Madonna Album Advert Analysis

The advert itself is a retro image; this kind of photo shoot was very popular during the 80’s when Madonna was beginning to peak. The advert fulfils an illustrative function, it looks as if Madonna is taking on the shoes of Marilyn Monroe who was a cultural icon in this time era again, and this connects Madonna to Marilyn, emphasising Madonna’s high level status and importance. The fading colours could suggest she is appealing to an older audience, the fact she isn’t using to many bright colours could be due to the fact she’s not in her prime time anymore, so her audience now is very different to what it would have been. All the connotations so far emphasis the old school style Madonna has gone for in this advert.



The main focus of the advert is Madonna, this is because the point of the advert itself is to sell the artist rather than the album, and this is because everybody knows who Madonna is so there is no need to use other kinds of selling techniques as she already has a high status in a cultural aspect. The red lipstick on Madonna brings out the feistiness behind her persona, rather than using a paler colour making her more approachable and softer. This is another connotation of her level of power in music.


The fact the advert is in a train station really suggests that the seller is attempting to place her advert in any busy location because it’s so strong and eye-catching, the busier the location the more people will see it and associate it with Madonna, again selling the artist.

The advert is based on a retro theme; this is shown through the vivacious colours which are used. The advert is very similar to pop art which was extremely popular during the 80’s, therefore this dates the adverts use of photography yet still meets the older target audience as they can relate to the era with personal experience.  The text is covered with brightly coloured paint splodges, I think that this links to the rebellious times in the 80’s, such as the graffiti on streets.  Madonna’s advert also seems fairly faded in the background, the use of darker colours in the background could connote that Madonna is part of older times and is not the prime sensation in the music industry that she once was. This links to the purpose of the poster, to sell her greatest hits, basically its bringing Madonna’s name back into our minds by releasing an album of all her songs which were great in her prime.


The Madonna background consists of a brown colour which acts very similar to old paper. This again dates the advert and relates back to Madonna being part of the older generation of pop. The advert has a dual purpose, one to sell the album but also sell the artist as well. Madonna’s album name is not the main focus of the advert. The artist is, so this suggests that the album and music comes second after Madonna.


The text used is all very small in size, this signifies the lack of importance of the music itself, this contrasts massively with the over the top size image of the artist emphasising her status and importance. It could also be suggesting that the advert doesn’t need large, bold font as the target audience already know Madonna’s songs, therefore they don’t need any reminding of her music. All the text is capitalised which states the significance and importance of the newly released album. The layout itself is very similar to the discourse structure of a newspaper headline, this connotes that Madonna is important and worth telling the world about.


Finally the fact that the album is a greatest hits collection could suggest that Madonna is coming back into the limelight and therefore has to re-establish herself back into the music industry.