Analysis of a Written Advertisement Argument

Today the average person in the United States is saturated with advertisements–on television, on billboards, buses, and buildings, in magazines and newspapers. Advertisements are used to sell a point of view, promote a charity, or support political leaders. And, of course, they are used to sell commercial products. Think of all the products you use in a day: toothpaste, cereals, tissue paper, shampoo, blow dryers, jeans, t-shirts, soft drinks, bottled water, radios, computers. The list goes on and on. How many of these products do you absolutely need? And how many of those products that you use are brand names? Why do people want Calvin Klein’s name on their underwear, “Levi’s” on their back pocket, or a favorite team logo on their caps?

Because the purpose of advertisement is to persuade viewers to buy or support something, it is crucial that today’s informed citizen learns to analyze carefully the strategies used in advertisements. Through the critical analysis of all kinds of commercial communication, one can address fundamental questions like these:

• What is the ad really trying to sell?
• What visual and verbal strategies is the ad using to convey its message?
• Is the ad ultimately persuasive?
• Are the message and its rhetorical means both honest and ethical?  Are there fallacies in the argument?

Planning/Prewriting

Look at the advertisements on Moodle for this assignment and pick an ad that you would like to analyze. First, jot down notes that describe the ad.  Ask yourself what are the implicit and explicit claims in this ad?  Second, since the customer’s eye goes immediately to the visuals, think about how the advertiser has used visuals: people or places in the ad, uses of color, choice of font, movement of customer’s eyes, etc. Third, examine the brand name (and its display), the product’s slogan, and other print information and analyze why this slogan was chosen and how it might convey ethos. Fourth, consider the types of emotional appeals that are meant to entice the customer.  Look at any possible fallacies of ethos, logos and pathos.  (See the Appendix in the back of the textbook.)  Finally, consider the overall impact of the ad and decide upon a thesis sentence for your paper.

Drafting

After these prewriting activities, you can judiciously decide which types of information you will use to support the claim within your 2-3 page paper. Be sure to orient your reader by identifying the name and date of the magazine, if available, describing the ad itself, and providing a thesis sentence about the claim you are making about the ad. If you write, “The Mustang ad in Time sells freedom,” your reader won’t know what you mean unless you describe the man standing alone by his car with a brown desert in the background. And then you’ll have to explain how that image represents freedom in U.S. society. Remember to back up comments with specific details. If you say the ad depicts beautiful people, describe the characteristics of these beautiful people.  Address logos, ethos and pathos, looking carefully for fallacies in the arguments.