Louis Vuitton advertisement

Petra Johanna Hack                                                     14/05/2015

Louis Vuitton bag

           

            We see a dark studio, with one strong headlight in the centre. On the left, a woman in her sixties is sitting on the floor with a camera by her side. She is looking up on a man who is standing on a platform. He is also in his sixties and he wearing a sleeveless top, rolled up trousers and no shoes. They are surrounded by technical equipment in the background. The writing under the image says: "The journey of a star captured in a flash. Annie's studio, New York"

            I stumbled upon this Louis Vuitton advertisement while turning the pages of Time magazine. Although I knew who Annie Leibovitz was, I did not quite understand this image. The creators of this Louis Vuitton ad clearly wanted to speak to an audience with a deep cultural understanding, with a target group aged 45+.

            This advert was part of a publicity campaign of Louis Vuitton, entitled Core Values. Other images featured Sean Connery, Buzz Aldrin, Pelé, Maradona and Zidane (the last three in one image) and Muhammad Ali. The image I saw is featuring world-famous photographer Annie Leibovitz and the legendary Russian dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov. They are in Leibovitz's studio, in a dark brownish environment, which is in harmony with the product on sale, the Louis Vuitton handbag. The bag placed slightly off-centre, in its natural environment is filled with magazines entitled 'Dance and Photography', which suggests the role of the two characters. Its presence in the image is very understated, since the company's main aim is not to sell you their handbag, it is to sell you their entire campaign, and the idea that with you can be a legendary, successful person. 
          However, it is not their handbag that makes you successful, but rather it is the trademark of a successful person to have a Louis Vuitton bag at hand. They presume that the consumer who is going to buy their product can not only can afford it, but is also a person, who knows quality. Therefore the image and the entire campaign creates a myth. Although this myth is not entirely similar to most myths created by advertisements, where models act out the part of the perfect man or woman. In this case the myth is based on the real-life success of famous people. The image suggests that the proof of success is that you can now buy Louis Vuitton bags, which is not far from the truth, judging by their price tags.

            The magazine this advertisement was placed in also offers an opportunity to selectively choose the audience this image is intended to call upon. Time magazine is an upmarket newspaper, aimed for intelligent, educated readers in the Western world. The ideal member of the audience is probably a successful person, in a leadership position in a workplace, who does not only have high education, but also deep cultural knowledge.

            To fully understand this image, the viewer has to know the background story, which is that Leibovitz did not only create famous photographs of the dancer, the two of them are also close friends. This accounts for their chemistry on the photo. Annie has her tool near her, which is her camera, and Baryshnikov is in his dance clothes, with bare feet however, they are clearly in the process of a photo shoot. Their connection and body language makes this image feel very personal and intimate. As a member of the audience, I feel like I'm behind the scenes of a great friendship, while I witness the creation of excellent photographs that will be taken in a few moments.

            Ordinarily the viewer is an outsider looking at an image. As soon as they know the characters in the image, they become insiders. They belong to an exclusive club and so we return to the bag; the advertisement suggests that if you want a membership in this exclusive group, you have to have a Louis Vuitton bag.

            All in all, I think this is a very effective advertisement, with a great number of hidden meanings and subconscious messages. It is multi-layered, therefore it has the impact that makes you remember it after the first glance, but it has several elements to discover if you study the image more carefully.