Ad Analysis Decoding the Rhetoric of Consumer Culture

Facts  Advertisements comprise thirty percent of the material aired on television, and many of us will view more than two million commercials in our lifetimes.  The A. C. Nielson Company reports that, by the age of sixty-five, the average U.S. citizen will have spent nine years of his or her life watching television—twenty-eight hours a week, two months a year.  The average youth will spend nearly twice as many hours in front of the tube (fifteen hundred hours) as he or she spends at school (nine hundred hours).

Ads Unmasked  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)

Key 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?

Language for Analyzing Ads  Nostalgia: Advertisements for Coca-Cola, summer vacation destinations, or even political candidates can stir up sentiments or memories of “the good old days.” In a commercial, for example, the use of black and white film and/or flashbacks—illustrated by clothes, music, and/or historical events—can invite a specific audience to reflect on the past and evoke a sense of nostalgia.  Merchants of “cool”: According to PBS, merchants of “cool” are “creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America.”[1] Such merchants may include Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Hot Topic, and Aéropostale. Each relies on the tween and teen markets to keep its empire in business and markets its definition of “cool” as the coolest when it comes to youth culture.  The myth of the “ideal you”: Today, in many cases, advertisers still sell their products in a way that invites us to be the “best” versions of ourselves. Cultural stereotypes substantiate this idea of the “best” self, which exists only in the shared imagination of the advertiser and audience.

Analyzing Ads: Gender  Gender Subtexts in Ads: One Example—“The Homemaker Myth”  That Susie Sunshine belongs in the home instead of the workplace and that Johnny Sunshine isn’t and could never be a homemaker are ideas based on stereotypes. Consider laundry detergent advertisements: men are rarely shown doing the laundry. In most laundry detergent commercials, a mother is depicted as the official domestic caretaker, who lovingly rids her family’s clothes of grass and food stains. For some families, this may be typical. However, there are issues of gender role expectations at play in such advertisements.

Analyzing Ads: Gender  Considering the Contexts of ADS: Male and Female Consumers then and Now  When analyzing an ad in terms of gender, it is certainly important to identify the ad's intended audience. It is equally important to consider the ad's publishing context. As definitions of femininity have evolved, commercials trying to sell products to women have changed—and the same goes for commercials advertising products for men.

Ads and Gender: Examples

A Checklist for Analyzing Gender in Print Advertisements  Context: What is the context for the ad's publication? Where did it first appear—on television, on the radio, on the Internet, or in print? What magazine or online site is it published at? If applicable, where is/was the original billboard located? How would readers/viewers see or have seen this ad?  Audience: Who is the intended audience for this ad?  Product: What is the ad trying to sell? Can you identify it at first glance? The primary function of a visual advertisement is to sell a specific product, service, or idea: Is the product prominently displayed? Or, is it less noticeable than other aspects of the advertisement?

A Checklist for Analyzing Gender in Print Advertisements (cont.)  People: Who is pictured in the ad? Are the models male or female?  Roles: What roles appear to have been assigned to the models? Are the roles stereotypical?  Appearance: What type of clothing are the models wearing? Do they appear to be wearing makeup? How is their hair styled? Does their overall ensembles reflect the product well—why or why not? Does the ad suggest that people who purchase the advertised product will look like the models in the ad?

A Checklist for Analyzing Gender in Print Advertisements (cont.)  Body position: Are the models sitting or standing? Where are they in relation to the other elements of the ad? If there is more than one individual pictured in the ad, consider their positions in relation to one another. Does one model’s body position seem inferior or superior to the other's? What relationship does he or she have with the product being advertised?  Body language: What are the models' postures? Are they standing straight and tall, leaning against something, sitting down, or hunching over? Where are their arms? How are their heads positioned? Is there a clear emotion being conveyed by either of the models' body language? If both male and female models are featured in the ad, consider their body language toward one another. Based on body language, can you make any assumptions about the relationships between the male(s) and female(s) represented in the ad?  Movement: Is there explicit action or movement in the ad? Implied action or movement?

A Checklist for Analyzing Gender in Print Advertisements (cont.)  Gaze: Are the models' eyes visible in the ad? If so, are they downcast? Looking out at the audience? Locked on another model? Focused on the product the ad is trying to sell? If they are not visible, are they obstructed or covered by the product? Or, is a model’s face cut out of the ad entirely?  Subtexts: What are the underlying arguments or assertions of the ad? That men should pursue women aggressively? That women should pursue men aggressively? That women should be passive? That women should be mothers? That men should be family-oriented? That men should work in the professional business world? Look for subtexts that both support and refute traditional gender stereotypes.  Written language: Is there text in the ad? If so, is the text informational? Does it directly relate to the product? Does it contain a slogan or catchphrase? Something else? What level of language is used? Slang? Jargon? Can it be interpreted in multiple ways?

Analyzing Ads: Race  Racial and Cultural Stereotypes  When looking at an advertisement through the lens of race, it is important to note how individuals of various races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds are portrayed. It’s also important to note how stereotypes may be at work in the advertisement as well as how they affect the message. Many races, ethnicities, and cultural groups are often misrepresented in advertising through stereotypes that advertisers exploit under the pretense that they are attempting to identify with a specific audience. In your analysis, be sure to take notice of factors such as appearance and attire, body language and gestures, setting, speech, socioeconomic status, and education.

Race and Ads: Examples

A Checklist for Analyzing Race in Print Advertisements  Context: What is the context for this ad's publication? Where did it first appear—on television, on the radio, on the Internet, or in a print source? What magazine or online site is it published at? If applicable, where is the original billboard located? How would readers/viewers see or have seen this ad (driving by at 60 mph, as a small banner at the top of a website, as a glossy spread in a magazine, etc.)?  Audience: Who is the intended audience of this ad?  Product: What is the ad trying to sell? Can you identify it at first glance? The primary function of a visual advertisement is to sell a specific product, service, or idea: Is the product prominently displayed? Or, is it less noticeable than other aspects of the advertisement? On what expectations are the advertisers banking? Of what does the ad say that its audience is in need? That is, what need does the product aim to fulfill? Is there a correlation implied between the product and a particular race? If so, what is the demographic associated with the advertisement?

A Checklist for Analyzing Race in Print Advertisements  People: Who is pictured in the ad? Of what race or ethnicity are the models/characters?  Body position: Are the models/characters sitting, standing, or moving? Where are they in relation to the other elements of the ad? If there are models/characters of different races or ethnicities featured in the ad, consider their positions in relation to one another: Does one model’s/character's body position seem inferior or superior to the other's? Is his or her position contrasted against that of an individual of another race or ethnicity? Based on body positions, can you make any assumptions about the relationships between the represented demographics? What relationship do they have with the product being advertised?  Body language: What are the models'/characters' postures? Are they standing straight and tall, leaning against something, sitting down, or hunching over? Where are their arms? How are their heads positioned? Is there a clear emotion being conveyed by the models' body language? If there are models of different races or ethnicities featured in the ad, consider their body language toward one another: Based on body language, can you make any assumptions about the relationships between the represented demographics?

A Checklist for Analyzing Race in Print Advertisements  Movement: Is there explicit action or movement in the ad? Implied action or movement? How are the characters interacting with each other in the commercial?  Diversity: What races or cultures are represented in the ad? Are the ethnicities of the models evident? If there is more than one individual pictured in the ad, consider their appearances in relation to one another: Are they all of the same general physical appearance and/or age? Are there equal numbers of people representing each race? What can these observations tell you about the target audience of the ad?

A Checklist for Analyzing Race in Print Advertisements  Subtexts: What are the underlying arguments or assertions of the ad? Is there an obvious correlation between race and the product? Is there an assumption made that a person of a certain race or culture might find the product particularly interesting or useful? That is, does the advertisement directly target a particular race, or does it seem racially nonspecific? If targeted, what does the ad communicate about the norms of the demographic’s lifestyle, needs, and desires? Look for subtexts that both support and refute traditional racial stereotypes.  Written language: Is there text in the ad? If so, is the text informational? Does it directly relate to the product? Does it contain a slogan or catchphrase? Something else? What level of language is used? Slang? Jargon? Does the language seem targeted toward a particular race? Can it be interpreted in multiple ways?

Analyzing Ads: Socioeconomic Status  To what social class do you belong? How do you know? Can others tell by how you talk, dress, and act? By how much money you have? By your level of education? By your occupation? Despite the presumed cultural ideal of social equality in America, key markers such as income and education are often used for social classification.

Analyzing Ads: Socioeconomic Status  Advertisers for many goods and services often frame their rhetorical appeals—their strategies of persuasion— in terms of audiences who are presumed to belong to a particular, often loosely defined, social class.  Frequently, these appeals rely on stereotypical qualities associated with various socioeconomic classes. For example, an advertisement for an expensive women’s pant suit may appear in a magazine like Vogue (generally regarded as appealing to an upper- middle-class or upper-class audience) and may feature a svelte, glamorous model unlikely to grace the pages of a flyer for Walmart (generally regarded as appealing to a lower-middle-class or working-class audience).

Blue Collar versus White Collar

One for the Upper-Classes

A Checklist for Analyzing Socioeconomic Status in Print Advertisements  Who appears to be the target audience for the advertisement?  What seems to be the general tone of the advertisement? Serious? Playful? Satiric?  Do you notice any other appeals to stereotypes regarding education or income levels (e.g., the “corporate elite,” the "nouveau riche," or the “literary elite,” who may or may not earn high incomes but wield “power” by virtue of educational or literary achievements)?

A Checklist for Analyzing Socioeconomic Status in Print Advertisements  How would you characterize the overall appearance of the models in the ad? If applicable, how would you characterize their clothing? To what social class would you connect each model's attire? Are brand names evident (e.g., Ralph Lauren, Ecco)? Are the models well- groomed or scruffy? Healthy or unhealthy? Thin and fit or heavy and out of shape? Do the models' qualities suggest they are from a particular social class? If so, how? Is the advertiser relying on stereotypical characterizations, then? Why do you think the advertiser chose to portray them in these ways?  What would you guess the average income is of the individuals featured in the ad and/or of the audience to which the ad appeals?

A Checklist for Analyzing Socioeconomic Status in Print Advertisements  Does the ad appeal to any stereotypes based on gender or race? On what evidence do you ground your assumption? If possible, what do you infer to be the highest degree of education that the individuals featured in the ad hold? Also in terms of level of education, who do you believe is the intended audience?  What is the setting for the advertisement? An elegant spa? A pizza parlor?  If text appears in the ad, what level of language is used, and for what purpose? Slang? Other informal language? Technical jargon? Standard American English? Dialect? With what class do you associate the use of this level of language? What is the effect of language use in this advertisement?

A Checklist for Analyzing Socioeconomic Status in Print Advertisements  Are symbols, metaphors, hyperbole, allusions, and/or other forms of figurative language used? If so, what is the effect? Does the use of figurative language evoke appeals to class in any way?  What appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos do you find? Are these appeals related to class issues? Do you notice the use of any logical fallacies related to class issues (e.g., ad hominem, the slippery slope)? How effective are they?  In what ways does the advertisement appeal to class? Is the goal of the ad to encourage consumers to spend for the purpose of obtaining, or acquiring the appearance of, a higher socioeconomic status? (Examples of such strategy might be ads for a BMW or a Porsche that suggest the consumer would be more likely to attract members of the opposite sex if he or she were to purchase the advertised car.) Or, does the ad urge individuals to pursue an elite status (e.g., an American Express credit card) that will provide the illusion of upward class mobility.

Sources  Brown, Emma, Angela Eward-Mangione, and Susan Gail Taylor. “Ad Analysis: Gender.” Writing Commons. n.d. literacy/ad-analysis/436-analyzing-ads-gender. 2 January 2015, Web.  Corbett, Sam,Jessica Masari Eberhard, and Susan Gail Taylor. Ad Analysis: Race.” Writing Commons. n.d. literacy/ad-analysis/437-analyzing-ads-race. 2 January 2015, Web.  Madden, Mary Kay and Susan Taylor. Ad Analysis: Socioeconomic Class.” Writing Commons. n.d. text/information-literacy/visual-literacy/ad-analysis/438-analyzing-ads- socioeconomic-status. 2 January 2015, Web.  Moxley, Joseph. “Ad Analysis.” Writing Commons. n.d. literacy/ad-analysis. 2 January 2015, Web.  Yirinec, Jennifer. “Language for Ad Analysis.” Writing Commons. n.d. literacy/ad-analysis/435-language-for-analyzing-ads. 2 January 2015, Web.