Advertising Paper Assignment

In this 3-page paper, you will be applying your analytical skills, our readings, and particularly Jib Fowles' essay ("Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals") to a print advertisement of your choice. This essay is going to require several steps.

First, you need to find a print advertisement that is no longer than two pages. Choose one that appeals to you in some way or that you find intriguing. You will be handing the ad in with your essay, so it is important that you have a hard copy of the ad. Also, since you need to know the target audience for the ad, it MAY NOT be printed from the web. This must be a genuine print advertisement.

Second, the body of your essay will consist of four primary tasks:

1) In your introduction, you should talk about the goals of advertising in general, introduce Fowles and your ad, and end your introduction with your thesis.

2) You will need to provide a "summary" of your ad. In other words, describe in words the image(s) in your ad. This should be your first body paragraph.

3) Jib Fowles states that "sixty percent [of ads] have two conspicuous appeals" (88).

Based on that assumption, you will argue which two appeals are most prominent in your ad. You also need to explain how these appeals function in the ad. Of course, you will need to quote or paraphrase Fowles here, but don't let the quotations take over your paper! (To get started on this task, pay particular attention to page 88 of the essay.) In addition, while there may be more than two appeals in your ad, focus only on the two most prominent appeals. Organize your next two body paragraphs around these appeals. Each one should have its own paragraph.

4) Taking into the account the intended audience, how successful do you think this ad is? Are the appeals appropriate for this audience? If the primary goal of advertising is to sell products, do you think this ad will reach its audience members and prompt them to buy the product? This should be part of your concluding paragraph.

Finally, you should take the time to revised and edit your essay. Don't forget to proofread your hard copy!