THE SECRET OF CAMPARI: WARPRAME OF A COMMERCIAL

An old advertising  clip of the Italian brand Campari is an interesting example of video advertising created with the use of warpframe, a very effective semantic structural model.

It's the 2005 video campaign "RED PASSION" .

Agency: D'Adda, Lorenzini, Vigorelli, BBDO
Director: Tarsem Title: "The Secret"

It’s a visual diachronic text. Here, using the technique of warpframe, are the elements:

Identity 
The sender (Campari) is the most important element for the whole story. The "red Campari" is inside every scene : is the colour of the carpet or  the colour of the liquor in the glass he is holding.

Relationship 
The relationship between the sender Campari and the receiver (public at home) is one of complicity. It is deliberately ambiguous.

Style 
The communication style is sophisticated and provovative, but in a very soft way. It is languidly transgressive.

Signs 
We can see in the video many symbols: the staircase, a symbol of upward social mobility; the crystal chandelier, very great and shining, a symbol of luxury. Then we can see some pseudo-indices such as the fresh white flowers in the  vase that implicates the daily care of the hotel. The red color in the glass and of the carpet is an icon of the liqueur and a symbol of the brand.

The lighted, indoor swimming pool is a symbol of comfort and relaxation. This feeling is reinforced by the circular shape used for the swimming pool and by its blue color. This location creates  contrast and harmony, together it is a balance within the whole location, where the adrenalin red, acute angles and straight lines predominate. These elements are perceived as dynamic and vigorous.

Codes 
The furniture code (bar, large and comfortable leather seats, the carpet) implies we are in the hall of a very luxury hotel. This spatialization connotes the story of exclusivity  and the characters. Dress code is used to identify the gender (male or female) of characters, their job (barman, waiter) or the time when the scene is set.

Kinetic and mimetic codes are used to denote their attitude (her slow elegant pace denotes femininity, sensuality, refinement; her  looks are allusive, full of promises) Figures In this video clip we can see an antithesis (male and female) and a paradox ( not male man and not female woman)

Roots 
There is the archetype of wanderer (the two characters go in the hotel and they don't accept common rules). The wanderer's goal is autonomy. Freedom is like the air he breathes. His task is to develop his sense of identity and assert his ideas. He fears conformity and compliance with written rules. The archetype of labyrinth is also present. The glass that the man has in his hand is almost a lamp which  lights his path and helps him in his research.

Roles 
The subject is the man who desires to reach the woman (object). Opponent is the distance between him and her. The helper is the liqueur Campari that inadvertently spilled into the female figure décolleté, forcing “her” to reveal her  true masculine identity. This fact pushes the male character to reveal himself, showing his true female identity. Sender is the brand Campari, receiver is the target.

Balance 
There are strengths that give dynamism to the story building, balanced among various actants. They imply elements of  contradiction, opposite and complementarity that act among them. So, we can see the following elements: • Male/Female (men and women drinking and talking in the hall) • Not Male/ Not Female ( the two protagonists)

It's obvious that the protagonist "not male" is an idea complementary to "female", opposite to "not female" and in contradiction with "male". The same relationship unites concepts of "not female", complementary to "male" and in contradiction with "female".

Sub-limen
The term sub-limen is related to those visual and textual hidden messages that deeply affect, in video, the perception by the public. Here we can find the presuppositions: depending on the clothing  worn by the protagonist, the viewer is made to deduce her/his sex. This fact creates the misunderstanding that is revealed in the last scene.


Conclusion 
This ad has been appreciated for several years for its sophistication and for its final transgressive "coup de theatre". Without any doubt, if it has touched the mind of the public to such a large degree, the greatest reason is because of  its well-organized semionarrative structure