The Many Messages Behind a Picture: A Rhetorical Advertisement Analysis Advertisements are always around us. They are in every phone, every computer, the newspaper, and in every magazine. Advertisements are omnipotent and, similar to bothersome siblings, they are constantly reminding you that they exist. Advertisements always distract us and generally force you to look at them. Although we try not to look, our attention is always drawn to bright lights, the word free, or motion.
It is these tactics that companies use to first grab your attention. From there, everything from the background color to the font that companies meticulously place serves an undeniable purpose to entice the customer and set them on a tunnel vision journey to buy their product. Whether it’s a new car, a new item at McDonalds, or a new beauty product, companies are always trying to grab your attention for money. For decades, the art of advertising is constantly evolving. They are always trying out new tactics to sell their product better than their competitors. Some of these tactics include artwork drawn to promote the company name, insulting other companies, positive colors, sex appeal, humor, catchy tunes, or in some cases include everything.
In any case, the art of advertising is sneaky and there is always something behind the smile. The first ad is the Diet Coke sold by Coca Cola. Coca Cola introduced its new Calorie Reduced Soda called Diet Coke in 1982. It is still mass-produced and known internationally twenty-nine years later. One advertisement sells its product in a linear fashion. It presents their soda, promoting messages, and the soda’s name twice.
The advertisement is not eye catching, but it does not confuse viewers. The second ad is of . . Coke ad. Although the ad lacked enough material for it to be eye catching, the ad itself was not confusing. It presented its product, messages, and color in a precise fashion.
Coca Cola purposely chose black, red and gray to appeal to both men and women. The fact that the ad is aiming to include everybody is a solid point. The diet coke ad also managed to fit in Ethos, Pathos, and Logos within its ad. To cap it off the ad hid arrows with font, positioned the bottle to point to the top, and also managed to add a taunting factor to bring in audiences. It was an ingenious way to hide everything behind a simple non-moving picture. And who knows there might be more things lurking in the same ad.
In fact, companies are always hiding several messages behind their advertisements. Just remember the art of advertising is sneaky and there is always something behind the smile.
