Thursday, October 31, 2013

Greyhound Ad 1946

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess_T2611/

Magazine Ad

Critical Analysis of Advertising Message:
     -The intended audience for this message were young white couples between the ages of 25-35. The only reason I would say white couples is because of the white woman with the bow and arrow in the ad. Since this came out just after war time, it would make since that many returning from the war would want to go vacationing, so why not Greyhound?
     -I think this ad is very effective and just looks gorgeous. The woman with the bow and arrow is not only very pretty, but it also is a metaphor for how fast Greyhound is, their service being compared to the velocity of the arrow. Being a colored ad also makes the colors pop more, making it obviously more appealing. The word choice in the ad makes a very strong pre-emptive claim that whoever is taking their service will have an amazing vacation, and even reading the ad now I feel like I want to go on vacation with Greyhound.
     -This ad utilizes popular culture because it making a lot of references to the highway system, which was being developed around this time, but much further expanded with Eisenhower a few years later. The highway was a relatively new fast way of travel that made trips like vacationing easier. SO I think it was smart for Greyhound to make constant references to this mode of transportation.

Comprehensive Analysis:
     -Greyhound bus rides
     -Post WWII America (1946)
     -Photojournalism while using a soft-sell pre-emptive claim
     -Since America's economy was prospering yet again after the war and people had more time for leisure, it would make since that this ad would be important and definitely relevant to people from this time period.
     -There is obviously a racial bias with this ad against colored people because I feel like they would imagine their ideal customer to be like the white woman with the bow and arrow that is representing the company. I couldn't imagine (at this time in history) that they would put a black woman in place of the white woman in the ad because I think they knew that the public wouldn't accept it as readily or if at all as much as they probably did with the white woman in the ad.

Chevrolet Ad 1943

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess_W0285/

Magazine Ad

Critical Analysis of Advertising Message:
     -I believe that the intended audience of this message were males that did not go overseas to fight during WWII between the ages of 20-40. The reason I believe this is because I would associate car buying at that time period to be mainly a man market for relatively young men. I would also not hesitate to throw in married women between those same ages into the mix because one of the messages is to buy war bonds, which would help their husbands overseas directly.
     -This ad is very effective because it is an American grown company promoting an American war through the sale of war bonds. The idea would be that if you support war bonds, you support Chevrolet, who was given awards because of their efforts in helping during WWII. Also it is very patriotic, and since nationalism was at a high, this would definitely make this ad very persuasive.
     -This message utilizes the current foreign policy of the United States, in that we were at war. It is using the idea of us being at war to promote the company through association to the war's efforts. Even though they aren't selling any cars directly with this ad, they are selling their brand, which I think is more important.

Comprehensive Analysis:
     -Their brand and war bonds
     -WWII America (1943)
     -Direct association method of advertising
     -Chevrolet is an American company that supported American forces in WWII.
     -I cannot find any racial or ethnic biases within this ad. I feel that it is very impartial because all it is really supporting is patriotism and nationalism.

GE Television Ad 1951

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess_TV0600/

Magazine Ad

Critical Analysis Of Advertising Message
     -The intended audience of this message was males between the ages of 25-40. The reason I believe that is because it is advertising through the means of baseball, more specifically the World Series, and I think that would be the ages for the most interested males to see it.
     -The fact that GE is using baseball to promote their message is very powerful. I could be wrong, but I imagine that baseball was probably one of the biggest sports in that time, and so the idea that you could watch the World Series from your house was a pretty nice feature for the 1950's. I would think it is a akin to watching the Super Bowl on a nice, big LED screen today. What I think would make this an ineffective advertisement would be that there is no real hard-selling going on here, and I'd imagine that the television market was pretty competitive, so maybe not going on just a soft-sell approach would have been nice.
    -This message utilizes popular culture by having baseball be the primary mover for why you would purchase the television. Again, baseball was pretty huge back then, making this a smart move by GE.

Comprehensive Analysis:
     -Televisions
     -Post-War America (1951)
     -Soft-sell through use of illustrations
     -Televisions were a huge medium for media, and still continue to be. We were talking about how in class, everyone pretty much had a television at around this time. So therefore this is a very important cultural product.
     -Besides the fact that the drawings are of white males, I really do not see any racial biases. To my understanding, baseball was enjoyed my many cultures in America, so it doesn't seem to me that GE is promoting any stereotypes or racial biases.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Palmolive Ad 1924

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess_BH1218/

-Magazine Advertisement

Critical Analysis of Advertising Message:
     -The intended audience for this ad is definitely women, no doubt, because of how it is attacking their idea of beauty and making them feel insecure without their product. Also the fact that it was published in Ladies Home Journal adds to that claim.
     -This ad is generally effective in terms of persuasion. The problem-solution technique is executed well here–since you can't find a man, we can give you Palmolive, which will make you feel attractive to men. The image of the beautiful women shows woman an unrealistic expectation of how they will hopefully look like after using this product, which is very effective. I'm not quite sure how the Egyptian images at the bottom-left really help in terms of persuasion though.
     -Since women in the 1920's were still stressed to marry at a young age, this ad is preying on the fears that those women would not be able to find a suitable man by that time, therefore playing off early twentieth century American culture.

Comprehensive Analysis:
     -Palmolive Soap
     -The Roaring Twenties
     -Tabloid advertisement with a soft-approach to the product, and using a problem-solution technique
     -This would be important to someone of that time period because not even half a century earlier, advertisers began to stress the importance of hygiene, and how proper hygiene would lead to a happier life. So by this time, hygiene has been employed very strongly within American culture, therefore making this ad rather relevant.
     -I don't see any strong racial or ethnic biases within the product, except for the picture being a white woman instead of a black woman, which is important, but like most ads of this time, is an accepted reality. Bottom-line: the white woman is beautiful.

Motorola Radio Ad 1952

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess_R0859/

Magazine Ad

Critical Analysis of Advertising Message:
     -This ad is designed for middle class men and women in their 20's and early 30's based of of the pictures in the advertisement, and publication the advertisement was in, Life magazine. The ad shows a young couple on a picnic date, which makes me imagine that a person looking at the ad would be appealed to the product if they were around that age group.
     -The fact that the ad is a colored ad make it appealing. There are different colors in every picture which really make it catch the eye, making the advertisement more persuasive to the audience. Another really cool element that makes this ad persuasive is that it combines hard-selling with soft-selling. The writers write about the actual product's power and settings, but through the use of illustrations present a pre-emptive claim to how much enjoyment people will get out of it.
     -I believe, since the ad was made in 1952, that this ad is playing off the idea of the young suburban white couple that we talked about in class. It seems as though the woman is waking up in a rather appealing bedroom, and that the young couple to the right are well-dressed, which is what we would imagine that time to be like.

Comprehensive Analysis:
     -Multiple Radios
     -Post-WWII America (1952)
     -Tabloid advertisement with a soft and hard sell approach
     -Radios were generally a household item, but in a time when televisions were taking over as the prime source of media and entertainment in the household, the idea of a portable radio was a necessary evolution to help keep the radio afloat. Also, I'm sure that beyond that, the consumer was just as surprised you could take a radio with them anywhere as we were when we found out we could search the entire Internet in our pockets.
     -Definitely showcases an "ideal" American family, white and beautiful (according to the time period), which ethnically can offend people of other ethnicities. Definitely a bias towards white people.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

"Did You Ring, Sir?" Pullman 1945 Ad

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess_T2485/

Magazine Advertisement

Critical Analysis of Advertising Message:
-The intended audience of this ad are white males between the ages of 30-55 in the upper-class as referenced by the age of the men in the advertisement. The ad is not marketing to other racial groups in the ad, it seems as though the ad shows other racial groups as subservient to white males.
-The idea of being comfortable makes the ad very persuasive–not only are the customers looking comfortable, but the word is also referenced in the tag line for Pullman. This ad is not very persuasive towards other ethnic groups, such as blacks, who are seen as being in a lower class than the customer.
-The photojournalistic technique of making the black man's face in the center of the ad is reminiscent of previous racist ads such as "Sambo" characters. This may have been intentional and used mainly in the South due to racial tensions.

Comprehensive Analysis:
-The Pullman Experience
-1945, probably just post-WWII
-Photojournalism and pre-emptive claim (claiming you will be comfortable)
-Trains were still (I believe) the primary fast mode of travel in 1945, as planes have not been as commercialized as they will have been in ten years or so, therefore making this relevant to a more money popular culture–they were definitely competing for comfort between railroad experiences.
-I definitely feel like there is a "Sambo"-ish stereotype with the back man in the ad, and also there pictures showing black men as servants to the older white males seems rather racist in my opinion. This also promotes the idea that white males have more money and prestige than the black male throughout this ad .

"Women Lose" Kotex

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/media/jpg/adaccess/med/BH0016.jpg

Newspaper Advertisement

Critical Analysis of Advertising Message:
-The intended audience of this ad is definitely women in their late teens and up to their 40's I would guess. I would assume that in that time period, women older than tat didn't particularly care about their "hygiene" in female regions.
-The headline "Women Lose" is very effective in just persuading women to read the article because they probably think that they are being scrutinized initially, so they want to read about it. The Impressionistic Copy about how the women will feel and look after using the Kotex product is very prominent.
-We were talking in class about how advertisers around the turn of the century began to have a problem-solution advertising strategy surrounding hygiene, especially in women. This ad definitely uses the consumer culture surrounding women to make a pre-emptive claim that women not only need it, but will feel better after using Kotex.

Comprehensive Analysis:
-Kotex pads
-The Roaring Twenties
-Soft-sell, pre-emptive claim
-Since advertisers stressed the importance of hygiene with women, it would be very important to women in that time period.
-I do not see any stereotypes within the ad. If there was a picture of a white woman, I would definitely say that there is some type of bias towards that ethnicity, but there is no such picture. Also, there is no racial bias or stereotyping within the text that I can read. It really seems like everything is pretty unbiased, assuming you have a few cents to purchase the pads.

War Bonds

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/media/jpg/adaccess/med/W0106.jpg

Magazine Advertisement

-The intended audience of this message is the American public, but more specifically I would say middle and lower class women, who were working at this point in time to support the American war effort. The pathos appeal will also generally effect women more than men.
-The pathos appeal is very powerful, represented by the young child crying. The image of the father's old clothing also presents a powerful and effective pathos message, since some women lost their husbands during war time.
-This message uses the holiday of Christmas to get people to buy war bonds, therefore utilizing popular culture.

Comprehensive Analysis

-War bonds
-WWII America (39-45)
-Used soft sell advertising to get war bonds
-This would be important for someone in that time period because WWII was a pretty big deal, and affected the lives of everyday Americans and the global political spectrum.
-While the baby is white, I believe that all Americans would still be inclined to give into war bonds; I'm pretty sure that the government would not put a black child on the advertisement because it would not appeal to white American and governmental culture in pre civil rights America. In contrast to today, that situation would be much more easily accepted.

Magnavox Print Ad 1952

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/media/jpg/adaccess/med/TV0173.jpg

Print/Magazine Advertisement

Critical Analysis of Advertising Message:
     -The intended audience of this ad were middle class white nuclear families. You can see this because of the white woman in the advertisement, and the casual living room setting.
     -The illustration of the pretty woman on the screen helps make this advertisement more appealing to males, making it an effective form of persuasion.
     -The repetition in "Better sight...better sound...better buy" helps persuade the reader because the tagline is short, catchy, and effective.
     -This ad utilizes popular culture because at this time the television was the primary medium for entertainment in the family household. The woman on the screen seems to be somewhat of a celebrity figure, so that effects popular culture.


Comprehensive Analysis:
     -Selling Magnavox televisions
     -Post-War America
     -Soft-sell advertising with a focus on dynamic obsolescence
     -The television was becoming a standard in many households across America, so a television ad would seem fitting for this time period
     -The woman on the television appears to be of the upper class and white, showing a white dominance over popular culture. The ad is also appealing to white men because of the white female being the standard of beauty as demonstrated by this ad.

"Why Women Fly" United Airlines 1944

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/media/jpg/adaccess/med/T2139.jpg

Documentation of Advertising Message:
Magazine

Critical Analysis of Advertising Message:
-The intended audience of this message is married women, presumably in their 20's-40's, based on the appearance and age of the woman in the picture. Also based off the picture and the cursive headline I would assume that this is intended for women in the middle and upper classes of society. The ad also makes note towards the bottom of the ad about their husbands having white-collar jobs, further justifying my argument.
-Elements for Persuasion:
     -The advertisers are using a soft-sell approach with the word choice of "Pleasure", showing that the passenger will have a pleasurable experience (positive)
     -The appeal to women throughout the ad definitely helps sell the ad to women–it makes the consumer feel important (positive)
     -There is a lot of reading, and the text is not as appealing as the heading and the picture of the woman (negative)
-The message influences popular culture because it supports the idea that the man is the head of the household, which was (and somewhat today) a prominent idea in American culture, with them saying "your man" and such. There is also a sense of patriotism within this ad, as it mentions the war towards the end, which is referencing World War II.

-Theme:
     -Selling airfare
     -Time Period: WWII America (1944)
     -Advertising Method: Soft-Sell (Tabloid Technique)
     -This ad is important to someone in this time period because airfare was becoming more commercialized, and still a more new and cool way of transportation, and this ad answers that.
-Reflection of Culture:
     -This ad, while advertised to women, still provides gender roles typical of mid-century America. It is still the man that would have to buy the ticket, and the idea of the woman being the center of the article could also be seen as appealing to a man reading the ad; this definitely shows a male-dominated culture.