Advertising Appeals

AS Homework October 21^st

Use of humour as a persuasive device

This advert has been created by Pedigree to advertise their newest product, which is a 'light' version of their standard cat food range. It involves humour with the cat suggested eating the normal range, has gotten so fat that they can't physically fit into the cat-flap. On the other hand, the cat that has been eating the new light version is nice and healthy walking off. This is trying to encode to the audience that they need to buy the new product from Pedigree, otherwise their cat will end up obese like the one in the advert. This is an obvious over-exaggeration, untrue-to-life example to make a point, but it is still effective. 

The target audience for this particular advert is the mainstreamer from the Young and Rubicam's 4C's model. This is because Pedigree is a very well-known brand. Many pet owners will be familiar with using their products on a daily basis. The fact that this is a product for cats also adds to the mainstreamer audience, as domestic cats are very common as pets. This therefore will attract a lot of people as nobody wants their cat to be that fat. 

Use of slogans

This slogan is one of the most recognisable slogans in the entire world. The big golden arches with the catchy “i’m lovin’ it” can be seen at each and every of the 36,525 restaurants available worldwide, in over 100 different countries and territories. This is obviously going to create a presence of remembrance, and familiarity for people. Not to mention the constant advertising and the famous packaging every purchase comes with. The reason these three words are so memorable are because of being so simple, yet so effective. The “i’m lovin’” part indicates that they are speaking about you as the audience, and if you taste the McDonalds then you will be loving their food. The use of the apostrophe adds to slogan as a whole being so catchy. It seems much more natural to pronounce the slogan better without the ‘g’ on the end. Making the audience more likely to say it, and repeat it back. Finally, the ‘it’ points out to what the audience is ‘lovin’ is in fact McDonalds.

Use of shock tactics

This advert created by action for pancreatic cancer caused controversy due to its very questionable heading in quotation marks. The person who has said this is pictured left of the advert, who is a suffer of pancreatic cancer. She is quite obviously sad, as the particular cancer can be extremely life-threating. The way the words are portrayed, for many it can seem like they are trying to show that breast cancer isn’t so bad, and almost dismisses it as a serious illness. Breast cancer is less life threating than pancreatic, but many believed it seemed the ad was acting like it was nothing, and that it is somewhat of a ‘wish’ for people, when obviously nobody wished they had it. It also shows that the ad believes that pancreatic cancer is that bad that people who are unfortunate enough to have it ‘wished’ they had another cancer. This is such a shocking advert as it doesn’t target a group of individuals, as it can happen to anyone regardless of wealth or their likes and dislikes.

Stereotypes in advertising

This advert was made to advertise a company selling their potatoes. The layout is simple with their logo in the bottom right hand corner and the main caption in a bold white font over their product. The caption reads ‘So easy a husband could do it’. This is obviously a very sexist and gender stereotyping statement indicating that men are unable to cook. This is obviously not the case as many top chefs around the world are in fact men. This is very much of an oppositional reading, due to the main point it is trying to get across being wrong.

Intertextuality in advertising

This advert is promoting the toy retail company Toys “R” Us, with a clear intertextual reference to the scene were Jack holds Rose from the tip of the Titanic in the movie ‘The Titanic’. I believe they chose to use ‘The Titanic’ as it is something that many people will recognise and therefore pay more attention too. Even for people that are unaware of the movie reference, then it doesn’t make them clueless, as it’s still clearly an advert for Toys “R” Us, with a nice picture of cuddly toys on a boat, which would still attract them.

Elite Persons in advertising

This advert was made by British Airways to promote themselves. In this particular campaign they have decided to feature 2 ‘famous people’ being Steven Gerrard and his wife Alex Gerrard. As a world famous footballer, Steven Gerrard is known as a captain and a loyal servant to his club. He is also a very rich player. This could indicate to the audience that if he is choosing British Airways, then they should too as if its good enough for a well-respected rich person then it’s good enough for them as well. Steven can also be seen as a role model for many young people, and by advertising for British Airways, it can only help the business with more customers. This may not always be the case though, as it treats the audience as passive, unable to make decisions for themselves. Even if people are uninterested in football, and Steven Gerrard, Alex has a strong following herself. She can be seen as a role model for young people too, and obviously as she is very attractive it can be add to the audience attraction. This advert gives out an obviously ideology that rich and successful people fly on British Airways, so if you want to be like them you, should choose their company.

Reward and Punishment in advertising

This advert is trying to show the punishment of drink-driving and the consequences it can carry. This particular ad is clever as it hints towards different things at the same time. The outline on the ground is supposed to represent the death of someone, but whilst doing this it is also in the shape of a bottle. This indicates that the death caused by the crash was from drinking in the first place. The caption that is located in the bottom part of this advert, ‘Absolute Stupidity’ is in clear bold with a sudden full stop. This really adds to the emphasis on the words that they say before it, and almost to say that it is all there is to say on the matter. If you are going to drink and drive you are showing nothing but stupidity. This smart piece of advertising shows clear punishment of drink-driving and the harsh reality of what may happen if you decide to drive intoxicated. It insults people who do decide to do this, and as a result can put people off doing it, knowing what may happen.