Group Ad Analysis

Group Project

Ad Analysis

This Dove ad potrays that ALL real women are beautiful. It uses an empowering quote of “New Dove firming. As tested on real curves.” Implying that the product is made for women that want to reduce the appearance of aged skin. The attention of the audience is caught by all the women of diversity in white undergarments. This advertisement uses a strategy of attracting different women. Including diverse pictures makes the picture more relatable to a larger group of people. The women show bright happy smiles, implying that this product is making them feel good and positive. The actual product is shown in the lower right hand corner of the advertisement. The audience begins to wonder what the lady’s are using. Which causes them to scan the rest of the ad, and see the Dove bottles. The letters in the quote are lightly written but still noticeable, but they do not immediately draw the attention. The audiences attention is naturally and automatically drawn to the beautiful women in the center. The source of the producers of the ad is in the top right hand corner written in blue. Blue is the brands associated color. The source is included but not as important in the message. The background color is white so that the subject matter stands out the best.

In Class Lab: Ad 10/27

Holly Snider

Bela Burns

Leah Nieman

Quote: “As tested on real curves.”

Paraphrasing: In Dove’s advertisement they state how their product is proven to be firming on naturally beautiful women.

Summary: For our English class, we were assigned to analyze an advertisement. The advertisement we chose promotes Dove brand products. This advertisement is part of the “Campaign for Real Beauty”, a group committed to “widening the definition of beauty”.  It shows women outside of the stereotypical norm, different races, sizes, and ages. The women shown in the advertisement display their own type of beauty. This advertisement demonstrates our real society, showing women of all types and measurements.

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing for Melissa Rubin's Advertisements R Us
Paraphrasing

In Rubin's essay she explains that the Coca-Cola company wanted to be on board with the patriotic theme in America. So, Coca-Cola sold the war participants their beverages for only 5 cents. The new ads that came out after the war efforts included both hard working citizens and soldiers.

Summary

In her essay, Advertisements R Us, Rubin explains and demonstrates how the Coca-Cola advertisements have attracted Americans for many years. She shows the readers how the ads developed and progressed based on what was happening with the American people. The ads include characters based on the majority for that time. Overall, Rubin demonstrates that the Coca-Cola ads reflect the values of their time and which audiences they most attract.

Quote

Rubin shows how Coca-Cola decided on ideas for their advertisements, noting, "The ad suggests that Coca-Cola recognized the patriotism inspired by the war and wanted to inspire similar positive feelings about their product." She shows how they incorporated getting large groups of society attracted to their product.

In Class Lab- Textual Analysis Paper

Bela Burns, Holly Snider, Leah Nieman

1. Who Published These Ads?

The first ad on the page was published by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), followed by Freedom Of Animals, and Mercy for Animals.

2. Who are these texts intended for? (Or) Who would each one seem to appeal to?

These ads are intended for people who are for animal rights. Each ad was either about treating animals ethically, or using non-animal products. For instance, the PETA ad shows a man cuddling with his dog with wording across saying, "If you wouldn't wear you dog...please don't wear any fur."

3.How can we tell that?

We can tell that these ads were for the public who are interested in animal rights because it appealed to their emotions. The ad from Mercy for Animals really appeals to readers emotions by showing a forlorn pig in a cage with the advertisement saying, "Do you support cruelty to animals? Walmart Does." This deliberately casts shame on the company of Walmart and hooks the reader by making them feel sorry for the animals "Walmart" supposedly is cruel to.


4. What is the purpose of these texts? What are their creators wanting to change or make happen?

The organizations that created these ads wanted to make people aware that animals are suffering and we are supporting it. The three ads we analyzed all told us that we were causing animals to die either for beauty products, clothing and accessories, or food. We believe that the change the organizations wanted was to have the public's opinions change about buying certain products that supported animal harm.  

5.How do they seem to be working toward that purpose(s)? What beliefs and values do they address? Think: What are their ethical, emotional, and rational appeals?

These organizations seem to be working toward changing the public's opinion on animal harm by producing ads, informing people of what is actually happening to animals, and trying to make this information widespread. The beliefs and values they address are very clear, they value and believe in animal rights. The PETA ad we analyzed made a personal approach by telling us to consider our own dog as an animal that was being used as a product.

6.What evidence from the texts (images, phrases, etc.) can you provide to support your answers?

The evidence is very clear in the organizations ads about animal freedoms. In the ad from Freedom For Animals it is especially clear. They show a beauty product for hair and then state this statement, "This is how 300,000 lab animals suffer each year." Almost every ad organizations like these produce is about showing us statistics and proof through images that animals are suffering.

7. Can you come up with a statement that would indicate what the ads do as a group?

The ads as a group could be summarized to this statement: They want to inform the public about animal harm.

Summary of Rubins Essay

In Melissa Rubins essay, Advertisements Are Us, she illustrates how the Coca-Cola ads in the 1950's related to the era. She refers to an containing a large red vending machine, a carton character, and an audience of working men. Most of her analysis is on this ad from the 1950's. Rubin explains how people are drawn into advertisements and how they show a lot about society. The 1950 ad promotes drinking Coca-Cola when you are working hard to become refreshed. According to Rubin, Coca-Cola has always been identified with "mainstream America". During the war efforts Coca-Cola sold their drinks to "every man in uniform" for only five cents. The ads used the patriotic emotions in their ads to project positive vibes about their product. The essay also indicates that Coca-Cola ads were speaking about the American society. They used what was common and popular to display their beverage. But at the same time, the ads were designed to give a look as if everyone needed and wanted a coke. Rubin shows how the ad was targeted and where it was used in society.
Rubin continues to follow the Coca-Cola ads through changes so the audience can see the patterns. The essay concludes with the author revisiting the main point of the essay and a message from the original Coca-Cola ad.

Advertisements Are Us Quesions

1. Rubin offers the insight on the influence that Coca-Cola advertisements had on the United States in the time around the 1950's. She provides evidence throughout her entire analysis by referring to the ads and even showing a picture of it. She also cites her sources. I except and agree with her conclusions because advertising was a big part of the daily life during the war efforts. The ad shows what life was like in that time. For example, women were not in the ad much because at that time they were not considered a big part of society.
2. She incorporates historical  text by using descriptions of the older ads and quotes from the ads. Rubin shows the growth and changes of the ads through time and uses information from Coca-Cola's early history. This information helps show the reader that Rubin has knowledge and research on what she's doing and it gives the background information to the advertisements she explains.
3. Some other questions I might try to answer by looking at an ad are how much money is the company willing to spend? How popular is a certain product? What is the ideal targeted audience? when was this ad made? Why was this ad made? Is this is a reliable source of information for the particular product?
4. Ads I would choose to compare are make up ads. The Coca-Cola ad says if you are hard working then you need a Coca-Cola to be refreshed, and in that era hard work was hard physical labor. Where as make up ads today, say that using this product will make you more beautiful. If your beautiful you will attract good-looking men. So, women go buy this makeup to try and look the best. People are always thinking they are not good enough and need to buy more products to attempt to look their absolute best. Today, society bases a lot of judgement on looks.

Group Project: Mad Men Class Lab

Group project: Mad Men class lab.

Holly Snider, Bela Burns, Leah Nieman, Grace deMeurisse.

1.) What we understand about how to write a good analysis:

• You must have authority over what you're analyzing. 
• Be familiar with the topic you're analyzing.  
• Make it relatable to the audience. 
• Making sure that what you're analyzing advocates for your own point. 

2.) Stay Sweet As You Are fits the criteria for an analysis paper, in some aspects. The author discusses and analyses, while comparing ads to each other. The author does not necessarily provide counter arguments, or opinions. He makes his claims, and he uses the advertisements as his evidence. He does not have clear authority, as this essay was written for a first year writing course at The University of Akron. 

He seems to have a slight background knowledge. based solely upon the clarity of his summaries and analyses. 

Questions to turn in with essay

Questions on Essay

1.      The main point of my essay is how important my first reading experience is to me. It is the story of reading a children’s book by myself for the first time. The moral, if you will, is how you value literature experiences. I personally take great pride in my reading and think of my memory as high value. I explain my childhood story and what it means to me now and then.

2.      I thought of my audience as my peers and anyone curious about my blog. So, really my audience could be anyone. I explained the story in detail assuming they were not there for my experience. I wrote with formality but still voice in my story. I assumed that the majority of my essay did not know much about me or my childhood. I wrote from my point of view.

3.      From my peers in class that read my essay I got curiosity and positive feedback. From myself, I was fascinated in how much I could remember and how much this memory means to me. I made the helpful corrections that people gave to me.

4.      When writing my essay, I did some shocking soul searching. I did not realize how important this essay was to me. But I discovered how much time and effort I put into making this essay my very best work. I learned more about myself and my writing. I am proud of this essay.

5.      I have questions about the grading. What are the main points we are graded on? Do we get our papers back? If so, when? I would like you to focus on my tense of the essay, how well I stayed in present or past tense. Of course, when you are finished reading my essay I would like to know what you think of it.

For the First Time

We all have that memory we hold dear to us, wrapping us back to a piece of literature in one way or another. A time we wish to grasp again and never let go of. Some we may not remember as vividly as we would like to, but if we think hard enough and care deep enough, we begin to reminisce those moments that occurred so long ago.

My personal memory involving a piece of literature happened when I was so small it’s hard to believe I even remember it. But it is one I hold so close to my heart I can see it clearly, as if it was yesterday. Learning to read forever impacted my life, which may be why I care so deeply for it.

It was my favorite season, my favorite time of day, and favorite story. What could be better? Nothing. It was Wednesday, which meant mom would be reading Biscuit that night. I loved hearing her read Biscuit. It was my absolute favorite story and I loved the pictures of the cute, yellow puppy. Biscuit was the name of the puppy, who did not want to go to sleep at bed time.

As I did every night, I dried off from my bath and put on my pajamas, things I appreciated being able to do on my own. Doing things on my own gave me a sense of independence and maturity. After brushing my teeth I raced down the hall to my cozy bed. I could not wait for story time. I could hear my brother, Shay, in the living room watching Scooby-Doo on the TV. Shay never did enjoy story time the way I did. Mom walked in the well-lit room and took a seat next to me on my blue and white framed bed. She slowly reached for the small children’s book on my night stand. I was giggly and anxious waiting for the story to start like most four year olds would be. Mom opened the book and as always began reading with her slow, soft, motherly voice. I cuddled up next to her and stared at the pictures of the stubborn, yellow puppy.

Faster than I had hoped the book came to a devastating close and mom kissed me on the head.

“You should go to bed too my little princess.” My mom smiled and stood up.

“No. Biscuit doesn’t want to go to bed so I don’t want to either!” I attempted to sound confident and assertive. But of course, my mom just smiled like most moms would, and repeated her first statement.

“I’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes. I need to get ready for bed too. I’ll come back to say good night and turn out the light.” With that my mom turned and disappeared down the dark hall.

I instantly snatched Biscuit off of the night stand where my mom had left the book resting. I thought to myself, “If she wouldn’t read it to me, I would just have to read it to myself.” There had been nights before where I had picked up the children’s book to glance at all the pictures that I found so adorable and mesmerizing. I opened the book and gazed at the introduction page. Confidence was becoming instilled in my mind that I could read this book without help. I looked around at the walls stained with my own handprints in yellow and blue paint. The quiet sound of the leaves tapping my window from the light breeze were not giving me comfort. I remember feeling a rush of nerves surge through all of my small four year old body. The sound of the leaves gave me a sense of urgency. I needed to read that book right at that moment. I knew my mom would come back soon and I did not want her to catch me attempting…or failing to read.

I peeled back the next page and looked at the first page. “How could I not read this? I had practically memorized it!” I wondered to myself. So without further debate and hesitation, I jumped into it. Before I thought to caution myself into reading in my head I spat out the first few simple words displayed on the page.

“Time for bed, Biscuit.”

Before I could continue, I was gleaming with joy. That was my first real sentence out of a real book! My face beamed with shock and delight. I knew now I could go on and read this book. I flipped the page and wasted no time looking at the picture.

“Woof! Woof! Biscuit wants a hug.” My eyes widened.

“Woof! Woof! Biscuit wants a kiss.”  

I let out a shriek of pure joy. I could not believe this was happening! I did not want to be alone in this moment. I was actually doing it all by myself. I needed to tell someone. I threw my book down and was ready to rip off my purple flower-covered blanket when I caught sight of my mom leaning in the door way. There was no possible way of hiding any of my excitement. I jumped up and ran to her and hugged her. I leaned into her and smelt her fresh warm vanilla skin of her arms wrapping around me.

“Mom! I was reading! Me! Can you believe it!? Just me. I can read now! It was Biscuit!” I howled on not attempting to contain any part of the excitement.

My mom grinned and walked me back to my bed. I could easily tell she was proud of me. Although, she did not seem surprised. Not the way I was.

Obviously, she had greatly been expecting and preparing for this moment my whole life. As a mom she had a plan for me that I had always fallen right into place with. Little did I know that this minuscular moment in my life would actually change and shape my life altogether. Not only that, but it opened and started a new chapter that I would be part of for as long as I live. As a young child I had not the slightest clue that this journey would turn into something unimaginable. All of the reading and writing I have ever done happened because of that specific moment of my small self, picking Biscuit up off of the night stand on that fall breezy night.

            Today, my life continues on being filled with bright literature filled lessons. Literature is something I have used and will continue to use throughout my entire life. This story is one of my most valued childhood memories. Although, my reading experience was a simple children’s book, it was something that had the power to impact my personality.

Reading Biscuit aloud to myself for the very first time will always be something that sticks with me wherever I go and helps me no matter where I am. I believe that having this experience is what gave me the personal confidence and encouragement I have today as a reader and writer.

Sharing this moment and time of my life with my mom definitely impacted and shaped our relationship. We are where we are today because of the times like this that she read to me or taught me how to read on my own. To this day, we can both share a laugh about our memory of that first time I read Biscuit without her assistance. Seeing her proud of me the way she was and encouraging me the way she did helps me know that she will still do the same with any other reading or writing or anything in life for that matter. I approach situations inside and outside of literature differently because of that faultless night with my mom so many years ago.

Questions to Mad Men

1. Heather Havrilesky's insight to Mad Men is she wants to explain and believes that the "American Dream" is not what everyone see's it to be. It is not as simple as a "dream". She gives examples of how having the American dream is not enough for these characters. For example, when the author explains the relationship of Jane and Roger.
2. The author establishes her authority to write about this show by explaining that she is a TV show critic. She wrote about this for Salon in 2010. This small passage on the bottom of page 170 proves her career. Also, it is expressing mostly her opinion with references to the show and real life.
3. Havrilesky appeals to the readers emotions by starting with the introduction of the American dream and what people want in life. Also, in the passage she discusses relatable examples of the characters problems they have in life. In the very beginning she discusses the "American Dream" being a fantasy and not attainable. She uses vivid examples of things people hope for.
4. I am not previously familiar with this show Mad Men, however the author has made me slightly interested. I did not what it was about before and now I believe I have the basic idea of the show. I think Havreilsky displays the show being about the reality and real life situations of  the "American Dream" and how it is like living in a fantasy world. It seems that the characters are never fully satisfied with what they have, even if what they have in considered enough by other people. They are always striving for more for it to be good enough. I would watch it because I want to see the problems the characters face and how they manage them.

Response to page 141

October 15, 2015

Response to page 141

Consumer oriented websites: Expedia and Trip Advisor

Both helping to plan, organize, and arrange vacation or travel trips.

I think that Trip Advisor is more visually appealing. It has more bright colors and the home page shows a relaxing beach picture, whereas Expedia has more dull colors such as white and gray.

When opening Expedia it gets right to it and opens with a page asking where you would like to go. Trip Advisor has a similar thing but more pictures and less specific.

Trip Advisor has very specific tab options, where you can click “Flights” and a box pops up with times from your nearest airport to wherever you would like to go. It also has tabs for things like hotels, cars, rentals, restaurants and reviews. When clicking on a tab it takes you to the page containing that specific information and that information only. Expedia has tabs on its website to. You can select deals, hotels, cars, things to do, rewards, flights and cruises.

Both websites allow you to make an account and provide close to the same information needed for the account.

Trip Advisor has a search bar along the top allowing you to search for anything on the website. But Expedia does not have a search bar.

I think that Trip Advisor is the better website. I think that it has more attractive value. The beautiful pictures and vibrant colors make you want to keep looking and make you feel as if you are leaving on a vacation! It has positive notes, for example; “The Very Best of Travel” across the top of the website in bright green. It also contains helpful information for things you would be looking for. The website does not have a lot of ads or distractions, which is something I prefer. I think the format is helpful, it makes it very clear and easy to read.

To make Expedia more affective I would change the colors. I would use more “happy” colors. I would provide pictures of more “luxurious” type areas rather than productive. A lot of the pictures they have are of cities and populated areas. I would use pictures of beaches and fun activities, like riding horses or swimming. I think the website could use a different format. I would leave the bluntness of the homepage. But provide more that is easy to see. Like, putting restaurants or hotels on the front page as well as the box asking where you would like to go. Also, providing positive information about the website itself would be helpful.