The King Kong movie poster contains a picture of a giant gorilla holding a woman while standing at the top of a skyscraper. It is also attempting to grab a jet flying close to it. Furthermore, a vintage color scheme has been used. Overall, the King Kong poster explicitly sells an adventure-action packed movie, but it implicitly sells excitement and authenticity to viewers. This movie’s target audience consists of viewers who like watching adventure-action films, and the infuriated gorilla on top of a tower in a metropolitan area attempting to fight off a jet shows this. Furthermore, based on the vintage color-theme and jet model used, it specifically targets those who like classics. One main appeal from this poster is the use of RKO, which is illustrated by the inscription of the following words; “– AN RKO RADIO PICTURE – of course!” The use of these words represents an ethical appeal, as advertisers work on connecting the company’s renowned trademark and the film. It was among the big five studios of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
The other use of ethos is illustrated in the text continues to promise the audience a state-of-the-art popcorn film. The text reads, “From a story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper…” Edgar Wallace was a prolific writer and among the most filmed authors of the early twentieth century. The advertisers try to connect the authors’ reputations with the film. The graphics in the poster also serve as pathos. The image of an angry gorilla at the top of a skyscraper appeals to the target audience. This group of viewers tend to connect wild animals to forests; therefore, by the giant gorilla being away from home trying to fight off people in a world strange to it elicits an emotional appeal by giving them a sense of adventure and action.
In conclusion, this poster tends to uphold many stereotypical ideas of the danger that wild animals pose to human beings. The gorilla is on top of a tower holding a woman in its hands, therefore exposing her to death in the case that it might fall.