Advertising
Culture
Modern
culture and society revolves around some sort of sustenance. Nearly everything we do corresponds to when
and how we are going to have our next meal, work and schools for instance have
designated times one can eat throughout the day, as well as facilities to buy
and make the food. Events such as
football, baseball, and fairs all revolve around food and entertainment for the
spectator. Therefore it is only natural
for the supplies of food, restaurants and processing companies, to advertise
their products and present them in a manner that is irresistible to the
consumer. They do this through every
form of media, TV, internet, billboards, etc...
If one examines the advertisements of restaurants such as Chili’s and
Sonic, one can see the techniques put to use by the companies to lure in the
consumer to purchase their product over the other, as well as identify the
culture and value our society puts on food today.
The
first advertisement is from the famous Sonic drive-through restaurant. It is a
very simple design, yet fairly affective billboard. It has a double cheeseburger in the center of
the image that takes up the majority of the poster, with two sentences on top
of it, a fine-print paragraph and the Sonic logo below. The background is a variant of orange that
fades to become white as it reaches the burger.
In the visual aspect the ad is supposed to make the cheese burger very
appealing, almost holy. The color-fading
technique does a great majority of this. The way that it fades from being
orange on the outside to white around the burger, or vise-versa, it gives the
impression that the burger is glowing to a minor extent. It is not overwhelming so that it takes the
attention away from the words, but just enough to give off the impression. Then the sentences at the top of the burger
add more character to the advertisement. They’re both two short, three-word,
sentences. This allows no room for
argument, that what they say is true and non-negotiable. These two aspects tend
to the pathos (emotional appeal) and logos (logical appeal), the color fading
appeals to pathos while the sentences appeal to logos. The target audience for the ad is essentially
those who enjoy fast-food burgers with a lot of layers of condiments. This typically appeals from the higher-upper
class downwards. Most Americans, even
the upper class enjoy burgers. We simply
find the mixture of texture of the bread, meat, and various condiments very
appealing. Sonic appeals to their audience
through simplicity, without any redundant remarks, as well as conforming to the
general public via the diction used in the two sentences.
Based
upon the appeals of the advertisement, it is safe to assume that Sonic is
appealing to what they feel their target audience cares about. Firstly, simplicity is seen all through the
photo, the background, the limited sentences and words and the one burger. One can infer that the target audience wants something
simple to read that attracts their attention. “Layers are in. All winter long.”
Demonstrates that Sonic is tending to this appeal by saying the
double-cheeseburger is popular and that it will be there all winter long. There aren’t any other photos to distract the
viewer, just the burger and two grabbing sentences. It is also safe to assume that the target
audience wants to be popular and be like everyone else. This is seen through
the use of the first sentence, saying “Layers are in.” It is telling the audience that this is what
is popular, this is what everyone is eating, so why aren’t you?
The
next ad is from a slightly higher chain of restaurant, Chili’s, which is not a
drive-through but a sit-down restaurant with a bar. The selected advertisement is very colorful,
with a lot going on. Within the advertisement, there are multiple pictures
depicting scenes of great food, happy customers and inviting staff. It has a few more words than the Sonic ad,
with a big Chili’s logo at the top left and some writing beneath, while the
pictures surround it in various sizes and orientations. Like Sonic, it has very short sentences,
directly below the logo are actually three words proceeded by a period: “Fresh.
Fun. Flavorful.” These brief words also
demonstrate that Chili’s is serious that the restaurant is all of these things
and that anyone who goes there will experience all three. The various pictures
and the multiple colors make the restaurant look extremely fun and active; it
even includes some fluorescent lighting.
The colors appeal to pathos, while the words appeal to logos. The target audience is very clear here, they
are going after younger adults from the upper end of the lower classes to lower
half of the upper classes. They do this
by appealing to fun, vibrant, multiple colors and exciting photos.
In contrast to
Sonic, Chili’s is very vibrant with lots of images. Their target audience is geared towards a
younger more active generation, which explains all the activity on the
advertisement. Chili’s appeals of fun,
vibrant and multiple colors and exciting photos illustrate that the food
culture of their audience is more than just simple burgers like Sonic, but a
very social and active environment to eat in.
Their audience obviously likes to eat with others, socialize and have a
great time while Sonic’s seems to like to eat alone in their car with just
their food, according the first ad.
Food has become a
central aspect in our society, food companies compete repeatedly to have the
best advertisement in an attempt to entice more consumers to eat their
food. Sonic and Chili’s demonstrate this
perfectly through their techniques to appeal to slightly different target
audiences. Without this steep
competition between these giant companies it is difficult to tell where our
society would be today in regards to food, they are the reason why there are so
many food advertisements and competing partners. In essence, food companies have created the
food-centered society we know due to their competition with one another.
1. In what ways does the author analyze the rhetorical functions of the advertisements, and do you agree with this analysis?
ReplyDeleteThe author analyzes the rhetorical functions of the advertisement by equating color-fading to pathos. The holy feel that the image editing gives to the burger makes the product look sanctimonious. He also talks about how the terse sentences appeal to logos because of that definitiveness that shortness gives off.
The author makes a similar connection in the Chili's advertisements with the short, definitive statements but contrasts the simplicity of the burger ad for Sonic with the bright colors and "noise" in the ad. These vibrant images, the author argues, targets the younger demographic.
I definitely agree with the analysis of both. I think it was quite unique to draw a religious undertone from the Sonic advertisement and can see how that might influences consumers. The almost stacatto way both advertisements relay their dialogue definitely makes it sound very serious, very definitive, and very promising to the customers that what they say, is what they will get.
2. What observation about food values and cultures does the author make based upon that analysis?
The author infers that food values are based on what their target audience cares about and the simplicity, arguing that audiences prefer something simple so as to keep their attention. The reference to "layers are in" also deals with humans' wanting to conform which has also become a food value.
For Chili's, the author observes that food culture is associated with a social aspect which is reinforced by the vividness of the ad design. He mentions that Chili's focuses on showing that people like eating with others, etc. whereas Sonic seemed to care about the convenience of getting food from the car by drive-through and eating by oneself.
3. How might you add to or complicate this observation about food values and cultures?
I might talk about what are the differences between Sonic and Chili's in the first place that would cause their projected food culture and values to be different. Since Sonic allows drive-through and Chili's is a sit-down restaurant, it might not be that Sonic doesn't think that socialization is part of food culture but just that it is unnecessary to target in their ads.
4. Any other questions or suggestions for revision?
There are some run-on sentences that I would fix, particularly in the first paragraph which ruin the flow of the introduction. I thought it was great how he referenced specific lines in quotes. I felt the attention to the pathos and logos arguments was more "telling" than "showing." Some areas could use more explaining on why or where for those arguments.
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ReplyDelete1. In what ways does the author analyze the rhetorical functions of the advertisements, and do you agree with this analysis?
ReplyDeleteKristofer analyzes the rhetorical functions of the advertisements mainly by addressing who the target audience is and how the ad fits and relates to this audience. It is extremely effective because you can see exactly what the ad is intending to do in regards to one set of the population. He doesn’t make confusing relations rather keeps it simple.
2.What observation about food values and cultures does the author make based upon that analysis?
Kristofer observes that much of our culture is based around food and eating whether that is eating healthy, eating a lot or not eating it is a central part of our lives. Because of this, the market has grown considerably. The media has followed this trend and there are many forms of advertising and promoting which has created a very competitive market through both the producers and consumers. He speaks about conformity to the social norm in reference to food and where one eats as well as the social aspects of eating together.
3. How might you add to or complicate this observation about food values and cultures?
I would expand this view to how it effects the lives of people. What has this competitiveness done to add or take away from our culture and values. Comparing the differences between the two might add to what one infers from the information Kristofer previously mentioned about each ad by itself.
4. Any other questions or suggestions for revision?
I think this was a very well written essay. I would expand on the analysis of our societies culture and values. Perhaps look from a different perspective just to add more to the analysis.