Reading Media Photographs

source: here

Nonverbal Gestures

Hillary is speaking in a serious matter using her hands to explain her point. Donald is standing straight with his arms by his side, behind Hillary.

I can infer that Hillary is speaking on an important issue and persuading the crowd with her point of view. Donald seems to be watching Hillary a little uninterested or questioning. He seems as though he is waiting for his turn.


Facial Expression

Hillary's face has a very serious and stern look on it. Her eyes are looking into the crowd and her mouth is in motion. Donald has a questioning expression on his face. His eyes are squinted and looking at Hillary. His mouth is in a sort of frown, and his head is slightly leaned back.

I infer that this means Hillary is speaking about apolitical issue, trying to persuade the crowd and get them to agree with her. Trump is questioning Hillary and sort of looking down on her, as if her words are all bogus and wrong. Trump does not approve of Hillary in this photo.


Body Language 

Donald is a few feet behind Hillary. He is also wearing a red tie. Hillary is closer to the camera.

I infer that Donald is placed a few feet behind Hillary to make him look bigger and therefore more powerful. His red tie also implies that he is powerful and strong as red is a power colour. Hillary is closer to the camera making her smaller. This makes you think that she is less important or powerful even though she does have the microphone, i.e the attention of the crowd.


People

There are two people in this photo, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Hillary is 69 years old and Trump is 70. One male and one female. They are both Caucasian.

Both people in the photo are running to be president of the United States. They are also both white and old as hell. I infer from this that as old, Caucasian people, it is assumed that they should/do have more power over what goes on. Not to mention the fact that the male in the picture, Donald is looking at the woman in a belittling way. This just shows the sexism still faced in today's society.


Clothing

Hillary is wearing a navy and white pant suit. Donald is wearing a navy and white suit with a red tie.

I infer from this that both persons are dressing in colours of the American flag to show they're devotion to the country itself.


Background

The background is mostly a plain blue and white floor and wall with people sitting and watching Hillary as she speaks.

This shows that the people who attended the debate are paying attention to what the candidates have to say.


Camera Angle

The camera angle is slightly above eye level.

This angle blurs out the background and Hillary, putting the emphasis on Donald Trump. They did this on purpose to catch Donald at a bad moment because he is looking down on Hillary (literally with this angle). By using this angle, Hillary appears at the front of the photo a little "lower down" and Donald is behind her staring down in a questioning way.

Deconstructing an Advertisement

source: here

Step 1: Make Observations

5 adjectives to describe this ad would be; funny, unrealistic, bizarre, envious, and folky.

There is a male and a female depicted in this ad. The man is African American and the woman seems to be of colour, she might be Latina. Both of the people are about 30 years old and almost nude. The man has a smirky facial expression and the woman is in awe of the man.
The camera was farther from the subject and at eye-level.
The lighting in this ad is artificial as they are in a bathroom.The man and the woman are highlighted in the ad while the rest of the surrounding bathroom is down-played. This is to draw attention to the message of the ad and avoid distractions by other meaningless things. There are some shadows in the ad which are more there to make the picture appear more realistic. They are not very large, just realistic to the size of the object.
There are very few colours used. This ad is mostly all white with exception to a small green stripe to make it appear more like a bathroom and the words of the ad in red. This creates sharp contrast for the words.
The text in this ad is "SMELL LIKE A MAN, MAN." and the Old Spice logo. The first words are written in all capitals in a very bold and square font. The Old Spice logo is written in more of a cursive. The text is not very large, just enough to catch your eye. The text is red. The text is actually saying that by using this body wash, you will be more of a man. The texts are about the same size.

Step 2: Determine The Purpose of The Advertisement

The product being sold is Old Spice body wash.

I do not find the product appealing because I am a female and would not use this body wash. However, the ad is persuading me to believe that "real men" use this body wash.

The target audience for this product is mostly adult men.

The ad is using human sexuality to persuade the audience into buying the product. Some emotions they are trying to convey could be; envy, fun, sexual attraction. They accomplished this by having two people, man and woman, almost naked, and a fake horse made out of bubbles.

Step 3: Determine The Assumptions The Advertisement Makes and The Messages It Sends

The assumptions made about gender in this ad are as follows; women are always amazed at what men can do and that every man is fragile about their manhood and needs a more "manly" body wash. I don't believe these assumptions are realistic. In 2017 society is starting to take a leap forward in which it is no longer looked down on for women to be strong and independent or for men to not have to question their manhood. These assumptions reinforce stereotypes about gender identity.
An assumption made about race in this advertisement is that Latina woman are sensual and passionate. These assumptions are not realistic. It is not realistic to group all Latina women into this category. These assumptions reinforce stereotypes about racial identity.
This advertisement assumes that all middle-class people are good looking and happy all the time. These assumptions are not realistic as that is too large of a group to categorize so finely. These assumptions reinforce stereotypes about class.

Step 4: Consider The Possible Consequences of These Messages

Long term consequences of an ad like this are deprecating self-image, and reinforced stereotypes about gender roles, race, class, identity, etc. Short term consequences could be questioned manhood.

Yes the message creates unrealistic expectations for people because it is impossible to ride a horse made of bubbles. It also creates a sense of false hope that by using this body wash, you will become more manly and women will be more attracted to you.

The messages in this ad counter act social change by reinforcing many stereotypes about race, gender roles, and class.

To be socially responsible means to not only work your economic efforts, but to also show care and concern for the greater good of humanity as a whole. I would say this ad is not socially responsible.

To think of oneself primarily as a citizen means to think of not only yourself and your needs, but also how you effect everyone else in the world and whether or not you're helping to make a good change. I believe that one can be both a citizen and a consumer. To be a consumer means to use economic resources as commodities. To be both a citizen and consumer you can use economic resources but in a more sustainable way.

The Language of Advertising Claims

The Weasel Claim

source: here

The Unfinished Claim

source: here

The "We're Different And Unique" Claim

source: here

The "Water is Wet" Claim

source: here

The "So What" Claim

source: here

The Vague Claim

source:here

The Endorsement or Testimonial

source: here

The Scientific or Statistical Claim

source: here

The "Compliment the Customer" Claim

source: here

The Rhetorical Claim

source: here

VAPID

Source of ad: here
Voice:
The Frontier Post is the voice speaking in this advertisement.
They have a serious and important voice with the information on the picture.
Audience:
This ad appears on the internet and may also appear as a poster in a mall or some other public place.
The target audience of this ad is all people who own or drive a vehicle.
There is no specific race, or gender that this ad targets, although they may be targeting a higher class (people who can afford a car) and a slightly older audience (have a drivers license).
I wouldn't say that the ad writer takes advantage of the audience but they definitely shock some people with the fact stated on the ad.
Purpose:
The apparent purpose of the ad is to warn people to drive safe.
The actual purpose of the ad is to make people believe that the Frontier Post could have more valuable information for them.
No there is no public service being offered here.
Idea:
The central idea of the ad is to warn drivers to be safe and cautious while driving.
The ad appeals both to emotion and reason. It is reasonable to drive safely but it also strikes fear with the fact that so many people are killed by vehicles.
This ad could appeal to pride if one were to refuse to change how they drive just because of one statistic.
Yes the ad uses shocking facts to surprise the reader.
No, the claims are true to the time of the ad, 2013.
Devices:
The overall design of this ad is very simple and straight-forward.
The attention grabbing factor is that the car keys are designed in a way to look like a gun.
The setting of this ad is very plain with the only object, the car keys, placed in the center.
There is no use of colour in this ad, making the overall feel of the picture much more serious. Little to no texture.
The written text of the ad scares you with a fact about how many people are killed in automobile collisions. This makes their message "Drive safe." all the more important.
The ad coveys denotatively, that cars can be just as dangerous as guns, and can kill just as easily.
The ad conveys connotatively that a set of keys can be arranged to look like a gun.
The print size is large enough to read easily but not so large that it takes your eye away from the image. The font is plain and serious.
There is some small print. It is the source of the fact they used on their advertisement.

A Checklist for Analyzing Images

Source of image: here

1. The design of this advertisement is quiet and understated. There are no bright colours that would express motion or life. This advertisement is more cutting edge than it is old-fashioned because the close up on the woman's face makes the advertisement a whole lot simpler and more focused.

2. The woman's eyes on the advertisement are what catch your eye first. Then you see the search bar covering her mouth that intrigues you to read more. I would say at first glance this image is beautiful, but once you look a little longer and read even one line, you understand that this advertisement is really pointing out the grotesqueness of humanity in this day and age.

3. The audience for this advertisement is mostly men who don't see women as equals. The woman in the advertisement is also wearing a hijab which hints at the fact of women in less developed countries still experiencing sexism and oppression. This advertisement makes more of an emotional appeal than a logical one with its content. The google search format does suggest that they are trying a more logical point of view, but once you start reading it is easy to realize what the message is.

4. Yes this image does appeal to our emotions. This advertisement makes us feel sorrow, helplessness, and guilt for the woman on the cover. We feel sorrow and helplessness for the woman because we can see in her face that she needs help and just wants to be treated like an equal, yet we do nothing about it. That is also why we feel guilt. Seeing an advertisement like this really wakes us up and tells us to stop ignoring the fact that WOMEN ARE STILL NOT TREATED AS EQUALS. 

5. Yes this ad is making an ethical appeal. It digs at our good character as human beings to feel shitty about what our world is still like today. They make us realize what is still going on in the world and that it isn't right.

6. The text definitely does most of the work by explaining exactly what message we are trying to get across in the advertisement. However, not only does the image attract us to the text, it also points out the fact that women in developing countries still face massive sexism, with the use of a hijab.

Appealing to Your Audience

Source of advertisement: here

1. Who is the speaker of this advertisement?
The Canadian Coalition for Influenza Immunization is the speaker of this ad. I know this because their name is plastered right on the picture.

2. Who is the speaker's intended audience?
The intended audience is every person who is of age to get a flu shot.

3. How do I know who the audience is?
I know that the speaker trying to target all persons because in the photo on the advertisement, there are people of all ages represented. It is also important for people to get the flu shot not only so that they will not get the flu, but also so that they will not spread the flu virus.

4. How has the audience influenced the speaker's choice of argumentative strategies?
Because the audience includes all persons, the advertisement chose to use a logical strategy to scare people into getting the flu shot. They use logic reasons in their first sentence by threatening death and serious illness. Obviously people would feel scared by this, which makes the advertisement successful.

Advertisement Reading

Here is the advertisement I chose to examine: Mr. Clean

1. The audience this advertisement is targeting is lonely, heterosexual housewives. I can tell because they have a woman as the main actress and they are using Mr. Clean to add human sexuality to the advertisement. The advertisers are assuming that the women they are targeting are stay at home moms/wives.

2. This is a populist advertisement because everyone can buy soap and almost everyone uses soap and cleaning products on a daily basis. The traditions this advertisement relies on is home life and the idea of women not working during the day, therefore being lonely while her husband and kids are at school and work.

3. My prior knowledge of these cleaning products is that they come in many different forms including sprays, sponges, and mops. I also know that these products do well with heavy dirt and grime. My prior knowledge of the advertisement is knowing that Mr. Clean is the face of those cleaning materials. I also know that Mr. Clean is a bald man who always dresses in white to really show how clean he is. Knowing that Mr. Clean is the face of this product makes it a whole lot easier to understand that this isn't just some random man in the lady's kitchen. The clean and plain look of Mr. Clean also helps you understand that they are advertising a cleaning product.

4. This advertisement is designed to use human sexuality to seduce housewives into buying the product. It plays on the lonely emotions of a housewife and the desire for her husband to clean the house. It also commodifies the desire for her husband to take initiative and not have to be told what to do.

5. The unstated message that this ad is conveying is "If you buy this cleaning product, not only will your husband start cleaning, he will also look sexy doing it." It employs the themes of human sexuality, loneliness, and cleanliness. This ad is telling us that in American culture human sexuality can be used to sell anything, even cleaning products.