Transcript Making Money, Making Monsters The Effects of Advertising Human

Making Money, Making Monsters
Advertising Human Images
The Monsters We Make
Spring 2005
Stacey Jean Barron
Basics of Advertising
• Ads persuade the “buyer” to:
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get the “good” (Acquisition)
keep the “good” (Protection)
avoid the “bad” (Prevention)
get rid of the “bad” (Relief)
• Persuasion is a mutual transaction between
benefit-promisers (the ads) and benefit-seekers
(the viewer).
• Persuasion need not be explicit or rational.
The Basics….
• Ads follow this formula:
– Hi (attention-getting)
– Trust Me (confidence-building)
– You Need (desire-stimulating)
– Hurry (urgency-stressing)
– Buy (response-seeking)
• Ads are everywhere, created by hundreds of
people, and are not going away.
Analyzing Ads
• Analysis (deconstruction): careful and close
examination of a piece’s explicit and implicit
meaning(s).
• Analysis need not be expansive.
• While analyzing an ad look at:
> images
> emotional appeal
> shape & color
> value judgements
> placement
> juxtaposition
> size
> text
Analyzing the Harm of Ads
• Harmful effects of advertising can be:
– indirect
– delayed
– cumulative
• Ads can be:
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Intrusive (too many ads, ads in inappropriate places)
Deceptive (“bad” downplayed, lied about, ignored)
Offensive (negative images of/toward people/groups)
Prob. Inducing (increase debt, stress, poor self-image)
Questions to Ask
• What is the product?
• Who is being targeted? What text, images, etc.
lead you to this conclusion?
• What is the subtext?
• What values are expressed?
• What tools/techniques of persuassion are used?
• In what ways is this a healthy and/or unhealthy
message?
Example
• Image: nude
woman in plastic,
man w/gun, corner
• Placement: man
hidden, woman’s
face hidden,
woman as focus
• Emotions: fear,
anger, abuse,
vulnerability
Exercise
• Pick an ad from www.genderads.com, print it out,
then answer these questions:
– What is the product and who is targeted?
– What’s explicit? Implicit? Explain.
– What are the emotions and values? Explain.
– Is this ad harmful? How? Explain.
– How does monstrosity figure into the ad?