The author of this image is Frank Miller, shown by the small print on the left side saying "View the rest of the Frank Miller collection at Gucci Guitly.com," but the date of publication for the image is unknown, The image was published on thescentedhoud.file.wordpress.
The denotative explanation for this advertisement is that there is a man, shirtless and with swirly chest hair, being held tightly and possibly smelled by an attrative, and for what we can see, shirtless woman. Also the words "Gucci Guilty pour homme" and "The new fragrance for him" appear on the ad. Additionally, the all black background forces the viewer to focus on the two people in the image, and also makes the bottle superimposed on top of them pop even more. The viewer's eyes are also guided through the ad. Likely being surrounded by text, the first thing the viewer would do is begin to read the advertisement from top down. This would lead them to seeing the man, then the woman clinging to him, and finally the bottle of cologne.
The connotative explanation is centered around lust. For men, the image is meant to relay the message that if you purchase this cologne, you too can be tightly held and possibly sniffed by attractive shirtless women. This is shown through the movement of the piece described earlier, as the man would see the man being stuck to the women, and the bottle representing the cause of this. Sex appeal is meant to incite desire within male viewers and therefore convince them that they will be found more attractive by women if they wear this fragrance. The lusty approach can also apply to women too. A woman may buy her boyfriend/husband/significant other this cologne, shown by the words "For Him," on the image. The attractive man may be included to also elicit desire within women and encourage the conclusion that if their man wears this cologne he will be more attractive.
The intended audience of the image includes both men and women, as shown by the analysis above. The social background would most likely be younger men and women around their twenties and early thirties, and economically middle to upper middle class. Older people would tend to be less swayed by such a sexual ad and younger people less likely to wear cologne. Also, lower class people cannot afford frivolous expenses like cologne and the wealthy most likely have someone pick out cologne for them. Cultural knowledge isn't a significant factor in the ad as it does not include any references to pop culture and relies on simple human desires and conclusions.
