Advert on Bulimia (textual analysis)

Today I was looking at some web sites to try and find out what age group I should aim my campaign at. I found out from a website (http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/bulimia.htm) that “Bulimia is more common in women over the age of 20”. I also found out vital information like what can trigger Bulimia off these things could be stresses in life, such as family problems, relationship break-ups or sexual abuse. By finding out this information I can create effective posters for the campaign.


I later looked at different adverts for eating disorders, bulimia being one of them. Most of the adverts show the dark side of having an eating disorder. One video from you tube (web link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0OT8b_mfVM&NR=1)

This advert demonstrates the whole process of being anorexic and being bulimic. First it shows a wide shot of a little girl cutting out pictures of skinny famous people and models. By starting off the video like this the campaigner is showing viewers that young people aspire to being like this from the age of 5-6. The mise-en-scene is shown in a stereotypical environment. The girl is shown in her bed room and she is cutting out pictures. You can see that the girl is not very happy she looks isolated and alone. One cause of bulimia is child abuse this could be related to this advert because the girl doesn’t look happy, she is also all alone. The lighting looks like natural lighting and the colour shown in this still is focused on the girl.

The second stills shows an older girl, then the girl in the first still. This girl is in her mid-teens. This still shows the teenager walking away from having dinner, she is starving herself to conform to the skinny Celebes. The mise-en-scene shows a perfect nuclear family who are sitting down to have dinner, but the teen is heading straight for the stairs. The setting is in a homely environment in the dining room. The light is mainly showing the happy family and it darkens towards the girl. This emphasises the teens troubled, also that she is alone and feels isolated.

This third still actually shows a girl throwing up. I think this is used in the advert to shock viewers because this is a real feature of a bulimic person. You could all it an archetype because this is exactly what bulimics do. This still is an XCU of the teenager, you see pert of her mouth and you can see that she is in the process of vomiting. The lighting is blue/black and get lighter towards the bottom. This draws focus toward the girl’s actions (throwing up).the darkness could also be a sign of darkness and loneliness. There is also shadow above her lip and around her bottom lip, this also emphasises her actions.