Ad Analysis
Advertising exists for one reason: to create a need in viewers so that they will pay money for a product. One of the main strategies advertisers use is to make the consumer feel inadequate and that the product will fill a void in his or her life. Another is to suggest that the product is an adequate substitute for something real, such as love, intimacy, or ownership. Advertisers want us to believe that we can buy happiness from them! For this paper you will analyze an ad, explaining the techniques it uses to sell the product. You may choose a magazine ad or a screenshot of an online ad. Different kinds of consumers have different needs. It may also be helpful to choose an ad that doesnt have you as a target audience.
Guidelines:
- This essay is due as a Canvas upload by 11:59pm on Wednesday, October 20th.
- You must include the ad your paper describes. Either upload it as a separate document or embed it within your paper. Essays are not considered complete without the ad.
- Cite the ad and whatever sources from class that you use; make sure to include these on an MLA format Works Cited page.
- Choose a current ad; anything more than a year old is not a good choice.
- Dont use Google as a crutch; find the ad on your own!
- Your paper should be at least 800 words long. It must contain an introduction, separate body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
- Make sure to describe the ad and to use specific details from it to support your points.
- Successful papers will make effective use of key terms from class and the readings. Use a combination of audience awareness, Fowless 15 Appeals, color analysis, Weasel Words, and propaganda techniques to analyze both the images and words used in the ad. Your job is to break the ad down into its separate components and explain how it works to sell a product.
- Danger!!!: Do NOT become an unpaid salesperson for the ad; do not be taken in by its tricks. The task here is not to help the ad sell the product, but to describe the advertisers strategies.
- Successful essays will show a familiarity with the use of Standard American English. Essays with a pattern of major errors cannot pass.
- Your essay must be formatted according to MLA style and standards.
