Advertising involves the connection of needs, wants and desires to objects and practices.
Objectives:
1) To demonstrate an understanding of how advertising works to shape the meaning of things and how that meaning is not necessarily constant but changes over time.
2) To demonstrate an ability to analyse advertising using the key concepts and tools developed in the unit's material
In this assignment, through using the reading and other resources:
1) Analyse how advertising transforms an object or practice into a purchasable product or service through a series of ads focused on a particular kind of good or service. This assignment is an historical study of advertising and its production of meaning. In order to achieve this, here is what you have to do:
(a) Choose a product or service that you can identify advertised images for at least 40 years (generally, the longer the better: the shorter the period the more nuanced will be the changes in the product and your analysis). Focus on a particular company that has produced this product or service over a very long period of time. Here is a list of products/services to choose from:
• Household food items: jams, jellies, pickles, sauces etc.
• Beauty or hygiene items - you will need to pick a brand that has a long history
• Banks - keep in mind banks over a long historical period change names and this can be part of your analysis
• Cars - pick a particular car company or model that has a very long history and look at its transformation in the selling of the car. Do not move across types of cars and stick to the singular brand if possible
• Department stores or supermarkets
(b) Include at least four advertisements of the product or service that help identify the change over time in the way that the product is advertised. These can be either display advertisements or commercials. Identify
(i) the likely media location for each of the advertisements you have.
(ii) The target market or audience for the advertisements.
(c) Your assignment will use these four images to guide your analysis of the transformation in the way that advertising presents a particular product. It will be written in essay form with subheadings that divide up your analysis either into themes and/or historical periods of advertising style.
(d) The essay should be structured with an introduction, analysis of the 4 ads and a conclusion.
(e) Full referencing of your advertisements, the sources for the analysis of advertising and its history, and primary sources for any analysis of the actual company should be included in your bibliography.