English 121-36

Post #12

December 3, 2008

            “LIFE IS RICH Davidolf cigarettes” is how this ad is stated.  The lettering is white on a dark red background.  There is a picture of the cigarette box with cigarettes coming out of the box and the corner of the page is missing.  The box is not your usual shape though; the edges on this box have been cut off to form an octagon shape.  This shape is different and new, something a sophisticated person would posses.  The box has silver lettering of Davidolf on the front of it and classic on the lid.  A ruby red color covers the box as to signify elegance and beauty. 

The cigarettes coming out of the box are also different than a normal cigarette ad.  They form a pyramid of seven cigarettes, with the center one sticking out farther then it needs to be to form the pyramid.  This is calling to someone though, telling them to take me.  At the bottom corner there is the surgeon generals warning saying smoking is not good.

This ad relates to Paz but not on the same level.  Paz talks of a day of celebration of the dead and how much these people spend on the great party they have.  The real question is why do they spend all that money on the party?  Yes, there is the tradition aspect of the celebration but think of what else they could do with that money?  They could improve schools, roads, or any other number of things.  But they do not do this.  They choose to spend there money on the party because it takes them out of their every day boring and dull routine.  It lets them feel better about themselves.  This is what this add is portraying to the reader.  If you choose to smoke, why not at least have the cigarettes the rich have.  The smoker with the Davidolf cigarettes is going to feel better than before because of the cool packaging.  But in all reality when the package is gone, as when the party is over, they are just their regular old self.  People spend money on luxuries to feel better about themselves or to get away for a while.

            The advertisement I chose to analyze is a page selling the alcohol Cointreau.

The page is mostly white with a supermodel in the middle wearing a bikini made of orange peels (because it is the best orange liquor). The bottom has a martini glass full of a colorful drink and a phrase. “BE COINTEAUVERSIAL” then underneath it says, “Sip out of the mainstream”. This ad is obviously appealing to women who would like to be young, sexy and unique.

            The concept here is shown by Octavio Paz as a social need to free from what is normal and regular. “By means of fiesta society frees itself from the norms it has established. It ridicules its gods, principles, and its laws; it denies its own self.”(paz 249). Although paz was talking about the day of the dead fiestas in this piece, the message I believe is universal. People need to be freed from their norms and they want to. Industries like this use a rhetorical persuasion to further convince people of the glamorousness that life beckons when sipping cointreau.

Social and cultural norms are something people are all a part of and I think Paz does a good job showing this. We always want more and the party would like to think it can always offer more. For young women that idolize these beauties they associate it with freeing themselves from the life that sometimes seems monotonous.  

Justin Taufen

English 121-36

December 2, 2008

Post 12 Ad. Analysis

Kool-Aid Man Video Game

            The advertisement was made by Mattel Electronics in the 1980’s in the United States.  During the 1980’s, video games on the NES system were becoming very popular very quickly for younger children and teenagers all across America.  At the same time, Kool-Aid was one of America’s most popular juice drinks for most children in the United States, with commercials and advertisements for the drink everywhere.  Kool-Aid’s trademark was their gigantic pitcher of kool-aid with a face, named Kool-Aid Man, who would burst through children’s walls with kool-aid exactly when the kids felt thirsty, making him very unique and lovable.  With a new video game hitting the main stream, Mattel expected to cash in on the wants and needs of the younger generation because of their growing desire for video games and sugary fruit drinks. 

            One of the keys to this advertisement is its explanation that to get the game free, a person needs to continue purchasing boxes of kool-aid to send in a particular amount of bar codes through the mail.  The message this sends to children is: “I need to consume more of what I want in order to get what I want,” a common message all marketers are trying to transmit about their product.  This is exactly the marketing technique that led our society to become a society of consumption and of personal gain/selfishness.  From a very young age, children in America are exposed to almost relentless advertisements for anything a person can think of, naturally causing these children to have a consumer-based thought process and desire for more than they already have.  The capitalist ideas created by a consumer society only allow for constant expansion and growth of both its people and its economy, with the government constantly focusing on dealing with trying to make the economy better than it already is even if it is the most powerful economy in the world.  Although this marketing technique is successful and assists the economy in the short-term, the Earth itself is exploited by this type of consumerism leading to terrible long-term effects.  Today, this type of consumerist mentality is basically bred into most Americans, who have become somewhat addicted to consumption and are likely to never stop any time soon. This means that the world could be threatened by consumption of such magnitude if the current rate continues. 

            The advertisement that I chose to do my analysis on is an anti-smoking ad. On the advertisement, there is a clear blue background which represents the sky, and in the foreground 2 cigarettes that vertically burn in the bottom right third of the image. The cigarettes have smoke billowing out of them, and because of the vertical position, they seem to replicate the famous images of the twin towers burning on the terrorist attack of September 11^th. The picture at first glance seems completely text free, but still strikes to the emotions of the viewer. Then, after one carefully examines the image further, they would find tiny, white text along the bottom left edge which reads, “Terrorist related deaths since 2001: 11,337…Smoking related deaths since 2001: 30, 000, 000.”

            This ad fits in with both Paz and Achebe in my opinion because Paz talks about the fact that an entire nation spends all of its money on a single celebration. This relates to the tobacco industry because there are thousands of people in the U.S. alone who buy cigarettes when they barely have the money to support themselves. Many people buy cigarettes over food, when they can’t afford both.

            This ad compares to Achebe in that although he states that language is what helps humans to communicate, it is not a necessary tool in allowing a picture to make an impact on its viewer. Just looking at the image, I knew that they were relating smoking to something awful and harmful that can cause thousands of deaths every day. Also, Achebe talks about the fact that humans are the only species that inflict violence towards each other; this correlates to the ad as well, because is symbolizes the violence and horrific day of the terrorist attacks on 9-11.

English 121-36

Add 2 Analysis

12/3/08

                                                                        Futuristic Vodka

            In the October version of Vanity Fair an advertisement for Svedka Vodka shows an attractive robot holding a martini. This ad gives the vodka an innovative image as if to say, “Svedka Vodka is the vodka of the future”. It reads, “Swing voters have more fun, join the party”. This ad is futuristic, naughty, and appropriate for the election in November all at once. It grabs the reader’s attention and the attractive robot with the martini is memorable. Just as the reader is about to flip the page, a thumb size picture of the vodka bottle and a caption reading, “Voted best vodka of 2033” are strategically placed.

            This add seems to say, “It’s 2008 let’s party! Join the fun!”  Letting loose and blowing off steam are a part of our society. A drink or two after a hard day of work has become the social norm. There are many brands of alcohol competing to be the ingredient in the consumer’s after work cocktail. However, this is not a casual thing in every society. According to Octavio Paz, a Mexican poet, in his culture, partying was planned out in advance. It is used a societal tool to keep the citizens motivated. “The group emerges purified and strengthened from this plunge into chaos.” They use this as a way to break down the walls of dialect and get to know one another.  (Paz, 350).  Each society “blows off steam” in it’s own way.

            Stress differs in different parts of the world, or even different parts of the country. People react to it differently. Another scholar of the rigors of human life, Chinua Achebe from Nigeria felt that all people were different in a beautiful way. He wrote about how all humans have language and speech in common. (Achebe, 593). These branches of dialect vary as well. This ad speaks to even a view who cannot read English. It goes beyond the borders of language and dialect and says, “Party your way into the future children of the world.”  

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Language and the Destiny of Man. Reading the World: Ideas That Matter.

W.W. Norton &Company. 2007.

Paz, Octavio. The Day of the Dead. Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. W.W. Norton &

Company. 2007.

Vanity Fair. October 2008.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. “Language and The Destiny of Man”. Reading The World: Ideas That Matter. Ed. Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2006. 592-600.

Paz, Octavio. “from The Day of the Dead”. Reading The World: Ideas That Matter. Ed. Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2006. 346-52.

Travis Croy

Advertisement

The advertisement I chose was for the alcoholic beverage Jack Daniels. The image is of a bottle of Jack Daniels sitting on a table next to an 8 ball. There is a pool stick leaned up against the table and the Jack Daniels logo is also hung up on the wall and there is a carpet seen partially on the floor that shows the infamous old no. 7 logo. Everything is in black in white besides the liquid in the bottle which glows amberishly.

The ad closely relates to how Paz describes some of the reasons the Day of the Dead is so enjoyed in Mexican cultures. Paz wrote “… he seeks to escape from himself, to leap over the wall of solitude that confines him during the rest of the year”. This approach is taken very subtlely in this advertisement. They are trying to get across the point the relaxing and euphoric nature that one can obtain simply with a pool table and a bottle of jack. Just invite over a couple friends and you will forget about your problems at home and work.

ENG 121-36

Advertisement

December 2, 2008

The Life of the Party

            During breaks in normal television shows commercials are supposed to catch the viewer’s attention. A commercial that does catch the attention of its audience is the advertisement for the new movie Quantum of Solace. The movie is presented through its dramatic content as the only movie to watch in the theater. In fact the preface announcement states is: “The movie you’ve been waiting for.” This movie might not be a great choice for all viewers but they advertisement says otherwise through its wording “you’ve”. Besides convincing people to come a watch the movie the ‘trailer’ is also supposed to show highlights from the movie in order to draw the audience. The trailer did so using several techniques. The trailer used its language and its plot situations to hook the viewer’s interest. Although the movie can be represented by a trailer, the trailer often conveys falsehoods about the actual movie content and trailers even tend to be more interesting than the movie itself.

            In the opening scene of the trailer there is a car driving in the desert and a mysterious British voise saying: “It would have been a pretty cold bast if he didn’t want revenge for the death of someone he loved.” The wording is somewhat unclear on the first viewing of the trailer, but after being repeated dozens of times in one sitting it becomes quite clear. The trailer opening set up a series of reasons of why “James bond” is seeking revenge. The fact that revenge has a positive connotation is the red flag that shows that there is fog that is obscuring the vision of the viewer. In many societies revenge is considered to be terrible thing, but aren’t there some parts of society and even most people that seek revenge? The language that is used to set up that revenge is going to be in the movie is concealed well. According to Achebe language is a tool that can be used for expressing an issue clearly as well as clouding an issue. “…language can be used not only for expressing thought but for concealing thought or even preventing thought.” (Achebe 597). The accent acts as a wall to separate the clear meaning and proper interpretation from the viewed meaning and the underlining desire to use revenge. The movie can be used as a relaxation and release of the revenge inside of some people, therefore enhancing the desire to watch the movie.

            Another persuasive aspect of the trailer that enhances the aspiration to watch the movie is the party scene. Who does not want to be at a party with countless wealthy gorgeous people in a foreign country? The party scene is displayed throughout the trailer not because of the action or lack thereof since there are no explosions or combat. The scenes are put into the trailer as a way to induce the audience to imagine the craze that can comes with parties. This same craze that Octavio Paz describes in an excerpt from The Day Of The Dead. He said it perfectly when referring to the Mexican Fiesta, that can be directly related to the parties in the trailer by stating: “But the Mexican fiesta is not merely a return to an original state of formless and normless liberty: the Mexican is not seeking to return, but to escape from himself, to exceed himself.” (Paz 350). The audience of the trailer is influenced to think that they are able to escape from the norm of life. The escape described by Paz could even be interpreted as the whole movie in terms of action; if the average American audience was on the run in foreign countries, meeting assigns and even more danger at every turn it would be a party by itself. The movie trailer does a great job of persuading the audience to escape from society and watch the Quantum of Solace.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. “Language and The Destiny of Man”. Reading The World: Ideas That Matter. Ed. Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2006. 592-600.

Paz, Octavio. “from The Day of the Dead”. Reading The World: Ideas That Matter. Ed. Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2006. 346-52.

David Runia           

English 121 – 36

Advertisement Analysis (2)

12/2/08           

            The advertisement that I chose was a ski resort advertisement from a snowboard magazine.  The advertisement is very attractive to the reader’s eye and stands out well. This is accomplished in several ways with different uses of space, colors, and lettering styles, which are attractive and directed toward an audience of snowboarders and skiers.

            The page is mostly a black picture, with mountains at the bottom, out of the way. In the center of the black page, there is white graffiti that spells P 2 P, which stands for peak to peak. The white lettering stands out very well against the black background. There are also pictures inside of the letters P 2 P. The pictures add character to the letters, as well as the graffiti effect.

            On the side of the article, in smaller white letters, it says “from peaks 2 powder 2 pipe 2 parks”. For a snowboarder, this is saying that whistler Blackcomb resort has every style of riding that one would need and desire. It is also a very catchy phrase, the words rhyme, and it is even fun to say.

            This advertisement does a very good job of getting the audiences attention right away. Because of the advertisements unique lettering and spatial composition, it stood out more than any other page in the magazine. The audience targeted here is specifically snowboarders. Many snowboarders enjoy graffiti, and would find the graffiti “cool” and creative; it is in style with the snowboarding scene. Had the audience been golfers for example, the graffiti would probably not quite have the same effect.

            The purpose of the advertisement is to remind the readers that Whistler Blackcomb has all there is to offer a snowboarder. The style of the advertisement also suggests to the readers that Whistler is not the typical resort, but that it is the latest, in style, and most well rounded resort around.           

.            

            The ad I found is an ad for Dove firming body washes and lotions. The ad has a “curvy” woman standing in her underwear smiling at the camera and in a medium sized print says “New Dove Firming as tested on really curves.” This ad is targeted toward middle aged woman who are bigger than the skinny models normally shown on ads such as these. “As tested on real curves” is the seller’s way of appealing to bigger woman by saying that the product really works because skinny people already have firmer skin and by testing on “real curves” it is telling the buyer that it will work.

            This ad is using Achebe’s idea of language in a way because it is communicating with people in a way that pertains to their wants and uses that for there purpose of selling the product. Achebe says that “Unquestionably, language was crucial to the creation of society” so the ad uses crucial language that out society finds flattering to sell their product (593). By using words such as “curvy” not “fat” makes the buyer feel good about how they are and that makes them like the ad which makes them buy not just the firming products but all dove products just for supporting “curvy woman.” Adding words such as “real” to that makes the viewer more apt to buy whatever is being sold because society views skinny models as not real. They are perfect people and that doesn’t exist.

            Even in music, movies and TV shows bigger is trying to break through as being better. Words like “bootilicious,” “fat,” or “voluptuous” are positive words used to make bigger woman feel beautiful in there own skin. This ad did a great job of knowing what their targeted consumer wanted by observing societies views on big woman today. Real woman are curvy and beautiful, not fat and ugly. Dove also uses the phrase “love the skin your in” which is another way of targeting all woman love themselves no matter what shape or size.