The contemporary image that I have chosen to review and rhetorically analyze for this assignment is part of a 2012 advertising campaign for Antonio Federici brand Italian gelato. The company responsible for the ads-- Antonio FedericiIce Cream of Britain--produced a series of advertisements that were controversial in nature and seen as blasphemous by the Christian community. The advertisements featured tubs of gelato held by very sexualized individuals in attire most commonly associated with highly respectable roles as religious teachers and followers. The ads are all very well lit and make good use of contrast but still have an air of darkness to them in the same way that the artwork on many recent young adult novels is formulated (especially vampire novels).
The people featured in the advertisements all have bright spots of light playing off of their faces and a smoothness of their skin that resembles marble, and are photographed with purposeful wrinkles in their clothing. The setting is at the altar of a huge cathedral, like those in the renaissance or medieval periods. The ads portray images such as two priests about to kiss, and a pregnant nun, and even a nun in the beginning stages of undress with an exposed leg that is wrapped around the waist of a naked priest.
I have chosen to review the ad featuring the two homosexual priests. The author(s) were employees of the advertizing and public relations departments of Antonio FedericiIce Cream of Britain, who, in turn, had their concepts and mock-ups approved and green-lighted by the company’s CEO’s and Board of Directors. Their goal was to make their product seem sexy and new but timeless at the same time.
The subject of the advertisement is of course the two homosexual clergymen. They are poised in such a manner that there can be no doubts about their intentions. The tagline reads “we believe in Salvation.” The irony here is that (according to the Christian teachings of the New Testament) they are rejecting true salvation which aims to free every man of his sins and calls Christians to refrain from sinning further to the best of their ability, and are choosing to live lives of sin in their open homosexuality and they also desecrate the holy church with their actions. True Christians proclaim intense feelings of happiness and renewal at the joy of their salvation; however, the salvation that the ad is referring to is in the deep feelings of release and the rush of endorphins at sexual climax that the two would choose to share with one another. The sin of the two priests is used here as a metaphor for how ‘sinfully’ delicious the ad is arguing that Antonio FedericiIce Cream is.
Antonio FedericiIce Cream is manufactured by Frederick's Dairies which is based in Skelmersdale,Lancashire in England. Its Wikipedia article states that the company was started by a family in Italy in 1896. Their ethos would then be derived from their longevity as a company. Since many people have doubtlessly eaten their products and can form an opinion on them, and since there will be some people out there who believe that Antonio FedericiIce Cream is the best gelato there is, then the producers of these ads would have some opinionated proof to back up their claims of being ‘sinfully delicious’ or ‘heavenly’ or a number of other phrases that could come from these ads to describe the ice cream they advertize for.
The pathos that the advertising is trying to portray is that of something that is both sensual and timeless. The figures resemble marble statues that have been used in churches and cathedrals for centuries with their smooth flawless skin and purposeful folds of their clothing. There is text in the background on the arches that would probably be Latin if this were an older European cathedral. The faces in the arches in the wall behind them are likely the faces of saints, and both the walls and what could either be the altar or the baptistery are done in very intricate patterns and mosaics that would have been commissioned by the church to artists who are well-known to us today. The sensuality draws on several stigmas, stereotypes and symbolisms to create the overall image. There is of course the homosexuality but there is also both a white man and a black man which would seem unnatural to some (even if they did not consider themselves racist). The way the black man is holding the spoon is somewhat suggestive in its angle and depiction of the wide part of the spoon as if to reiterate the stereotype of black men having large penises, and also suggests that he will be on the giving end once the two men finish their ice cream.
The logic or logos behind the creation of this ad may have been to create controversy purposefully in order to get media attention and attention from the general public. It could be argued that creating such advertising campaigns is pointless if the company knew or at least suspected that the ads might be pulled because less people would see them. It could also be said that it is better in some ways because it would gather publicity and be more effective than another set of advertisements that people would get used to seeing and then start to ignore. The overall effect was an ad campaign that created a reason to search for the ads online, both out of interest by those who may have heard the media outrage that these ads created and also for academic purposes such as this paper. The ads both intrigue stylistically and rhetorically, and also successfully spark and interest and a hunger for the product itself.