Dissection and commentary of a nail polish ad poster. Who me?

I was shopping at Walgreens and came across this advertisement for Essie brand nail polish.  Honestly I've never heard of Essie before, but this ad caught my eye.

First, I found it interesting that it was black and gray, not colorful as one might expect a nail polish ad to be!  I think it's pretty effective as a way to grab someone and make them look closer.  I did.

So what is it about this poster that intrigued me?  First, the layout is pleasing to my eye.  The paintbrush at the top dripping down onto a belt is an odd image, but it drew my attention to the focus area of the poster.  I wondered, "why is there a belt on the bottle?  Why is there paint dripping onto it?"  So I moved closer.  "Ah, it's a nail polish ad.  What brand?"  I saw "essie" in four places on the poster:  the quote, on the bottle at the bottom, lightly etched vertically on the right side, and in the signature on the right.

Then, "Why is there a belt?" I took a closer look.  Clever.  The smaller text in the quote says, "...have style all cinched up."  Something about the dripping nail polish, especially in the dark color, reminded me of dripping chocolate.  Hmm.  I wonder if that is intentional.  I'm a dark chocolate lover, myself.  It's like a combination of elements that draw women in, perhaps?  A cinched belt, making one think of "skinny," something like dripping chocolate, the words "nail art," all appeal to many women, I think.  By the way, the quote says, "I'm essie and my nail art looks have style all cinched up."  This gives it a personal touch.

The text is easy to read, but you do have to move closer.  The nail polish bottles are below the poster, so you go closer to the poster, you are drawn to look at the colors of the polish.

Was I tempted to buy any?  Not really.  But I don't paint my fingernails and I get my pedicures done at World Nail Spa, so... Why was I looking there?  I really don't know!  What I do know is that the ad drew me in.  If I were someone who was interested in buying nail polish, I would probably do the next logical thing... check the price!

I do like the poster.  I also find the logo appealing.  I think the graphic artist who designed it must be very proud of him/herself. :)