The Dulux "Add some (colour)" advertisement, which depicts a 'painting' of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, is an interesting one. Compositionally speaking, Eve whilst offering Adam the all-important apple, does so very casually, her gaze directed at something (or someone?) else. Moreover, instead of holding on to Adam, she firmly holds on to the tree of seduction?
Adam, horny as he must have been by that time, is turned towards her, poised to grab the apple (thereby subsequently creating k*k for us all), but also does not make eye contact with Eve (but places his left hand on her shoulder). But, most curious of course, is the absence of the snake.
Adam and Eve having fallen from grace, were clearly only just being thrust into the first level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, seeking to address their physiological needs for food, sex, water, air and shelter. The question is whether they addressed their needs in exactly this order. The absence of the snake, Eve's outward gaze (away from Adam), her seemingly indifferent stance, as well as the physical distance ('personal bubble' between them), seems to suggest that the ad depicts the two of them further down the line, historically speaking. Perhaps Eve was starting to fulfil Adam's need for food alone (pre women's lib of course) and that her interest was already focused on someone else or something else (e.g. pursuit of higher level needs such as achievement; affiliation; self-actualisation, etc.). The pay-off line "add some (colour)", when considered in this context, assumes an altogether different meaning, i.e. as in 'add some zest, variety or adventure' to your life. The fact that a 'green' colour swatch is placed in the ad could thus mean that Adam was green with envy (rather than denoting the colour of the apple), hence his somewhat controlling body-language.
If the above interpretation is correct, than the advertisement is quite successful in that it would create differentiation and salience for the Dulux brand through the association with risk-taking, being adventurous, 'adding colour', etc. Was this perhaps an attempt at segmentation, targeting the 'driven' side of women rather than men?
