As I have said previously, Hollyoaks is not a conventional soap opera due to its lack of character age range, unlike other soap operas that represent family life and the different generations. Most of it's represented characters are teenagers and young adults as it has a specific localized setting around a college/university, again making it different from any other soap. However, it does stick to verisimilitude soap opera conventions as the type of people who go to college and university in real life are like the young people represented in the soap.
The bar setting as the communal area, different from other soap operas that often revolve around pubs, also suggests this verisimilitude approach to students and the younger generation who would be found in such settings. The addition of the bar, rather than a pub, also gives the soap opera a classier, more sophisticated, unique feel. If the characters in Hollyoaks were kept the same but with the communal area being a pub, it wouldn't seem as believable or real, and wouldn't be inkeeping of the soap world's verisimilitude conventions. Alongside the tagline "Rub some Hollyoaks on it", the picture resembling a scene that could be found in soap operas such as Coronation Street or Eastenders looks rather grotty in comparison with the more visually pleasing image beside it; giving Hollyoaks a notion of superioriority over any other soap. Visually, everything about the picture on the right is more appealing, from the high key lighting, vivid colours, well-groomed characters and happy facial expressions. This clever editing draws the viewer in and makes the other soap operas seem laughable (note the dog soiling itself). To enhance this even more and make their point even more prominent, the editors have made the image on the left washed-out and old-fashioned, including images of uninspiring individuals. Hollyoaks has got a more refined target audience of primarily teenagers and young people because of it's young cast. This poster displays what the youth aspire to be in the hope of gaining viewers because of this.
In conclusion, Hollyoaks uses it's unique qualities to it's advantage and embraces the fact it is different as a way of 'selling' itself. Surprisingly, the poster doesn't refer to any particular storyline to entice the viewer in, but refers to the soap as a whole.
This poster is very different in format to the Hollyoaks one. It entails what looks like a family portrait of the characters in the soap to connote what can only be described as 'togetherness'. This could be portraying a false picture of happiness, or a true one; either way it entices the viewer in as, knowing about soap opera conventions, the happiness can't last for long and the audience will sadistically want to know what the catch is and how it all inevitably falls apart in the end.
This poster gives the viewer a brief introduction to the soap as, just by looking at it, you can tell it is set in a sunny, fairly rural-looking location with the kangaroo/wallaby in the bottom left-hand corner confirming the guesses. With the assumption the people included are some of the characters involved, you get an idea of their personalities, hobbies and relations to the other characters from how they are interacting with each other, what they are doing and whether they are holding anything. Conventionally, the young to the old have been represented and included in this poster, suggesting to the broad target audience of the relatable onscreen characters portrayed, which are their reason to watch.
The poster includes easily legible information of the soap name, channel and time cleverly displayed on a sign post, as well as some additional information catering for existing viewers.
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