Longer Screwing

The longest screw

In a world filled with AIDS condoms have been the natural successors to Ð''skin to skin' or Ð''eating candy or a banana without the wrapping'. In this essay I plan on discussing the effective use of symbolism by the Durex advert, followed by fallacies within the advert. I will also give a detailed description of the visual imagery, target market and an overall analysis of its effectiveness.

The ad features Durex's latest Performa male condoms. As they put it the condoms are supposed to delay a man's climax in turn resulting in improved lovemaking. The creators of this ad are the HYPE ad crew. They chose to depict a screw, a very long screw I must say, as the central focus of the ad. Firstly to understand the symbolism of the screw one must be able to understand what the word "screw" in today's society means. Screw is an international slang for sex. The creators translated this word into an ultra real image which symbolizes this word. People who understand the word can directly associate the long screw with what it supposed to mean. After looking at what is being advertised they can then translate it to what is being truly implied. The hype ad crew knew that they were introducing a new product into the market. With this in mind they utilized the specific characteristic of the product into the ad i.e. performance. Performance today is dimmed to be what drives people in bed. Longer lovemaking in this post modern world is what people are after. All mediums of communication are bombarding people with the lack of how man can't last long in bed. I even remember that Missy Elliot once released a song of how she doesn't want a one minute man. Basically society is craving for longer lasting man. Crucially that is what the long screw stands for. It iterates the answer to man's short comings (double pun intended). Hype could have just had a checklist of what the condoms do but they didn't. They knew that the current market believes Ð''longer screwing' is a number one need for sexually active people and the screw symbolizes this. One can also point out that the screw itself in turn symbolizes the male gender. You wouldn't really expect woman to be playing with screws literally. Overall this adverts use of symbolism is perfect. It associates a common slang word into an image at the same time incorporates a common need into the image.

When looking at the ad one can pick up two distinct fallacies. Firstly the most obvious of all is the incomplete comparison. The ad claims that the condom has a special liquid that helps you make you love for longer. Although a double pun is intended for the word love the fact still remains, what clinical evidence is there to support this claim? There are no statistics that show that just by using this condom you will have sex for longer. To add more to this fallacy they insinuate that with longer lovemaking the better the sex. That obviously isn't true. Better sex isn't exactly through longer lovemaking nor has it been proven that longer lovemaking s actually better sex. A fallacy that falls through with the incomplete comparison is the part-whole fallacy. Which states: what is true for a part isn't necessary true for all. Even if they did test it, what proof do they have that this will work for all individuals? After all, sex isn't approached in the same way by everyone. People just have there own perks and quirks when it comes to Ð''performance'.

The second distinct fallacy one picks up is the intended fact after you use this condom you have better sex. This is a post hoc fallacy that just hasn't occurred yet. Think about it just because you have longer sex does that mean you have better sex. Obviously it isn't so. Other unknown causes might be at play at the same time. It might be because the person is just in the right mood or the lover is well skilled. It doesn't necessarily mean the because of the longer sex you have had great sex. I know I have mentioned the great sex line above, but I felt it necessary to add a potential fallacy that might occur separately.

One quick look at the ad and your eye is immediately drawn on to