What does a picture really tell you?

Advertising is a huge part of how businesses convey the necessity of their product or service to a target consumer. Here are a few images of Lacoste clothing, each portraying it at a different point on the scale of explanatory or generic images:

In this first image, the clothing is shown on a mannequin. It was probably used on a website selling athletic gear because there is not enough enticement for it to have actually been used on the Lacoste site. Just the fact that the clothing is not on a real person, but instead on a neutral-faced mannequin, does not tie in any pathos or affect the buyer's decision. Again, this is a very generic picture-- what you see is what you get.

Here is a Lacoste ad featuring young, active, brightly-clad, happy models. All of them look athletic and graceful, and seem to be enjoying themselves in Lacoste clothing. This conveys how an individual who wears Lacoste will be equally carefree, ready to move, and energetic. These are among the adjectives that the brand would like to have associated with them, making the image slightly explanatory of the brand's ideologies.

 This is an image from Lacoste's website. Again, the model is young, full of energy, vivacious, and smiling. It correlates with the ad in what the message of the company is, and how it wants its consumers to feel in its clothing. Someone is more likely to be persuaded to buy the clothing by looking at this image than at the very first one. This shot is very explanatory. The merchandise is shown in great detail, complete with zoom capabilities to see the fabric. Colors are displayed and the fit on the moving model shows how easy the clothing is to wear, and that it looks good on real people. This is different from the top image, which only shows the clothing on an inanimate object. 


Clearly, there are differences in the scope of what you can learn from looking at an advertising image. It can either give you the basic facts, or personalized details of the product being sold. To go even one step further, the most generic would be a plain shirt and pants, not even Lacoste brand. The difference between that and the final image would be immensely obvious.