Assignment:
Find an advertisement or infomercial on YouTube, broadcast TV, cable, or the Internet for analysis.
Common areas of analysis include:
Audience analysis: Who is this advert designed to appeal to? How can you tell? What network/channel was it on and why? What time of day was it broadcast? How long was it? Are there demographics
that might find this advert offensive or in poor taste? Are there age groups that should not view it?
Compare/Contrast: Play two commercials for the same product that are designed to appeal to different audiences. Feelings/Emotions: What emotions or feelings are created? What do you feel when you watch this advert?
Values: What underlying value is being played upon? Is the value the message? Why is the value important? Is the value important to you?
Logic & Reasoning & Evidence: What proof exists to support the claims or conclusions reached in the commercial?
Visuals/Pictures/Graphs/Charts: What images are used? How do the images impact you as a viewer? Does size or color make a difference?
Myths & Stories: Does a cultural appeal exist that is played upon? Are there cultures or populations that would just not get it? What does a viewer have to know or have experienced or watched to have the commercial appeal to them?
Organization/Structure: What organizational structure was used? If Monroe's Motivated Sequence was used, can you break the five steps down and discuss them?
Needs & Motivation: What level of Maslow's Need Hierarchy is the product or service designed to satisfy? Does that need level as advertised differ from the actual product or service? Often a slogan will do this, the emotional elements of the advert will do this, or the quality or prestige of the product will appeal to a different level. In this culture, a car is probably a level 2 need; but a 2010 Lexus RX Hybrid is probably not just transportation.
Credibility/Testimony: Who narrates the advert? Who is in it? Why are they credible or believable? Are there different levels of testimony? Does the commercial cite someone else or an organization? Why would they do this? Has the narrator or spokesperson had his or her credibility damaged? Ethos/Logos/Pathos: What appeals to credibility, emotion, and logic are used?