Essay #1 Advertising Analysis {Preamble/ Rationale} Breaking down an ad into its component parts and realizing its message will help exercise your analytical skills. {Assignment} Using MLA style for formatting, your task is to analyze a piece of advertising (print, television commercial, or Internet video) in a 500-600 word essay. To do this, you will need to break the ad down into component parts and then comment on its ultimate message and its chances for success in pitching to its target audience. {Process} Begin by answering the following questions. What is the main hook of the ad – that is, what grabs your initial attention? List additional appeals and briefly describe. (First name appeals in terms of category, not particularities. A man sitting next to a monkey with an air filter crown is the particular that appeals to your CURIOSITY, which is what you should call the appeal. Initial hooks are usually to curiosity, beauty or sexuality (especially in print advertising), fear, safety or other primal concerns. A celebrity appeal is also common. Additional appeals can get more sophisticated, such as to a “lifestyle”, building on a (known) brand, or point-outs to websites, which are bonus but not essential.) Google “Mazslo’s Hierarchy of Needs” for a refresher on basic versus advanced human needs and yearnings. [For TV or Internet video] What is the storyline? (As is a book or movie, this means characters doing things, on the timeline we call a plot, although it is much more brief.) What visual elements are at work (atmosphere, lighting, special effects, etc.)? What is most prominently featured, and what is in the background? Who do you think is the ad’s target audience (the people it’s most intended for) ? What is the ad’s ultimate message? Is the ad successful in selling to its audience? {Some assembly required}