A piece of rock doesn't equal love

Link to ad:

http://www.youtubeunblock.com/index.php/1010110A/a2027e94321e6cf6ad89cf2a0129554fa99360784b5e7025792fc2b1903ead25305bfb79047c221919320



This ad is for a solitaire diamond.



1) It captures the audience's attention through the romantic music and lighting.

2) The target audience are men and women. The slogan is "A diamond is forever."

3) In addition to the product, the ad sells ideas related to love, romance, femininity and masculinity.



Love: The ad says that if you have found "love," then you must have this diamond. We have heard the phrase "True love lasts forever" many times; it is kind of a cliche. The slogan for this ad, "A diamond is forever", suggests that if you believe you have found "true love" that will last forever, you should buy this diamond. To men, it says that if you "truly" love your wife/ girlfriend, you should buy them this diamond as a symbol of love. To women, the ad says "if your husband/ boyfriend truly loves you, he should buy you a diamond."



I don't agree with the idea that love must be shown by buying a diamond. The ad connects something spiritual, related to feelings, with a sparkly piece of rock that has no feelings. If "love" means buying a diamond, does it mean that poor people are uncapable of love?



The ad also doesn't tell us something very important--that the De Beers company, over the years, has played a big role in the bloody diamond wars going on in Africa. Many tribes are killing each other over the diamonds found in their piece of land, and big corporations like De Beers refuse to do anything about it. If you would like to find out more about this issue, you can watch the movie "Blood Diamond."