Assignment

Bring to class a print ad from a newspaper, a magazine, or a commercial Web site and in small groups discuss your reading of it. Be sure to ask, "Why am I being shown this or being told that?" How do the characters in the ad function as signs? What sort of people don't appear as characters? What cultural myths or values are invoked in this ad? What relationship do you see between those myths/values and the intended audience of the publication? What is the significance of your ad? What does it say about the power of advertising to control our view of the world? Which ads do your group members respond to positively and why? Which ads doesn't your group like?

This is the ad that you will write about write just what you see and imagine from the add.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd0Ok-MkqoE

Analyzing an Advertisement

Write an ANALYSIS of a current ad, looking specifically at how it reflects American values in the twenty-first century. You may use one of the fifteen appeals to narrow your focus and guide your analysis. Be sure to include the ad in your essay,

Some Ideas:

1. Colors- What colors are used? What do they suggest or evoke?

2. Models -- Bow many are used? What gender? What do they look like? What are they wearing/doing? What are the expressions on their faces? What are they looking at? What are their body positions? What are these details meant to imply or evoke?

3. Setting- Where is the scene set? What does this setting suggest about mood or emotion? How do the models relate to the setting? Are they pointing to, leaning on, standing on or behind, 1(x)king down on or approaching anything in the picture or anything outside the frame of the picture?

4. Text- What words are printed in the ad? What is the proportion of words to images? Where are the words placed? What do font size and style suggest about the message in the text? How do they connect with the images?

Are there any key words? How do you know? What moods do the words evoke? What promises do the words make?

5. Omissions -se Consider not what is shown and said but also what is not shown, what is not said, What is implied through leaving certain things out?

6. Audience -- Think more consciously about this intended audience. Who would most likely fail for the pitch?

What are this consumer's needs or desires? What might the consumer feel is lacking in life or desirabk in fife? Does the ad suggest anything interesting about an audience from the past?

Your Audience

Write this analysis for an audience who is not familiar with the advertisement you have chosen as your text. Include your opinions and inferences in your analysis. Do not assume that your audience will reach the same conclusions.

We want to know what YOU have to say about it.

Requirements:

• 3 pages
• Analysis of ideas, not just summary
• Strong thesis statement: more explicit than implicit
• Paragraph Organization
• Audience Analysis
• A minimum of I quote from the reading "Masters of Desire: The Truth of Advertising"
• Strong introduction that hooks the reader and creates interest
• A significance/meaning
• Descriptive language (appropriate to your topic)