Assignment 3: Analyzing Visual Arguments (650-700 words; TNR 12, double space) T
ID: 3733628 • Letter: A
Question
Assignment 3: Analyzing Visual Arguments (650-700 words; TNR 12, double space)
Today the average person in the United States is saturated with advertisements on television, billboards, buses, buildings, magazines, and newspapers. Advertisements are usually used to sell commercial products, such as toothpaste, cereal, tissue paper, shampoo, soap, jeans, shoes, t-shirts, soft drinks, etc. How many of these products feature 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? How does advertising these brand names influence our shopping habits? Why are some ads more successful in selling a product than others? All of these questions and many others will be pertinent to the writing of the next paper.
Because advertising works by appealing to viewers’ values and beliefs in order to persuade them to buy or support something, it is crucial that today's informed citizen carefully analyze the strategies used in advertisements. Through the critical analysis of various kinds of commercial communication, the informed citizen can address such fundamental questions as the following:
• What is the ad really trying to “sell”? This goes beyond the product or service being advertised to a set of values associated with a lifestyle or aspirations viewers are judged to hold in common.
• What visual and verbal strategies are used to convey the ad's message?
• Are the message and its visual and rhetorical means both honest and ethical?
Your job, then, is to write a thesis-driven rhetorical analysis that examines the effectiveness of a visual argument. Basically, you need to write about how the formal elements of an advertisement produce meaning.
Evaluation Criteria for the Essay
The visual analysis should
• identify the ad’s purpose, audience, and context (place and time)
• contain a clear and interesting thesis supported by specific, concrete details
• provide sufficient description of and insightful comments about the ad
• avoid stylistic errors that distract reader's attention; be organized logically
Explanation / Answer
Advertisements are the main driver for a business, more attractive the business more it will get attention of the audience. Some ads can be related to real life whereas some portray abstract nature of it, which is not possible in real life. Both these type of advertisement can appeal the audience. It depends on the taste of an individual audience which type of advertisement he/she prefers.
Let us take example of famous food joints advertisements. The purpose of this add is to make people, be attracted to the foods delicious looks. The advertisements exaggerates the size, quantity and looks of the food item to make people feel attracted toward it. However, in reality the food item is not so much good looking. It mainly targets the audience which loves fast food and has certain level of economic condition to be able to afford these items. These advertisements also specific seasons during which they promote advertisements more. For example cold crème advertisements usually come up during winters when the demand is high. Also certain advertisements come up when their products are not selling well and they want to leverage their sales by promoting adverting. Place also plays an important factor. The place where its demand is high or similar products whose demand is high they advertise in that region to promote their product sales there. Region based advertising thus is now a common and important factor to business.
Coming back to the add, the advertisements also people reacting to the products and how they are feeling when they are using it. This makes the audience related with them and they feel that they will also react the same way as the advertisement depicts. However, it is not always true. Advertisements hire doctors, actors professionals etc. and pay them to speak whatever the company likes them to speak. There is no such honesty as to what they say.
Sometimes advertisements also unnecessary dramatize itself to make a visual as we as mental treat. Audience loves anything, which has drama and comedy related to it.
Advertisements can be of many types. Audio, visual, picture statement etc. Different types of advertisement follow different strategies to attract audience. In audio ads which are aired in radio stations, the voice of the actor and background music plays an important factor. In visual ads the location set also plays an important role. A poster advertisement can attract audience if its very colorful and uniquely designed.
The main goal of the advertisement is to promote their brand as such that everyone knows their name and what they sell. Also making the brand feel premium by boasting impressing packaging, price and quality of the product.
They also hire renowned actors, cricketers etc. who is everyone’s favorite and can set a trend just by saying that they use or endorse the product. As they hire popular personalities, the audience fell that the brand is as premium as they have the money to hire the person. However, the actor may not use the product at all they are just endorsing it. The audience on the other hand is bing fooled by their glamor.
Advertisements are the mode to trick people and convince them that their product is premium and best in the market. They use all sorts of psychological tricks of the trade to attract the audience. Most of which is fake and exaggerated. The audience should judge wisely that is the actual product how effective is it and weather he/she should use it. There may be many products which do not create fancy advertisements but their products are awesome and they feel that they do not need to advertise as their product is so good people will automatically buy it. Go for those products, as they are often the best in the market and avoid products with fancy marketing strategies. A best consumer is that person who judges things wisely and not by glamor it possess.
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