What Ads Say Essay -- essays research papers

Effective Writing Muthyala What Ads Say/What We Remember   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"After all, advertisements are purely functional things, and therefore the criterion is their success as advertisements and not as works of art.† - H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Well, yes. Although recognizable works of art are commonly used in advertisements, the ads themselves will most likely never end up in the louver. With both of those mediums, though, you will notice that an individual’s retention level will be remarkably similar. Most people could identify Whistler’s Mother, although they could not cite any gender inequality issues concerning the painting. Similarly, people could remember that people say â€Å"Wazzuuup!† in Budweiser commercials even if they did not know who was saying it to whom, or how often. The strength of ads like these, then, is the staying power of any or all aspects of their message, no matter how much it has to do with the actual product. Example: ‘Hey man, what do you think of Budweiser beer?’ ‘WAZZUUUP!’ This makes absolutely no sense, but it would be a surprisingly common response, based solely on the public’s retention of the advertisement. No matt er what methods or messages an ad uses to promote it’s product, what people remember from it is very arbitrary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Ben Sherman ad, three men and a woman are enjoying a picnic. There seems, however, to be no interaction at all between the men and the woman. The guys Lively 2 are interested in everything but the woman, and are spaced out around the blanket at a good distance from her, not even looking in her direction. The two in the back seem to be having some sort of exchange judging from their expressions, and the third is simply gazing off into the fire. There is food at the picnic, but so far no one is eating, they are just drinking. There is a definite difference in alcoholic preference, though, as the three men are enjoying bottles of beer, and the woman has chosen champagne. There is no need to go into the inherent maleness of beer, so the woman is being classy and feminine by opting for the bubbly. So, while being ignored by the men and drinking her champagne, the woman uses the fiery environment to cook. As Susan Bordo said in her essay â€Å"Hunger as Ideology†, â€Å"Despite the increasing participation of women of all ages a... ...e aggression, Lively 4 female submission, and physical beauty are intrinsic to great lovemaking. The assumption that all these go hand in hand disqualifies a very large portion of the ad’s potential clients. Despite the qualities of this ad that would disgust a lot of people, ten pages after you read it you would be more likely to simply remember that ‘It was about sex and it turned me on’. The way the ad plays on its strengths – the overwhelming popularity of sex – assists the reader in forgetting, or overlooking completely, it’s weaknesses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Beyond the obvious messages in most advertising, it is important to pay attention to the aspects of the ad that stick out, the parts that you will be repeating to yourself for the next couple of days and you will not know why. There is so much emphasis on the catchy parts of ads that whatever gender or culture bias they may contain gets covered up and forgotten. An ad may be the most unique, creative piece of unbiased work ever created, but if it is not remembered, then it is a failure. Only when society starts remembering the good things about ads will the message of them take precedence over the catchiness.