hello, Read this essay assignment thoroughly, more than once, before you begin.

This essay asks you to carefully consider a full-color magazine ad in order to determine how it successfully reaches its target audience. To reach that goal, you’ll need to discuss whom the ad is targeting; what the advertiser is promising–literally and implicitly; what assumptions the advertiser is making; and what, if any, logical fallacies are present in the ad. Relating concepts from Schudson’s article to your ad is also a good idea. Ultimately, your thesis will address how your ad successfully reaches its target audience.

Getting Started

First, read/re-read Schudson’s essay early on—a couple of times. The reason I ask you to read Schudson’s essay is that it so exemplifies the often treacherous, crafty nature of advertising, a nature which seeks to fill your head with “other” ideas in order to subtly fashion your thinking, your larger sense beliefs about the world. For example, notice how Schudson ultimately associates religion with propaganda, through a gradual connection with art and advertising. He’s demonstrating to you how advertisers can subtly blur then shift the focus of their message (or embed other messages) to push a particular view of the world on you. And the beauty of this “fashioning” of thought is that advertisers do it so subtly, in the guise of merely trying to sell you a simple product, using inane ads, often not meant to be taken seriously.

Then, examine your ad to determine who its target audience is. You may ask whether this ad is designed for men, women, both sexes, children, old people, people of all ages, young adults, one particular race, all races, those in the middle class, those who aspire to be “upper” class but are not, those who buy only on credit, people of a particular sexual or political orientation, and so on.

Next, examine your ad to determine how it successfully reaches its target audience. Analyze the colors (or lack of color), the people, the objects, the clothes (or lack of clothing), the focus (is it blurred or are the shapes sharply defined?), the shape and size of the headlines and other copy in the ad, or anything else in the ad that helps sell the product. Ask yourself over and over: “Why is this item in the ad?” “Why is the ad designed in this manner?” “How does the item or design help sell the product to the target group?”

Finally, don’t forget to “read” the background “noise” of your ad…the implications, the “other” messages…the propaganda. Ask yourself what ideas your ad implies and thus tries to put into your head? What is it selling beyond the literal product? (Schudson’s belief in the larger sense)

(Remember: Everything in an ad is there to attract a buyer; nothing is placed at random.)You’re trying to explain why the advertisement works to reach an audience, not why (or how) a product is good. Explain how the ad sells the product; don’t sell the reader the product.