I really like this ad because of the great visual lushness of the images presents a futuristic scene at once frightening and enticing, reminiscent in the feel of the lighting of parts of Scott's Blade Runner. The cinematic technology, with its telephoto lenses and mattes, is supplemented by the electronically generated slow-motion flying hammer and blinding white light that fills the hall at the end of the spot. The aural code is complex. The meaningless sloganeering of the tyrant puppet on the screen continues unceasingly, destructive of thinking, of reflection. The marching feet, the great hall ambiance, the electronic rumble, all work to create an aura of dread, of industrialized enterprises and great human misery. The reason that apple is doing this is to show the fact that because of their new creative Macintosh computer, consumers at the time didn’t have to fear the world that they show in their commercial. In a less overt way, the people in the commercial also evoke the haunting specter of joblessness, of the displacement of humans by machines, a concern that has become increasingly manifest for Americans in the 1990s and 1980s. Apple tries to ease the people watching the commercial by encouraging that if their product is bought, fear of such emptiness will cease.

This Lacoste advertisement was run in various magazines. It depicts a man in sporty clothing flying through the air in a scene of motion. The colors and pose used make this an eye-catching picture, and the amount of text is limited so that the point is conveyed quickly. This has the potential to be an effective form of advertising.
Lacoste tends to use the concept of a moment of free motion suspended in time. This gives their ads a unique appeal, because the models look active and pleased to be wearing their clothing, or in this case, wearing their cologne. He is very free looking and this is an appeal on the company’s behalf to the viewer to recognize the freedom offered by using this cologne. The logos of the ad is limited unless one has seen other ads by Lacoste. They are very themed on freedom and motion.
The ad is run in magazines such as Vogue and Teen Vogue, which are primarily published for women. Therefore the target audience is women who have men for whom to buy cologne. It is somewhat common for women to buy cologne for their boyfriend or husband, so the ad needs to appeal to ladies. It does this by using an attractive man in an active pose. The idea of attractiveness lends to the pathos that attractive men smell good. While it is not a very logos-oriented argument, it can still be effective.
The text on the ad says, “Lacoste Essential,” which is simplistic but impacts the viewer. The word “essential” is a play on the assumed need for simplicity and straight-forwardness for men, saying that men only need what is essential, and this happens to be just that.
This ad can be very effective, because it appeals to women as well as the few men that might happen to see it, it is not offensive to most people, and it catches viewers’ attention rapidly.

Whitney Curd
March 5, 2007
RHE 306

Visual Rhetoric Assignment

The visual advertisement I picked for this assignment is a Bud Light commercial. The advertisement starts out as a man sitting on the couch. His lover is trying to entice him into the bed room with sex. He seems uninterested until she mentions Bud Light. Then he is overly excited flew threw the upstairs window after running upstairs for beer. This commercial grabs your attention at first by simply being on your TV and most likely the center of your attention already. The ad persuades you to buy Bud Light because it’s always worth it. Bud Light is projecting that beer is fun, even better than sex. The audience the commercial targets is older males although the messages could be appealing to younger men as well as minors. The commercials ethos is that the product is of good quality and effective alcoholic beverage. The commercial attempts to gain trust from consumer over shared feelings and interest. This adds trust drawing attention away from the fact that the commercial is trying to get the consumer to purchase a product. The commercial’s pathos appeals to men’s believe when drunken sex is more fun, and women more exciting. The humor shown in the commercial is consistent with the humor of most males intoxicated or not. The logos of the commercial comes from reasons along the lines of the target audience and the actor in the commercial hold common feelings toward women, liking beer, and common interest in television. This leads to the conclusion that the two would share the liking of this beer brand as well. I call this the “hey, that’s guys just like me” advertising gimmick. This commercial over all is very convincing. This ad was in the super bowl one of the most competitive times of year for commercials. The goal is to talking the consumer in to wanting the product. I am not the target audience I feel influenced by the company already. This commercial could be view as offensive to people who wish sex to me more discreet in society. I think the commercial is offensive to women. It implies that women are less important than beer. It also advocates that drink is ok and can be shared with in a relationship.

Link:http://www.ifilm.com/video/2419144

Nicholas Walsh
RHE 306 Spring 2007
4 Feb 2007

A good example of visual rhetoric is the photograph shown below of an atomic bomb explosion. I chose this example because it is personally one of my favorite photographs. So many thoughts and arguments are provoked just from this single photograph.
Some people look at this picture and see destruction, death, war, even evil. These thoughts do not seem unreasonable considering the larger context of the atomic bomb itself. Though this photograph may not be of the bombs dropped over Hiroshima or Nagasaki during the second world war, thoughts of these events are commonly linked with photographs such as this one. Along with these thoughts comes those related to the events such as the cities that were turned to rubble or the hundreds of thousands of Japanese that lost there lives that day. Because of this pacifism is often encourage upon viewing this picture.
Personally, I look at this photo and I see beauty. I am reminded of a quote from the shot story The Destructors where it is said that “destruction after all is a form of creation.” I believe that this quote holds true in the case of this photograph. In World War II, the bombs destroyed two cities and resulted in the creation of a new era along with a new Japan.

https://webspace.utexas.edu/dad932/lacoste.jpg?uniq=l3wfc

Today the two main types of computers available, Macs and PCs; recently two new operating systems have been developed. Apple is close to releasing Mac OS X Leopard and Microsoft has just released Windows Vista. This commercial is an attempt by Mac to point out the flaws of Vista and sway the consumer towards buying a Mac instead. This commercial caught my attention because of the simplicity of the commercial and also the way in which Mac and PC are portrayed.
This commercial and similar commercials by Mac are played quite frequently on most TV stations as commercials. This would lead most people to believe that the target audience is all consumers, but that’s not the case. In the commercials, “PC” is always portrayed as a middle-aged businessman in a tight suit with glasses, the typical white and blue-collar worker. However, “Mac” is younger and dressed in casual attire with a laid-back attitude. This would appeal more to a younger audience rather than a middle-aged or older audience, which is wise because younger people would be most likely to buy personal computers whereas businessmen usually have computers supplied and the elderly are not interested in learning about new technology. Mac is also known for its artistic icons and widgets, which appeal to younger consumers.
Apple and Microsoft are both very well-known companies, holding the majority of the technology market in many countries around the globe. For this reason, Mac has to make its argument more effective by pointing out the flaws of PC. This is done through the presence of the security guard that prompts the man playing PC for everything that he says or is being told. The security guard points out the fact that even though Mac and PC are comparable, Mac is more convenient because it is secure without the annoyance of the “security guard” asking for approval to execute every action.
Overall, this commercial was pretty effective on proving that Mac is better for security, but this is only part of a computer’s operating system and other elements must be examined as well. However, there are several other commercials that address the various downfalls of PC, including commercials in other languages, so Apple has decided to use a similar advertising scheme globally. The image of PC as a somewhat-awkward businessman could offend some people, but the target audience is mainly young people who would find PC amusing, not offending.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n4mdcXa8B0&mode=related&search=

Similar commercial in Japanese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6rna2zNCi0&mode=related&search=

There are many issues, political or not, targeted, questioned and discussed via the media. One such form would be the cartoon strips in the daily newspapers. I happened to come across a very important issue of gay marriage addressed on the website of ‘PoliticalCartoons.com’. The picture is of an old man with his wife standing behind him, screaming at two young men saying: ‘I came to tell you wretched homosexuals that your same sex marriage is ugly and unnatural and makes sick, sick, sick!!’ His wife seems to agree with him as she also says: ‘Sick, sick, sick!!’ This is followed by another picture, which shows the wife of the old man chained like a dog and her husband shouting: ‘They are gone now, dear. Back to the kitchen with you. Now hell, wife, heel!!’ and she responds by complying.
It caught my attention primarily due to the ironic statement made by the elderly gentlemen. It shows that many people, to this day, have not accepted the idea of homosexuality and how ‘unnatural’ it is to have gay marriages. The image usually put forth is always of a man and woman. I find it highly interesting how this elderly gentleman can go about insulting two individuals of the same sex who are in love and have respect and understanding for each other when he himself treats his wife like a slave. This image also shows the mind-set of some people till date has not changed about women. I, personally, have a friend who believes that women should stay at home and take care of the kids and the household after marriage. This cartoon appeals to all homosexuals as well as women everywhere. The aim not to offend anybody, but to bring forth the hypocrisy of the common narrow-minded man. The joke is eventually on the old man in the end.

http://www.cagle.com/news/GayMarriage/2.asp

"There's an M&M in everyone."

The advertisement that I chose was a commercial about M&M’s. This advertisement caught my attention because of the music and creativity the advertiser expresses. The commercial’s setting is in various places: an apartment, barber shop, photo booth, an alley/basketball court, a copy room of a business, and a movie theater. The commercial ends with the slogan, “There’s an M&M in everyone. Find yours.” The background music’s lyrics say, “This is the day, your life with surely change, this is the day, when things fall into place.” The audience of this commercial could be anyone, however, people who eat M&M’s are more likely to find this advertisement more intriguing. As an audience member, this commercial seems to convey the message that everyone has their own individual qualities. Each setting in the commercial shows people doing normal things on a regular basis — walking their dog, getting their hair cut, taking pictures, dancing, going to work, and going to the movies. By changing the people into M&M’s expresses everyone’s ability to be their own person, and finding who you are. It may be a silly way to get the message across, but, I find it effective because of the catchy song and the routine behaviors that people have.

Commercial Link:
http://us.mms.com/us/fungames/tv/play_mp4.jsp?movieid=MZFM0051_Animation

Off Limits

Visual arguments, which occur in advertisements, can capture the attention of an audience instantly. These arguments have many tools to entertain and persuade viewers, such as colors, contrast, and visual effects that catch the eye along with comedy and dialogue that humors the ear. Commercials of today must use all of theses tools to be successful in achieving the intended goal. One such commercial that achieves this is the Miller Lite Man Law commercial concerning overflowing beers.

The initial scene is somewhat puzzling with a group of men sitting around a square table in a glass room. Instantly, the situation of the men catches the attention of the viewers as they begin to listen for explanations. Burt Reynolds, Jimmy Johnson, Jerome Bettis, along with many other famous faces are sitting around the table when one of the men comically causes another mans beer to overflow. Just after this, an argument is incited as another pair of men cause their beers to overflow. The audience is instantly captivated with a humorous scene of men arguing over the seriousness of overflowing beers. Obviously just a simple prank, the viewers see a group of grown men addressing the issue as if it is a serious situation.

As the commercial moves along, the men put in their own opinions and agree that overflowing another mans beer for the sake of humor is wrong. They go into detail, explaining that there are many other means of humoring people such as watching Japanese game shows and renting Undercover Brother on DVD. By the end of this scene of somewhat chaos, the audience is at least smiling and maybe laughing out loud. The men create a man law outlawing overflowing and wasting beer for the sake of comedy.

This spin off of a medieval circular table of honor sets a fitting scene for the audience to relate to and enhances the humor of the scene. Along with the visual effects of the scene, comes a comical dialogue that entertains viewers for a moment. The goal of Miller Brewing Co. is successfully achieved and a few more beers were probably sold only to be the victim of an unlawful overflowing.

The commercial analyzed is a product of the General Motors Corporation, and advertises their 100,000-mile warranty on their vehicles.

The commercial tells the story of a production robot who works on the assembly line. When the robot makes a mistake, an alarm goes off which causes all of the other robots and the people to stop their work and turn their attention to what happened. From here the focus shifts to the people in the factory who have a look of complete dissatisfaction on their faces. A supervisor comes up behind the robot and taps him on the shoulder, and he sinks his head in disappointment. In the next scene the robot is shown on the outside of the factory as the door lowers and darkens the scene. The archetypal color of black is reinforcing the feeling of sorrow. As the robot wonders the streets all it sees are GM cars. It tries to do other jobs, but is not able to excel at any of them. Sad music plays in the background until the robot eventually realizes that it has nothing else to love for and jumps off a bridge. It then awakes with a start, the beginning of the commercial was only a dream, and it breaths a sigh of relief. A voice over then explains that the GM 100,000 mile warranty has everyone at GM obsessed with quality.

The ominous tone of the commercial is a reflection of the poor earnings that the GM Corporation has experienced, but it plans to come back from its situation with its renewed commitment to quality. As foreign car companies become increasingly competitive in the United States, domestic companies have to advertise more in order to appeal to consumers. The audience for this commercial is the American public who might be considering purchasing a new vehicle, and the commitment to quality is how the company has chosen to sell its product. The story that the creators of the ad used to communicate the 100,000 mile warranty has a strong appeal to the emotions of the audience, and because it was aired during the Super Bowl it means that GM invested a great deal of time and money into its success. While the ad is an unconventional split from most car commercials, it is a powerful statement to the consumer.

Commercial Source:
http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads?sem=1&ncid=AOLSPR00170000000011

(Second Quarter, GM: Robot)

http://www.ifilm.com/video/2419144
This is my Bud light commercial.

Naked Pool Party

The ad that I chose was an ad by Bud Light. It was of a man and woman at a party, standing in the backyard looking at a swimming pool. They might be intoxicated, they have beers in their hand, so they decide to go swimming naked. What they don’t realize is that there is a glass wall at the bottom of the pool, and this is where the party is taking place. All of the people at the party are looking at them and watching, and finally they realize and get out, completely embarrassed. This caught my attention first of all because I thought it was a funny advertisement. It is aimed at the party going audience, young children tend not to drink beer or skinny dip, so it is probably at the college age, give or take a couple years. This ad was not effective because it was banned before the Super Bowl and Bud Light was not allowed to show the commercial during the game. Although it is an effective ad, it is not good to show on TV because it did not make it on tv.
I feel that this ad would be a good advertisement on the Howard Stern show, or a late night television channel to limit the amount of young viewers. It was very smart of the directors, showing their ethos to the party goers and their pathos because everybody wants to see naked people on cable television.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EgfAzTFjr9Q

Our vision is our most important sense; therefore, a visual argument should be extremely affective since it affects that sense. This campaign ad was drawn up by The Save a Life organization and they were trying to get a strong point across. Their point was intended to scare drunk drivers and to minimize drunken driving accidents. This ad catches my attention like none other. It’s a picture of a girl that was burned badly from a drunken driving accident. The headline simply states, “Not everyone who gets hit by a drunk driver dies.” The young girl’s burns are so bad that it’s almost hard to look at for more than a few seconds. This is one of the truly best ads ever made for drunken driving because it’s simple, tough to look at, and the human element is brought out very nicely. The ads that bring out that human element in us all are great because it makes us feel for others.
Subsequently, the argument is aimed at drunk drivers. It is used to reach out to the veteran drunk driver and the young, amateur drunk driver. They are trying to get the older drunk drivers to stop and the young up and starting drunk drivers to never begin. Also, this ad makes you think. It makes you think about how much that would hurt, how you would feel if that was your fault, and how must she and her family feel. To make the argument even better the ad includes a picture of the young girl before she was injured in the accident. Now the audience can see how drunken driving can transform a young, beautiful girl into an outcast by the world’s visual standards. Pathos is used here because it draws out the reader’s emotions. As a reader it’s hard to realize that this kind of drastic change can come from a drunken driving incident.
Finally, this campaign ad is and will continue to be very effective. The ad gets as far as they can to the line without crossing it. Because of this many people become offended. The picture on this ad is hard to look at, but it definitely gets the point across. I don’t think it is possible for a human being that has even a tiny bit of compassion in their heart to look at this ad and just continue on with their regular day to day life. Who in their right mind could look at this campaign ad, and then continue to climb into the driver’s side of the vehicle drunk?

http://www.texasdwi.org/images/jacqui_poster.jpg