The above image is an advert from Kerrang magazine (although this advert was also featured in similar magazines such as NME and Q) which tends to focus on the Rock music genre, particularly Kerrang.
The image features My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way in character as alter ego 'Party Poison', which can be identified by his 'Dead Pegasus' jacket which a defining feature of his character and holds relevance to Party Poison's role in 2016 California - where the music videos are set. An identical advert is also used in the promotion featuring each member of the band, I used Gerard Way's example as I found his portrayal of the character and his role as a frontman interesting.
The rough, grey background could represent the basis of the album and the catastrophic situations in 2016 as well as being conventional to the dark alternative/emo rock genre that defines My Chemical Romance, particularly within the media. On a deeper level this could also connote the 'grey areas' in their musical past regarding the 'emo cult' which they sought to leave behind with the album 'Danger Days' which focuses a lot less on matters like death unlike previous album 'The Black Parade' which caused a media stir. The use of low key lighting also represents both of these matters, particularly in terms of fitting in with the album theme. The colours white, blue and red are also prominent in the feature, both are fierce and forceful colours which could be considered patriotic in relation to the USA national flag which may appeal to American fans. Red appears to be a dominant colour featured on Gerard's jacket and most noticeably his hair, the colour red is known to represent passion and could be a connotation of the band's love for their music which would appeal to rock music fans who tend to be more interested in the 'talent' side of the music industry rather than the image and sex-appeal side. Red could also represent blood-shed which relates to the story of the album.
The artist's composition within the frame is central which conveys his importance and status, as both a frontman and a character. Although the framing is a straight mid-shot, the positioning of his dead looking slightly downwards gives the effect of a low angle shot by making him seem more powerful and threatening. This works as a promotional tool because an artist is supposed to be an aspirational figure for fans or in some cases possibly a figure of attraction to some, so by making Way appear strong this is influential on a viewer's perception of the artist and therefore the music which is being sold. His body language is solid, his shoulders are raised, broad and his arms/chest are tensed which conveys masculinity, this could be applicable to being an aspirational figure or portraying Gerard Way as a symbol for attraction, in general Gerard is perceived to be the 'good-looking' member of the band by fans so this would appeal to fans and work as an advertisement for this reason. His facial expression is serious which indicates status as well as seriousness about music and his portrayal of the character 'Party Poison'.
The bold, capital font is conventional to the genre as it anchors the photograph and comes across as firm and mighty, the kind of idea which is often portrayed by rock music advertisements. The rock genre isn't supposed to come across as timid and feminine unlike pop, so this bright white, 'standout' font is really typical to the genre and works really well to promote the album as the whole image is really effective.
Above is the video version of the advertising campaign which I also analysed, each of the videos use the same publicity shots as the magazine campaign alongside previews of the album (snippets of the songs). These short videos help to introduce the characters and album theme. I personally thought that these videos work even better as a promotional tool than the magazine advertising campaign; the short song previews and overall simplicity of the video would leave fans with questions and excitement that could only be answered or settled by buying the album. The fact that not a lot is given away, but enough to generate curiosity, is really effective in creating 'hype' for the album and theories from unanswered questions - which of course would lead to a fan being really motivated to buy the album. Below are a collage of screenshots I took from each promotional video showing each character with a 'caption', I think these captions too are a really fantastic and effective way to make fans wonder 'what does this mean?' and like previously stated, generate curiosity that can only be settled by purchasing the album (at which point the fan would find out the majority of these captions are from the 'Look Alive Sunshine' monologue featured in Danger Days' debut single 'Na Na Na' which MCR uses as a vehicle to tell the story of the 'Fabulous Killjoys').
All in all, I think that the advertising campaign for 'Danger Days: The True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys' is incredibly effective in creating 'hype' for the new release as well as being conventional to the rock genre and advertisements in general (for example, the date of release is bold and focused).
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