How to Analyze an Advertisement 💰 Get the Best Grades ✔️

You can hardly think of an item that wasn't advertised. Advertisements surround us everywhere. They have become real psychological games. Back in the past, promotions were utterly different. They were expensive, and only the largest corporations could afford to advertise their products. Now nearly anyone can make a commercial so that millions of people see it, although it might be ridiculous and absurd.

Since advertisements are an essential part of our life, we have to analyze them thoroughly. Many businesses have unique approaches to coining ads, so it is crucial to know how they influence people's lives. It comes as no surprise that students can be asked to compose and analyze advertisement essay. And we are ready to present the most critical elements you have to consider that will help you understand how to analyze an advertisement.

How to Analyze an Advertisement: Pre-writing Steps

Before you start writing an essay, you have to choose a commercial you want to evaluate and research. If you have freedom of choice, you can select any ad that you find striking. But remember that regardless of the promotion you pick, you have to remain objective. That is crucial, as you will have to determine the advertisement's target audience, language, and graphics.

Target audience

Try to identify the target audience of the ad. Is the advertisement addressed to female customers, male, or both? What's the ad's range of age? Where can this ad be found? Does the resource promote other ads? If so, what are they about? Answering these questions will help you understand how to write an ad analysis essay.

Language

When it comes to language, you have to define the features of the speech. Pay attention to each word, as the incorporation of them creates the ad's entire code. Does the ad have a slogan? Are there any repetitive words? What does the commercial stress? How many adjectives does every sentence have?

Graphics

The graphics have a strong emotional appeal. If your ad is about beauty, meaning specific shampoo or deodorant, or perfume, you will likely spot a beautiful model in elegant clothes. That is done on purpose because many recipients strive to have the same appearance.

Apart from the model, look at decorations and other additional items present in the commercial. That can be fresh fruit, appealing trees, and breathtaking surroundings. Such things aim to prove that the promoted product is entirely safe and doesn't contain chemicals or artificial ingredients.

Cultural importance

Additionally to those aspects, it is vital to recognize the ad's cultural background. A plethora of commercials are produced in America and for the American market. That is why you can spot the American perception of the world. If you choose something generated outside the US, try to determine what the ad promotes. This final aspect will give you a clear picture of how to write an analysis essay on an advertisement.

Writing Outline

Although an ad analysis essay outline may not be a compulsory element of your assignment, it is crucial to compose it when dealing with extensive tasks. An outline is a roadmap of your forthcoming piece. It helps you remain organized and include only the necessary components.

Please note that the outline doesn't have one required structure. Therefore, the following is a suggestion, and in no condition are you obliged to structure your outline and essay like this.

Introduction

When writing an advertisement essay introduction, you can use several techniques to spark the reader's attention. You are free to choose any of the following:

Narrative introduction
Interrogative introduction
Paradoxical introduction
Statistical introduction
Jocular introduction

Thesis statement

A thesis statement is the most significant part of your piece. It demonstrates the points you will develop in your essay.

Concerning the thesis statement's structure, it is slightly different from the regular we usually stick to when completing writing assignments. The following just shows a critical analysis of advertisement example; you can alter it, but ensure pointing out obvious and concealed messages.

Example: the Juul commercial explicitly sells pods, but it implicitly sells acceptance, prestige, independence, safety, and the ability to smoke indoors.

Explicitly means clear messages
Without a doubt, the company sells its product, which is smoking pods.
Implicitly means concealed messages
Messages the company tries to convey to the potential users. Juul Labs, Inc attempts to convince the audience that once you buy its device, you will get a new lease on life: your peers will respect you, you will become independent, safe, and so on. It would be reasonable to mention that the implicit part is subjective, and many people can disagree with your points. The only thing you can do to persuade the reader is to provide compelling examples and explanations within further paragraphs.

On to the next part.

A brief description of the advertisement

Here, you don't have to reinvent the wheel and describe anything that was not included in the ad. Simply explain how the commercial looks, what the colors are, who the model is. You should be as objective as possible.

Target audience and the ad itself

This section requires writing about the significant group of people this advertisement aims to influence. Analyze the gender, race, age, education, social, and financial status of the target group. Aside from that, briefly analyze the platform the ad was released on (applies to commercials retrieved from magazines/websites). What other ads does it post? Do they go hand-in-hand with your ad's statements? Or do they contradict one another?

Logical appeals (Logos)

The main question about this attribute will be, "How does the ad employ logos to apply to the target audience?"

Depending on the word count, you may have to write one or more paragraphs explaining the concept.

Emotional appeals (Pathos)

A similar question, "How does the ad employ pathos to get to the target audience?"

Ethical appeals (Ethos)

"How does the ad employ ethos to get to the target audience?"

Conclusion

The conclusion is the most suitable place to shed some light on the ad's cultural importance. Display some values, attributes, and beliefs the commercial preserves.

For instance: I might argue that the advertisement seems to reiterate the notion that people have to be independent. Moreover, the commercial carries the idea of a successful American individual that smokes and can perform a smoking session without going outside, which, in turn, saves a person's time.

This holistic approach explains how to analyze an advertisement and the collected data and compose a compelling essay. The strategy we demonstrated will enhance your interest in writing such an assignment. Use these tips daily to boost your productivity!