Deadline: Week Seven in class

Directions:  This assignment will ask you to utilize what you learned from the Advertising and Branding lectures.

Select three ads from any magazine. The first ad should show only women--at least two. The second ad should show only men--at least two, and the third ad should have at least one male and one female. At least one of those ads should have a minority person (African American, Arab American, Asian, Latino…). In all three ads, a body part counts as one person (so, for the third ad you could select an ad of a woman's face with a man's hand caressing her).

Then, write a paragraph critiquing each of the three ads and comparing and contrasting them (max one page).  Then, bring the ads with you to class and be prepared to present your critique. You will have 2-3 minutes and will need to hand in the short paper.  You will mainly be graded on your critical presentation.

Here are some things to look for:

- What is the item being advertised? And what role does it play in American culture?
- What is the “mood” of the ad and how is it created?
- What is the relationship between pictorial elements and written material?
- Are any signs or symbols used?  What role do they play in the ad’s impact?
- Talk about the figures (men, women, children, animals) in the ad? What can be said about their facial expressions, poses, hairstyle, age, sex, hair color, ethnicity, education, occupation, relationships (of one to the other), voices?
- How are the people portrayed? Is their body language sexually provocative? Are there violent elements? Are stereotypes employed?
- What camera angle is used? What parts of the models' bodies are shown? Are certain parts emphasized?
- What is the relationship between the two people (or among the group of people) in the ad?
- Where is the ad taking place and what significance does the background have?
- Does it essentially provide information or does it try to generate an emotional response?


Here’s a brief example for the last question: "The jeans ad below shows a white male and what seems to be a white female.  The male is given prominence in the image by a low angle camera shot. He is laid back, looking straight at us with his body and face shown…  The female, on the other hand, is shown from above the waist to a little above the knee.  This image of the female focuses on a sexually suggestive part of her body and features a sliver of skin of her lower abdomen… The male is fully dressed and is depicted from head to feet; he occupies,  most of the picture.  The dominant male and only partially shown female give the picture a sexual dimension. The female is clearly objectified (reduced from a whole human being to an object for someone else’s satisfaction).  Her face is not shown, suggesting that she is only a body – she has no head, no brains."