Lecture 15COM 143—Week 12: Semiotic Ad AnalysisAs our textbook makes clear, advertisements fuel much of our media. Advertisers anxious to reach consumers pay for or subsidize most of the magazines and newspapers we read, the TV shows we watch, and the websites we visit. In fact, one could say that advertisements are the reason America’s media industries exist. Marketers spend millions of dollars conducting research, designing ad campaigns, and producing ads. They are obsessed with knowing how we think, so they can more effectively persuade us to buy their products and services. Yet we rarely stop to think about them—the advertisements or the advertisers. In fact, many of us like to think that we are immune to those messages. But companies wouldn’t be spending billions of dollars on ads if they didn’t work in some way. Goal: to use the terms and strategies of semiotic analysis to carefully examine an ad in depth—to answer the question: “What is this ad trying to communicate and exactly how is it doing it?” Entry: ~800 words (roughly 2 to 3 pages). Well organized with an intro and conclusion. If you need to go over abit, that is okay. However, be concise; go long only if you have valuable things to add to your analysis.Step 1: Select a print ad from a magazine. REQUIREMENTS: - Your ad must be from a magazine (not from online).You MUST include the original copy of the ad in your diary folder. - If you cannot include the original copy, you can include a color Xeroxed copy. (Since color can be an important semiotic feature, we need to see the color version). - In your paper, you must identify which magazine the ad is from (i.e., give the title and the date of the issue); magazine titles must be italicized; if you fail to provide this info properly formatted your entry will receive no higher than 12 points. Note: you do NOT need to “cite” the ad or include it in a bibliography. TIP: - Pick an ad that will lead to an interesting analysis. In theory, you could do this assignment for any ad, but in reality, some ads will enable you to say more than others. Select strategically! Step 2: Analyze how the ad is trying to persuade the ad’s “reader,” to buy it. In lecture on 10/28 and 30, Dr. Becker will demonstrate how you can analyze the way almost every element of an ad works to communicate meaning. The main task of your entry will be to explain the message the ad is trying to send by carefully analyzing the specific aspects of the ad that are most pertinent/salient (e.g., its text, images, layout, fonts, color palette, etc). You can use your reaction to the ad as a starting point for a more reflective semiotic analysis of what the producers’ of the ad are likely trying to convey. Your analysis MUST clearly demonstrate an engagement with class material (i.e., use terms and concepts from lecture; demonstrate an understanding of the semiotic method). TIP: Consider whom the ad is targeting. When analyzing the ad’s message and its strategies for conveying that message, you will likely find it useful to consider whom the ad is targeting. In this day of target marketing, ads are usually constructed with a specific demographic in mind. Think about how various elements of the ad might have been chosen to appeal to the demographics/psychographics of the magazine’s readership. Doing so will likely make it easier for you to develop a focused and interesting analysis. COM 143 1st Edition1Step 3: Write your entry. Take the time to write an engaging entry. While all of your entries should be clear and free of typos, your major 20-point diary entries should reflect a serious effort to organize your ideas into effective paragraphs with an introduction and conclusion. Especially important is to organize your entry around a clear thesis statement. Your thesis sentence needs to identify what the ad’s overall message is and how you think the ad tries to communicate that message (i.e., what is its communication strategy?). In the rest of the entry you will then explain how the specific elements of the ad work to convey that message. TIPS: - Describe your ad succinctly. Although you will have to include a copy of the ad in your diary folder, you should briefly introduce your reader to the ad with a description that orients them. Don’t drop your reader right into the middle of your ad analysis. Instead, ask yourself: what information would be useful to give my reader about the ad to help prepare them for the close analysis I am going to do? - Pay attention to developing a persuasive ad analysis. In providing your analysis, we are essentially asking you to provide your interpretation of how the ad tries to sell its product/service by constructing a specific message, mood, and/or feeling through exploiting various connotative meanings. To make your interpretation/analysis persuasive, you should focus on identifying specific elements of the ad and explain in a clear and convincing way how those elements tap intospecific connotations and contribute to the ad’s larger communication strategy (i.e., HOW the ad tries to communicate its specific message). - Two solid semiotic ad analysis theses from past student work: #1: “Through careful word choice and warm images of an upper-class kitchen, Great Harvest Breads tries convince the Healthy Living magazine reader that their bread is not just an ordinary grocery item; it is an integral ingredient to creating a wholesome, happy family.” #2: “This Chrysler ad strategically combines its text with framing, rich colors, and a stylized font to connect their car to the concept of ‘earned luxury.’” Note how they: convey the ad’s overarching communication strategy by identifying the message (e.g., our bread is part of a happy family life; you have earned the right toexperience the luxury of a Chrysler car) and preview specific elements of the ad that are essential to understanding HOW the message is conveyed). The body of the paper should then be focused on supporting this thesis statement. Step 4: Underline your thesis statement. Your thesis statement is the backbone of your paper. Underlining it will force you to pay attention to its quality and help your reader easily identify what you think your paper’s throughline is—its organizing assertion. Step 5: Edit your entry. The most successful students understand the importance of finishing an entry early, taking a day off from it, then returning with