.The Language of Advertising Claims

1. The Weasel Claim



2. The Unfinished Claim


3. The "We're Different and Unique" Claim



4. The "Water is Wet" Claim



5. The "So What" Claim



6. The Vague Claim



7. The Endorsement or Testimonial



8. The Scientific or Statistical Claim



9. The "Compliment the Consumer" Claim



10. The Rhetorical Question

Reading Media Photographs

• Nonverbal: In this photo, Justin Trudeau is holding a microphone with one hand.  He's holding out his other hand as if he's explaining something.  His fingers are outstretched will his arms remain close to his body.  Trudeau is purposely holding the microphone with just one hand so he can use the other to try and connect with his audience.  He keeps his arms nice and close as his he's speaking so that he seems to be explaining something logical rather than it seeming like he's out of control and flailing his arms around.
• Facial Expressions: He's looking up and out at the audience and making eye contact. His facial expression is serious while holding a subtle smile on his face.  He's making eye contact to both literally and figuratively connect with his audience.  He's smiling to remind others of his kindness.  He's looking up at the audience so they feel like he's looking up to them while really it's the other way around.
• Body Language: There's not much I can say about body language because he's giving a speech and there's no one near him to judge the distance he keeps from people and everyone listening in the background has been blurred out so we can't analyze the code matching.
• People: All other people besides Justin Trudeau are blurred out.  However, he is a white male in his forties.
• Clothing: The clothes that he is wearing is professional but not overly formal.  This is to make him seem of a greater power yet still approachable and humane.
• Background: The background is blurred out to focus (haha) on Justin.  Although it's blurred, you can still tell that the seats behind him are packed.  Also, there's a light coming in from the side that looks "heavenly." This may be suggesting that those above us approve of him as well. Also, his wedding ring is huge and very noticeable.  having this prominent is suggesting that he is very loyal to his wife and therefore going to be loyal to his country as well.
• Camera Angle: The camera angle is below eye level.  This is so that the audience will look up at Justin therefore creating a feeling of literally looking up to him as a leader.

Appealing to Your Audience

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For this assignment I chose to analyze a Pathos Advertisement.

The speaker of this advertisement is a very wise voice. Who it is in particular is up to the audience's perception.  The voice is someone that the viewer looks up to for advice and trusts their ability to make good decisions.

The intended audience of this advertisement is parents and anyone who works with young children.  It's especially targeted towards anyone who doesn't watch their mouth around kids and sometimes lets it get out of control.

I know the above audience is the intended audience because it shows a child being "punched" by someone's words.  Generally, verbal abuse comes from someone who's close with or always around the child. Therefore, if their is abuse, it's probably from the legal guardian or the temporary care-takers.

Hopefully the audience of this advertisement will be influenced emotionally and change their ways if needed.  The creator of this advertisement used a child weeping to really capture the pain (s)he was trying to convey.  After seeing this, viewers who weren't aware of what they may be doing have probably changed their ways and now think before they speak.

deconstructing an advertisement

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Step 1

• The only person in this ad is a white male child about the age of 1.  This baby has is wearing a "pouty face" and semi-formal clothes that're generally worn by business men.  He's rolling up his sleeves to make it seem like he's in charge.
• The camera angle is at eye-level.
• The lighting used in this ad seems to be artificial lighting created in a studio.The skin of the child is highlighted as well as the background behind him. There are some small shadows on the lower parts of the baby, suggesting the lighting is coming from above him.
• The main colour used is blue and it's tough to find any other colour in the ad.  The blue isn't necessarily bright but the light blue of the background starkly contrasts the dark blue of his shirt to make him stand out.
• A very plain font is shown to write the only text (found in the upper left corner). It's not very big but it's easy to find because the ad is clean.

Step 2

• Huggies baby wipes are the product.
• I don't personally find this appealing because I thankfully don't have kids right at the moment.
• The target audience for this ad are parents that have young children still in diapers.
• The ad is portraying that your kid rules your life now and it can be quite the hassle is they get upset.  It probably will work on parents because they don't want to do any harm to their children.  And by using this product, they believe their children will be happy and healthy.

Step 3

• The assumption made in this ad is that children are difficult to deal with and can be quite the hassle.  This assumption is mostly true. However, the level of difficulty can range with time or the child itself.  The only play on gender roles would be that men are generally the boss in businesses. Which reinforces gender stereotypes.
• Again, they used a white baby and stated he's the new boss.  The racial stereotype that usually white people run the world is definitely enforced.
• This ad also sorta plays on the fact that rich people are never happy and always want more.  Definitely reinforces another stereotype but I can't tell you if it's true because I'm far from rich.

Step 4

• A short term consequence could be that your child is allergic to this product and causes more irritation than it was supposed to relieve.  I mean, there aren't really any long term effects (unless if you consider that 40 years from now we find out we all slowly poisoned our children overtime and a huge outbreak occurs.  But that's very unlikely).
• The message in this ad isn't for social change because it used so many old stereotypes, but I wouldn't say they were necessarily against it either.
• Yes, this ad is socially responsible.  Unless you look deeply into it (like we just have) it is very innocent and merely trying to get parents to buy this product for their kids.  In fact, if what they're saying is true, they'll help to keep children happy and healthy.
• If you think of yourself as a citizen rather than a consumer, you'll likely think higher of yourself.  Citizens are part of a group while still being able to be an individual.  However, if you consider yourself to be a consumer, you're generalizing yourself.  Making you fall into a category with numerous others.  Citizens can make change rather than consumers because they are able to bring together all of their individual knowledge and work together.

VAPID

Voice:
The voice that is speaking in this ad is a creditable person that the viewer looks up to about life decisions.  The voice is trying to give good advice rather than sell their product.
Audience:
This ad would be shown on posters in doctors' offices and other places you can go for health related issues and support.  The audience is directed towards smokers. Specifically, it targets smokers who are also parents.  The ad takes advantage of the love the audience has for their children in order to help them quit.
Purpose:
The apparent purpose of the ad is to help smokers quit their habit but the real purpose of the ad is to have more people subscribe to the company offering the help.  However, it never actually offers help.  The ad minimizes cigarettes and shows the negative affects they all have in store.
Idea:
The central idea of the ad is to spread awareness of how addictive habits can take over your life.  The ad is rational.  It appeals to both emotion and reason.  Out of the "Seven Deadly Sins" the ad appeals to gluttony.  The ad does not try to go "above and beyond" to prove its point yet it's still effective through general claims that are true.
Devices:
The overall design of the ad is clear and quiet.  The attention ploy used in this ad is the use of colour. The only colour used in this ad is on the crayons.  These inanimate objects are the center piece, reminding the audience of their higher priorities.  This ad is not trying to sell anything and therefore doesn't have a product in the photo.  However, it does have a message, "Do you want them to take after everything you do? Quit today."  These are the only words (besides what's written on the cigarette box) in the entire ad.  There is no fine print.  The message is clearly stated.  It implies that smoking will take over and has already done so.  But yet connotatively, it wants the audience to quit.

A Checklist for Analyzing Images

1. The design of this image is stark and clear.  Overall, it's quite quiet except for the main part of the photo (which is the cellphone that's spurting blood with a short message afterwards).  This part is the only place that any distinct colour can be found.

2. The part of this advertisement that immediately gets my attention is the cellphone spurting blood.  This is because it's emphasized by the stark change of colour.  It's not necessarily large, but it takes up a great amount of the space.  Also, the moment you notice it, you can't stop staring at it because of the horror of the blood.

3. The audience is particularly aimed towards young couples.  But, it can be effective towards anyone who cares dearly about someone.  This advertisement warns people of the effects that distracted driving holds.

4. This advertisement may seek to shock some of its audience because of the brutality involved.  It tugs at the emotions we have stored for someone very dear to us and reminds us to use precautions. It gives us a reality check for some of the ridiculous things people all around us do daily.

5. This advertisement makes it seem like our character is good but ignorant of the consequences.  It makes us rethink our decisions and hopefully help prevent certain deaths.  We don't feel pity for the woman in the photo, but we empathize with her remembering other stories we've heard of or been a part of.

6. The image of this advertisement does most of the work.  However, for those who don't understand it immediately, the spurting blood leads to the message, "Don't talk while he drives."  This message is sure to get through to all viewers.

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