Below I have chosen 5 print advertisements directly from New Zealand, which I feel showcase aspects of New Zealand’s cultural aesthetic. The first common theme that I found across the board when it comes to New Zealand advertising is the usage of humor as an attention grabber. The vast majority of the New Zealand print ads that I looked through had some element of humor relating to the product or different aspects of the culture. The first advertisement, although it is targeted at tourists, has this element of humor that reflects what New Zealanders tend to favor in advertisements. The ad features a prominent statement of ‘Best Supporting Country in a Motion Picture’ which of course is a nod to New Zealand being the filming location of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The ad showcases their breathtaking landscape as well as featuring their national colors of black and white / silver.
The second ad, and my personal favorite, is an advertisement for a New Zealand beer company called Tui. This company has a plethora of billboard advertisements that showcase their humor by juxtaposing a common statement on the left side in black and white and on the right is their logo and the words “Yeah Right.” Along with these at times hilarious billboards is their print ads which also prominently feature a comedic element. The company’s main colors used are red ochre, gold and black, all of which are favored in their cultural aesthetic. Although beer companies in the United States such as Bud Light are also known for having an element of humor in their advertising, Tui seems to entirely on humor to get their message across.
The third ad for Arano orange juice also has a slightly more subtle approach to humor by showing the original and new packaging of their orange juice. The ad uses prominent black text for the ad and the name of their company on the label of their juice. One interesting element to this advertisement is the rustic feel with the green wooden board at the bottom which provides a banner background image for the text. This is very similar to the style of the last advertisement, which uses wooden boards to cover the background of the image.
The fourth advertisement is slightly different in that it focuses more on the image to provide the humor rather than the text supporting it. The child in the photo making the angry face is meant to be an over exaggerated expression takes up nearly the entire image. By looking at these five adverts I would say that the New Zealand cultural aesthetic has more of a visual modality. Although the ads mainly showcase visuals they still rely on the verbal text to contribute to the humor and the advertisements would not work without the supporting text.
Overall by looking at these different print ads it is evident that the New Zealand culture values elements of humor as well as natural settings and colors. It will be interesting to look back at multinational companies to see if any of their localized advertising fits into this model.
Trevor Mackinnon 