a strong alcoholic beverage 

containing 40 percent alcohol by volume. Strong beverages tend to be perceived as 

masculine. Even though a product is advertised in a men’s magazine, it is not said that it 



37 

 

should necessarily be consumed by the man who sees the advertisement. 

Advertisements can also be placed in the magazines in order to suggest that some 

product could be for instance a good present for someone else. This shows in the 

material for this thesis, since in the magazines that were published in or for December, 

the amount of the alcohol advertisements peaked. This suggests that alcoholic beverages 

are also perceived as potential Christmas presents. 

 

In the issue of September of 2014 of Men’s Health, there is an advertisement for an 

American red wine Markham Vineyards Merlot (appendix 2.) that is also a 

representative of the exquisiteness category. The advertisement basically consists of two 

layers. The bottom layer is white and on it there is a logo of Terlato Wines, which is the 

marketer of this wine, with the words ‘Terlato’ on the left side of the logo and ‘Wines’ 

on the right side of it. Under this there is a phrase “always exceptional”, which 

communicates that Terlato Wines only markets exceptional wines, such as the wine in 

question. On the upper part of the left side there are five words printed vertically and 

separated by dash lines. From top to bottom these read “winemaker”, “reds”, “whites”, 

“winery” and “vineyards”. They could be seen as interleaves of the brand; different 

things connected to their products and wine production. It could be concluded that this 

same list of their features is used in their other advertisements as well because now that 

it concerns one of their red wines the word “reds” has been highlighted with a burgundy 

red colour while the others attract no additional attention. 

 

The uppermost layer seems to be some kind of old and to some extent darkened 

notepaper that is used when writing letters. The colour of the paper sheet is light brown 

or beige which creates connotations of it being old. There is a bottle of the wine 

depicted in the centre of it. The image of the bottle is large, taking almost all of the 

vertical space in the middle of the page. The image of it is a close shot making it the 

most salient object in the advertisement. On the right upper corner there are four 

horizontal lines that could also signal that the paper is a paper for writing letters since 

they might have lines for the name and address of the receiver like this paper does. 

These lines contain writing that states “The anatomy of a superb merlot” with the words 

anatomy, superb and merlot written in uppercase letters. This statement highlights the 



38 

 

exquisiteness of the red wine by using the word superb to describe its excellence. This 

is a rather laudatory adjective and the connotations of it communicate that it is notably 

better than other Merlot wines and it also makes the wine appear completely superior. 

 

As for the word ‘anatomy’, it makes the viewer connect the advertisement with the 

medical concept of anatomy. Here that concept has been applied for presenting the 

structure of the wine by using a similar kind of way of demonstrating its anatomy that is 

commonly used in school books for biology when illustrating the structure of a human 

body. Under this it says “sleek and well-focused, with rich flavours of cherry, espresso 

and mocha”. This gives the viewer an image of what the wine is like in a manner that is 

typical for a professional describing of wines. On the left upper corner of the 

advertisement there is a faded-looking stamp of the Markham Vineyards that goes over 

both of the layers. The use of the stamp is likely to arouse feelings of professionalism 

and reliability, since they are usually used by authoritative officials. Around the image 

of the bottle there are different facts about the wine and its production to show its 

anatomy and to support the claim of its ‘superbness’. These are numbered from one to 

five and each of them points at something on the label or bottle with an arrow. The 

names of them are written in uppercase letters and under the names short explanations 

are given about the facts.  

 

Number one is named “quality heritage” and it states “crafting exceptional wines for 

over 130 years” while the arrow points at the name of the wine on the label. This is a 

way of emphasising the exceptionality and high quality of the product and the long 

traditions in their winemaking. Crafting also communicates that the wine has been made 

carefully in small badges, similar to the way in which the Ketel One vodka 

advertisement (appendix 8.), that will be analysed in the tradition chapter, promotes the 

product in question. The second section goes by the name “premium vineyard location” 

and the elaborative text says “a true blend of vineyards from Napa Valley’s best 

growing regions” and the arrow points at the label where the region Napa Valley stands. 

This emphasises the area where the grapes are grown. When marketing wines this is an 

issue that matters since different regions produce different wines and some consumers 

might purchase wines merely on the grounds of where they come from. Complimentary 



39 

 

expressions such as ‘premium’ and ‘best growing’ add exquisiteness and highlight the 

fact that the wine has been made with consideration and careful combining of different 

elements. Blending of grapes from different vineyards and even blending different 

vintages of wine are done to improve the taste and to avoid vintages tasting remarkably 

different from each other. 

 

The third point is “outstanding ratings” that is explained by telling that “knowledge and 

experience combine with consistent quality to produce award-winning wines year after 

year”. Here the arrow indicates a badge that has been placed over the image of the bottle 

saying that the wine is a “smart buy” and that in 2008 it has scored 91 points out of 100 

by Wine Spectator. Wine Spectator is a magazine that focuses on wine and food and 

gives wine ratings. These kinds of expert sources are usually trusted which makes the 

wine appear more appealing and brings more value to the exquisiteness of the product. 

It does not even appear to be an impediment of using the score that it has been achieved 

six years prior to the advertisement. This is interesting since when it comes to wines the 

vintages of the product change and might differ from each other greatly. Thus, the 

review given six years before this advertisement might not be current or right anymore. 

When considering the title “outstanding ratings” after these observations also gets one 

to contemplate whether the product has gained any more recent awards or reviews. Does 

it only refer to this review in question and older ones, since the plural in “ratings” and 

the part “award-winning wines year after year” give the impression of many positive 

accomplishments? The 91 points from Wine Spectator might be the best merit that the 

wine has reached, which could be the reason for using it. “Knowledge”, “experience” 

and “consistent quality” refer to expertise and skilfulness in the production of the wine. 

 

The fourth point reads “trusted varietals” and under that “hand-selected grapes from 

diverse microclimates to achieve balanced and rich wines”. In this section the arrow 

points at the word ‘merlot’ on the label. One sign of a high-quality wine is always if the 

grapes have been picked by hand. Compared to machine-picking this enables the better 

observation and control of which grapes end up in the wine-making process and thus 

only the best ones are picked which naturally has an effect on the outcome. This 

together with the “trusted varietals” makes the product appear trustworthy because the 



40 

 

viewer gets the impression that he/she will not be disappointed if purchasing the bottle. 

The part “grapes from diverse microclimates” is similar to some extent with part 

number two by referring to the location of the vineyards and blending the grapes. 

Climate also greatly affects the nature and character of wines, such as the acidity and 

sweetness in them, so referring to microclimates the advertisement perhaps indicates 

that this wine combines the best grapes of different microclimates. Finally, referring to 

their wines as “balanced and rich” certainly affects the image of the product.  

 

The fifth part is named “established 1879” and it is elaborated on stating “the stone 

cellar, a historic landmark built by Bordeaux native, Jean Laurent, is now the heart of 

the present day winery”. This has been linked with the logo of the Markham Vineyards 

on the label of the bottle. The logo consists of a golden capital letter ‘M‘on a burgundy 

red background with a golden outlining on the edges and the text “established 1879”. 

The fifth point, again, refers to the long tradition and heritage of the Markham 

Vineyards. In addition to this it tells about the stone cellar in the winery and uses the 

expressions “a historic landmark” and “the heart of the present day winery” to 

emphasise its significance. These really make the cellar sound like a remarkable 

construction, maybe even an equivalent to a tourist attraction. Calling the cellar “the 

heart” of the winery creates connotations of a warm and important place. This section 

also mentions the builder of the cellar to be a “Bordeaux native” in order to add value to 

the winery because France is an appreciated and old wine producer country and 

Bordeaux is one of its most well-known wine regions. This suggests that the builder has 

brought some of the French, professional and traditional, style to the cellar which 

affects the image of the winery and brand in a positive way. 

 

The colours of this advertisement are similar in style with the Josh Cabernet Sauvignon 

advertisement (appendix 7) that will be analysed in the tradition chapter. They both 

contain an old looking light brown paper sheet as a background. The purpose of the use 

of the paper seems to be to signal a spirit of ‘good old times’ and tradition. These kinds 

of connotations give the viewer an impression of a trustworthy brand with great 

amounts of experience. The advertisements also make use of the burgundy red colour 

because it is also the colour of the product in question. The Josh wine advertisement 



41 

 

utilises the colour to a great extent whereas the equivalent of the Markham Merlot uses 

burgundy more sparingly. In this advertisement the burgundy colour can be seen on the 

capsule which is the metal wrapping around the closure on the neck of the bottle and as 

the colour of the word ‘merlot’, which is a grape variety, on the label. The same colour 

can also be seen in the stripes of the logo of Terlato Wines, as the colour of highlighting 

the word ‘red’ in the left side of the page, on the logo of Markham Vineyards and as the 

background colour of the Wine Spectator badge. Gold has been used as a decorative 

colour on the label and on the capsule, and white is a background colour for the whole 

advertisement and the label of the bottle. Black, then, seems to be the main colour of the 

written texts. The logo of Terlato Wines is the only object in the advertisement that 

differs from the rest of the colours used, since it contains yellow and blue as well.  

 

This advertisement differs from the Grey Goose Le Melon Vodka advertisement in that 

this is an offer image. It is not communicating directly with the viewer but makes it in 

an indirect way. This means that it does not speak to or address the viewer directly. It 

only describes the wine in different ways and makes the viewer an onlooker who can 

safely familiarise himself/herself with the advertisement in peace. What is common for 

these two advertisements is that they both depict only material objects instead of people. 

They both utilise image and written text but it is the text that expresses their 

exquisiteness the most and the image acts as a supporting element. When considering 

the Grey Goose advertisement, it appears quite clear that it represents exquisiteness. The 

Markham advertisement, then, also highlights tradition but the dominant theme in the 

advertisement still is exquisiteness. In this case the representations of tradition are used 

to support the impressions of exquisiteness in it. 

 

 

3.2 Lifestyle  

 

In this chapter two representatives of the advertisements that belong to the lifestyle 

category are analysed. The advertisements that can be put in this category represent 

alcoholic beverages in a manner that emphasises a certain lifestyle and connects the 



42 

 

products to it. The most common representations in the material are an active, sporty 

lifestyle and a lifestyle that communicates success or a luxurious way of living. 

 

An advertisement for the American Michelob Ultra Light Beer (appendix 3.) appears in 

GQ magazine’s issue of December of 2014. It consists of the image of the product and 

two other images of different situations next to it. These images portray scenes of 

downhill skiing somewhere in the mountains. On the uppermost picture there is the 

slogan of Ultra Beer that says “superior light beer” and in between the words “light” 

and “beer” there is a red symbol of the brand that could be described as a piece of a 

ribbon. The text is written in white upper case letters and the word “superior” is also in 

a bold font and underlined.  In the picture there are four people doing downhill skiing 

on a sunny winter day. They have been depicted from a public distance since they are 

wholly visible and there is also space around them. From this distance the viewer cannot 

even tell with certainty whether a person in the image is a man or a woman. The two 

skiers who are closest to the viewer appear to be wearing dark coloured trousers. One 

wears a yellow jacket and the other one a red jacket or shirt and a light blue quilted vest. 

It can only be concluded that the other two further back appear to be wearing dark 

coloured skiing clothes.  

 

In the image below there is a man and a woman both holding a bottle of Michelob Ultra 

Light Beer in their hands. This is presumably an after-ski picture where they are shown 

to relax after downhill skiing. The framing has been done in a way that it portrays the 

couple only from the waist height up and excludes the tops of their heads. This means 

that the distance is a far personal distance. The nonverbal communication in this picture 

signals that the couple are feeling comfortable in each other’s company. They are both 

smiling and they are close to each other. They are also looking into each other’s 

direction to some extent. The viewer gets the impression that they have just been talking 

or joking about something that makes them laugh. The fact that they are depicted being 

in a positive mood communicates that the beer is also pleasant to them. The nonverbal 

communication of the people in the upper picture signals that they are downhill skiing 

with their knees slightly bent. The fact that they are skiing quite close to each other as a 

group might communicate that they know each other. The age of the people in the upper 



43 

 

image cannot be concluded with certainty, but it is likely that they are of the same age 

as the couple in the lower image, which is presumably in their thirties or forties. 

 

The woman is wearing a warm looking light blue shirt or jacket, a darker blue quilted 

vest and a red knit cap. The man is wearing a dark sweater or jacket and a dark coloured 

knit cap. Although not much of the background is visible to the viewer and it is made to 

appear blurry, one can conclude that there seems to be two tents and a pile of snow in 

front of them. There are two bottles of Michelob Ultra Light Beer stuck in the snow to 

cool and presumably also some skiing equipment next to the bottles. In the foreground 

of the right side of the advertisement there is a picture of the bottle and below it a 

written text “drink responsibly”. On the bottom of the advertisement on the right side 

there is also a reference to their Facebook page where the viewer can “explore more” as 

the text suggests.  

 

This advertisement belongs first and foremost to the lifestyle category, but it also 

contains features signalling exquisiteness and relationship. The advertisement promotes 

a certain lifestyle. It comes across very sporty which speaks for an energetic and active 

lifestyle. It is placed outdoors and physical activity and sports are the main themes in it. 

In the advertisement this kind of lifestyle is connected to the product, the Michelob 

Ultra Light Beer, and this is quite coherent if we consider it. The product is a light beer 

which sets it apart from other “ordinary” beers. On the label of the bottle it says that this 

beer contains only 2,6 grams of carbohydrates, 95 calories and 4,2 percent of alcohol. In 

other words it is a healthier beer option and this is why it is marketed to people who 

lead a healthy and active life. Sometimes in alcohol advertisements alcohol is connected 

to people who are watching sports but in this advertisement people are taking part in 

doing sports. The advertisement signals that it is acceptable to drink this beer even 

though one is living in a healthy and athletic way.  

 

In this advertisement beer is depicted as a drink of both men and women, and not 

stereotypically as a masculine drink only. Perhaps it affects this depiction that the beer 

is a light beer, so it can be regarded as a feminine beverage as well. As mentioned 

earlier, in addition to the representations of a certain lifestyle, the advertisement also 



44 

 

contains other representations. The exquisiteness of the product comes across in the 

sentence “superior light beer” which emphasises the superiority of it. Through this 

statement the purpose is to say that the qualities of this beer are of high class and that it 

is better than the competing brands. The advertisement also represents relationships. In 

the upper image it portrays a group of friends downhill skiing and in the lower one there 

is a couple enjoying the beer and socialising. Thus, this product is also connected to a 

social lifestyle. The relationship of the couple could be a relation between friends or 

lovers. This way the advertisement aims at creating positive connotations of friendship 

or love that might be attained when consuming Ultra Beer. 

 

The most salient elements in the advertisement are the image of the bottle, the couple 

and the Ultra Beer slogan. The bottle is placed on the right side and since it is on the 

foreground it overlaps with the two other images. The picture is sharp, well lit and the 

bottle is represented in a large size. What makes it even more appealing is the fact that it 

is “sweating” which means that there are droplets of water all over it. This gives the 

viewer an idea of a bottle that has just been taken out from the refrigerator into the room 

temperature causing this effect. The text that says “superior light beer” is also a very 

eye-catching element, since it is written