Private Labels- Some Pointers
Content
Ad analysis:
Advertisements, however, do more than entertain and sell more than just products. They suggest standards of normalcy, of coolness, of sexiness, of happiness, and so on—standards that shape the way that we view and interpret the world. They also serve the profit-driven interests of the corporations that create them. As cultural critic Naomi Klein explains, "Quite simply, every company with a powerful brand is attempting to develop a relationship with consumers that resonates so completely with their sense of self that they will aspire, or at least consent, to be serfs under these feudal brandlords" (149). [2] In other words, advertisements are hardly innocent means to purchasing ends and, more often than not, hardly true reflections of our senses of self. Instead, they are a powerful force in creating our senses of self. Therefore, advertisements do require a critical eye.
Whenever you analyze an ad, it may be useful to ask yourself some questions:
Who appears in the ad? A celebrity or someone well known? An unfamiliar figure? What are the expressions of the people featured in the ad?
What is the setting of the ad, and what does it suggest about the message? Who is the audience for the ad, and how do you know? How are language and conversation used in the ad? What, if anything, do the people featured in the ad say? In print advertisements, are there conversation bubbles? For commercials, consider any conversations that might take place. In what ways does the ad attempt to manipulate the consumer into buying the particular product it sells? On what emotions and desires does the ad play? In other words, how is pathos used?
Consider issues such as race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality. In what ways, if any, are they present in the ad? What does their presence in or absence from the ad suggest about the message?
How does the advertisement attempt to get your attention? • What is it an advertisement for? • Who is the target audience for this product? • List the information the advertisement provides about the product. • How does the advertisement try to convince you to buy this product? • How is the name of the product significant? • What images has the advertiser chosen to use? Why? • What information do you think has been left out of this advertisement? Why? • Rate this advertisement on its effectiveness – does it catch and keep your attention? If
you were in the market for this type of product, would you purchase a policy from this company? Why or why not? • What would you change about the ad? • Would you say people were more gullible or suggestible during the time this advertisement was first used? Explain why or why not.
What first catches your eye in this advertisement? • What are some of the ways the advertisement attempts to get your attention? • What is it an advertisement for? How can you tell? • List the information the advertisement provides about the caskets the company sells. • How does the advertisement tries to convince you to buy this product? • What is suggested by the word “patent”? • What burial problems does the ad say this product will correct? • Where is this company located? Why are they advertising in a Nashville directory? • Who would be the target audience for this ad? • How does this advertisement appeal to grieving families? Do you find it insensitive in any way? • What would you change about the ad?
1. What is the general ambience of the advertisement? What mood does it create? How does it do this?
2. What is the design of the advertisement? Does it use axial balance or some other form? How are the basic components or elements arranged?
3. What is the relationship between pictorial elements and written material and what does this tell us?
4. What is the use of space in the advertisement? Is there a lot of 'white space" or is it full of graphic and written elements?
5. What signs and symbols do we find? What role do they play in the ad's impact?
6. If there are figures (men, women, children, animals) what are they like? What can be said about their facial expressions, poses, hairstyle, age, sex, hair color, ethnicity, education, occupation, relationships (of one to the other)?
7. What does the background tell us? Where is the advertisement taking place and what significance does this background have?
8. What action is taking place in the advertisement and what significance does it have? (This might be described as the ad's "plot.")
9. What theme or themes do we find in the advertisement? What is it about? (The plot of an advertisement may involve a man and a woman drinking but the theme might be jealousy, faithlessness, ambition, passion, etc.)
10. What about the language used? Does it essentially provide information or does it try to generate some kind of emotional response? Or both? What techniques are used by the copywriter: humor, alliteration, definitions" of life, comparisons, sexual innuendo, and so on?
11. What typefaces are used and what impressions do they convey?
12. What is the item being advertised and what role does it play in American culture and society?
13. What about aesthetic decisions? If the advertisement is a photograph, what kind of a shot is it? What significance do long shots, medium shots, close-up shots have? What about the lighting, use of color, angle of the shot?
14. What sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes are indirectly reflected in the advertisement? An advertisement may be about a pair of blue jeans but it might, indirectly, reflect such matters as sexism, alienation, stereotyped thinking, conformism, generational conflict, loneliness, elitism, and so on.
Advertisements, however, do more than entertain and sell more than just products. They suggest standards of normalcy, of coolness, of sexiness, of happiness, and so on—standards that shape the way that we view and interpret the world. They also serve the profit-driven interests of the corporations that create them. As cultural critic Naomi Klein explains, "Quite simply, every company with a powerful brand is attempting to develop a relationship with consumers that resonates so completely with their sense of self that they will aspire, or at least consent, to be serfs under these feudal brandlords" (149). [2] In other words, advertisements are hardly innocent means to purchasing ends and, more often than not, hardly true reflections of our senses of self. Instead, they are a powerful force in creating our senses of self. Therefore, advertisements do require a critical eye.
Whenever you analyze an ad, it may be useful to ask yourself some questions:
Who appears in the ad? A celebrity or someone well known? An unfamiliar figure? What are the expressions of the people featured in the ad?
What is the setting of the ad, and what does it suggest about the message? Who is the audience for the ad, and how do you know? How are language and conversation used in the ad? What, if anything, do the people featured in the ad say? In print advertisements, are there conversation bubbles? For commercials, consider any conversations that might take place. In what ways does the ad attempt to manipulate the consumer into buying the particular product it sells? On what emotions and desires does the ad play? In other words, how is pathos used?
Consider issues such as race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality. In what ways, if any, are they present in the ad? What does their presence in or absence from the ad suggest about the message?
How does the advertisement attempt to get your attention? • What is it an advertisement for? • Who is the target audience for this product? • List the information the advertisement provides about the product. • How does the advertisement try to convince you to buy this product? • How is the name of the product significant? • What images has the advertiser chosen to use? Why? • What information do you think has been left out of this advertisement? Why? • Rate this advertisement on its effectiveness – does it catch and keep your attention? If
you were in the market for this type of product, would you purchase a policy from this company? Why or why not? • What would you change about the ad? • Would you say people were more gullible or suggestible during the time this advertisement was first used? Explain why or why not.
What first catches your eye in this advertisement? • What are some of the ways the advertisement attempts to get your attention? • What is it an advertisement for? How can you tell? • List the information the advertisement provides about the caskets the company sells. • How does the advertisement tries to convince you to buy this product? • What is suggested by the word “patent”? • What burial problems does the ad say this product will correct? • Where is this company located? Why are they advertising in a Nashville directory? • Who would be the target audience for this ad? • How does this advertisement appeal to grieving families? Do you find it insensitive in any way? • What would you change about the ad?
1. What is the general ambience of the advertisement? What mood does it create? How does it do this?
2. What is the design of the advertisement? Does it use axial balance or some other form? How are the basic components or elements arranged?
3. What is the relationship between pictorial elements and written material and what does this tell us?
4. What is the use of space in the advertisement? Is there a lot of 'white space" or is it full of graphic and written elements?
5. What signs and symbols do we find? What role do they play in the ad's impact?
6. If there are figures (men, women, children, animals) what are they like? What can be said about their facial expressions, poses, hairstyle, age, sex, hair color, ethnicity, education, occupation, relationships (of one to the other)?
7. What does the background tell us? Where is the advertisement taking place and what significance does this background have?
8. What action is taking place in the advertisement and what significance does it have? (This might be described as the ad's "plot.")
9. What theme or themes do we find in the advertisement? What is it about? (The plot of an advertisement may involve a man and a woman drinking but the theme might be jealousy, faithlessness, ambition, passion, etc.)
10. What about the language used? Does it essentially provide information or does it try to generate some kind of emotional response? Or both? What techniques are used by the copywriter: humor, alliteration, definitions" of life, comparisons, sexual innuendo, and so on?
11. What typefaces are used and what impressions do they convey?
12. What is the item being advertised and what role does it play in American culture and society?
13. What about aesthetic decisions? If the advertisement is a photograph, what kind of a shot is it? What significance do long shots, medium shots, close-up shots have? What about the lighting, use of color, angle of the shot?
14. What sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes are indirectly reflected in the advertisement? An advertisement may be about a pair of blue jeans but it might, indirectly, reflect such matters as sexism, alienation, stereotyped thinking, conformism, generational conflict, loneliness, elitism, and so on.
