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Topic: AD - Analysis
International English IB & IG

Advertising Analysis
Techniques advertisers use to persuade you to buy things, believe in ideas or support candidates often against your
better judgment. Advertising is both big business and a science!
Billions of dollars advertising every year to convince you to buy products whether you need them or not! Advertisers
use principles and techniques based on:
• Human behaviour and psychology (How people act, react and think)
• Marketing studies (Who buys what and why)
• Principles of design and colour (What colour and designs appeal to people)
Advertisers are like salesman in many ways.
They are often “selling” you products ideas and people by very exact and proven methods.
Why Should We Analyze?
• Analyzing ads helps us understand ourselves as well as the market so that we can make intelligent decisions.
• Analyzing helps us avoid being manipulated or controlled.
• Analyzing helps prevent costly mistakes in impulse buying.
• Analyzing is fun!
LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic detail-oriented facts rule words and language present and past math and science can comprehend
knowing acknowledges order/pattern perception knows object name reality based forms strategies practical safe.
RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling "big picture" oriented imagination rules symbols and images present and future philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning) believes appreciates spatial perception knows object function fantasy-based presents
possibilities impetuous risk taking.
To convince people to buy their products, ideas or candidates, advertisers use:
1. Rhetorical Appeals:
• Pathos: Appeals to the emotions

• Logos: Appeals to reason
• Ethos: Appeals to authority or ethics
2. Propaganda Techniques:
Name Calling, Transfer, Glittering Generalities, Testimonial, Magic Ingredients, Bandwagon, Card Stacking
3. Colour and Design principles
Colour symbolism, atmosphere, aids the mood creation.
Rhetorical Appeals
Material developed for sole education purposes. IB and IGCSE English and Math tutoring by certified professional teachers.
Contact for private and group tuitions: +91-9920227777. English by Joseph Krippner. Math by Prof. Hansraj Singh.
In the 3rd Century B.C. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and student of both Plato and Socrates, formulated the
concept of rhetorical appeals as a system of successful debate and persuasion
Rhetoric (n) - the art of speaking or writing convincingly or persuasively.
The goal of argumentative or persuasive writing or speaking is to persuade your audience that your ideas are valid,
or more valid than someone else's.
•Ethos: persuasion based on the source's credibility, the speaker's/author's authority and position. Who is
persuading is the hallmark of ethos.
•Logos: the logic used to support a claim (induction and deduction); can also be the facts and statistics used
to help support the argument.
•Pathos: the emotional or motivational appeals; vivid language, emotional language and numerous sensory
details; appeal to feelings
Ethos
Ethos is appeal based on the character of the speaker. An ethos-driven advertisement relies on the reputation and
authority of the person representing the product, the idea or the company itself. It goes hand and hand with the
Transfer propaganda technique.
Many people allow themselves to be easily manipulated by people they respect or admire. This has created a whole
culture of celebrity endorsements.
Much of the reputation for contemporary authority figures and "role models" is based on clever public relations
rather than virtue or character. Also, mass media has made influential celebrities of otherwise obscure people.
This makes Ethos a particularly effective technique today.
Logos - Logic and Reason
• Advertisers appeal to our logic and reason by using scientific "facts" and studies, statistics, and expert opinions in
their ads to appeal to our left brains.
Pathos - Emotions
Advertisers easily persuade us by appealing to the whole range of emotions and feelings, activating our right brains.
Fear! Patriotism! Pride!
Anger! Love and Sex! Humour! Etc...
Color and Design
Advertisers have studied the effects of different colours on human feelings and behaviours, and so they use specific
colours and design patterns to help sell their products.
Placement and Design for ads
Psychologically the human eye tends to focus on specific areas in a visual field. Often the most dominant images in
an ad are either off centre on the right or left of the page.
COLOUR SYMBOLISM CHART
Text is usually not centred but is either off to the side on the upper or lower corners to keep the viewer's eye moving
around the page, often in a clockwise direction
The Seven Most Common Advertising Techniques
Advertisers use very specific propaganda techniques to sell products.
Propaganda: " deceptive or distorted information to promote a policy or product"
Propaganda Techniques in Today's Advertising by Ann McClintock (Article Insert)
Americans, adults and children alike, are being seduced. They are being brainwashed. And few of us protest.
Why? Because the seducers and the brainwashers are the advertisers we willingly invite into our homes. We are
victims, content—even eager—to be victimized. We read advertisers’ propaganda message in newspapers and
magazines; we watch their alluring images on television. We absorb their messages and images into our
subconscious. We all do it—even those of us who claim to see through advertisers’ tricks and therefore feel
immune to advertising’s charm. Advertisers lean heavily on propaganda to sell their products, whether the
“products” are a brand of toothpaste, a candidate for office, or a particular political viewpoint.
Propaganda is a systematic effort to influence people’s opinions, to win them over to a certain view or side.
Propaganda is not necessarily concerned with what is true or false, good or bad. Propagandists simply want
people to believe the messages being sent. Often, propagandists will use outright lies or more subtle deceptions
to sway people’s opinions. In a propaganda war, any tactic is considered fair.
When we hear the word “propaganda,” we usually think of a foreign menace: anti-American radio programs
broadcast by a totalitarian regime or brainwashing tactics practiced on hostages. Although propaganda may
seem relevant only in the political arena, the concept can be applied fruitfully to the way products and ideas are
sold in advertising. Indeed, the vast majority of us are targets in advertisers’ propaganda war. Every day, we are
bombarded with slogans, print ads, commercials, packaging claims, billboards, trademarks, logos, and designer
brands-all forms of propaganda. One study reports that each of us, during an average day, is exposed to over five
hundred advertising claims of various types. This saturation may even increase in the future since current trends
include ads on movie screens, shopping carts, videocassettes, even public television.
What kind of propaganda techniques do advertisers use? There are six basic types:
1. Name Calling. Name calling is a propaganda tactic in which negatively charged names are hurled against the
opposing side or competitor. By using such names, propagandists try to arouse feelings of mistrust, fear, and
hate in their audiences. For example, a political advertisement may label an opposing candidate a “loser,”
“fence-sitter,” or “warmonger”. Depending on the advertiser’s target market, labels such as “a friend of big
business” or “a dues-paying member of the party in power” can be the epithets that damage an opponent. Ads
for products may also use name calling. An American label of foreignness will have unpleasant connotation in
many people’s minds. A childhood rhyme claims that “name can never hurt me,” but name calling is an effective
way to damage the opposition, whether it is another car maker or 2 congressional candidates.
2. Glittering Generalities. Using glittering generalities is the opposite of name calling. In this case, advertisers
surround their products with attractive—and slippery—words and phrases. They use vague terms that are
difficult to define and that may have different meanings to different people: freedom, democratic, all-American,
progressive, Christian, and justice. Many such words have strong, affirmative overtones. This kind of languages
stirs positive feelings in people, feelings that may spill over to the product or idea being pitched. As with name
calling, the emotional response may overwhelm logic. Target audiences accept the product without thinking very
much about what the glittering generalities mean—or whether they even apply to the product. After all, how
can anyone oppose “truth, justice, and the American way”?
The ads for politicians and political causes often use glittering generalities because such “buzz words” can
influence votes. Election slogans include high-sounding but basically empty phrases like the following:
“He cares about people.” (That’s nice, but is he a better candidate than his opponent?)
“Vote for progress.” (Progress by whose standards?)
“They’ll make this country great again.” (What does “great” mean? Does “great” mean the same thing to others
as it does to me?)
“Vote for the future.” (What kind of future?)
“If you love American, then vote for Phyllis Smith.” (If I don’t vote for Smith, does that mean I don’t love
American?)
Ads for consumer goods are also sprinkled with glittering generalities. Product names, for instance, are supposed
to evoke good feelings: Luvs diapers, New Freedom feminine hygiene products, joy liquid detergent, Loving Care
hair colour, Almost Home cookies, and Yankee Doodle pastries. Product slogans lean heavily on vague but
comforting phrases: Kinney is “The Great American Shoe Store,” General Electric “brings good things to life,” and
Dow Chemical “lets you do great things.” Chevrolet, we are told, is the “heartbeat of America,” and Chrysler
boasts cars that are “built by Americans for Americans.”
3. Transfer. In transfer, advertisers try to improve the image of a product by associating it with a symbol most
people respect, like the American flag or Uncle Sam. The advertisers hope that the prestige attached to the
symbol will carry over to the product. Many companies use transfer devices to identify their products: Lincoln
Insurance shows a profile of the president; Continental Insurance portrays a Revolutionary War minuteman;
Amtrak’s logo is red, white, and blue; Liberty Mutual’s corporate symbol is the Statue of Liberty; Allstate’s name
is cradled by a pair of protective, fatherly hands.
Corporations also use the transfer techniques when they sponsor prestigious shows on radio and television.
These shows function as symbols of dignity and class. Kraft Corporation, for instance, sponsored a “Leonard
Bernstein Conducts Beethoven” concert, while Gulf Oil is the sponsor of National Geographic specials and Mobil
supports public television’s Masterpiece Theater. In this way, corporations can reach an educated, influential
audience and, perhaps, improve their public image by associating themselves with quality programming.
Political ads, of course, practically wrap themselves in the flag. Ads for a political candidate often show the
Washington Monument, a Fourth of July parade, the Stars and Strips, a bald eagle soaring over the mountains,
or a white-steeple church on the village green. The national anthem or “America the Beautiful” may play softly in
the background. Such appeals to Americans’ love of country can surround the candidate with an aura of
patriotism and integrity.
4. Testimonial. The testimonial is one of advertiser’s most-loved and most-used propaganda techniques. Similar
to the transfer device, the testimonial capitalizes on the admiration people have for a celebrity to make the
product shine more brightly—even though the celebrity is not an expert on the product being sold.
Print and television ads offer a nonstop parade of testimonials: here’s Cher for Holiday Spas; here’s basketball
star Michael Jordan eating Wheaties; Michael Jackson sings about Pepsi.
American Express features a slew of well-known people who assure us that they never go anywhere without
their American Express card. Testimonials can sell movies, too; newspaper ads for films often feature favorable
comments by well-known reviewers. And, in recent years, testimonials have played an important role in pitching
books; the backs of paperbacks frequently list complimentary blurbs by celebrities.
Political candidates, as well as their ad agencies, know the value of testimonials. Barbra Streisand lent her star
appeal to the presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis, while Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed George Bush.
Even controversial social issues are debated by celebrities. The nuclear freeze, for instance, starred Paul
Newman for the pro side and Charlton Heston for the con.
As illogical as testimonials sometimes are (Pepsi’s Michael Jackson, for instance, is a health-food adherent who
does not drink soft drinks), they are effective propaganda. We like the person so much that we like the product
too.
5. Plain Folks. The plain folks approach says, in effect, “Buy me or vote for me. I’m just like you.” Regular folks
will surely like Bob Evans’s Down on the Farm Country Sausage or good old-fashioned Country time Lemonade.
Some ads emphasize the idea that “we’re all in the same boat.” We see people making long-distance calls for
just the reasons we do—to put the baby on the phone to Grandma or to tell Mom we love her. And how do
these folksy, warm hearted (usually saccharine) scenes affect us? They’re supposed to make us feel that AT&T—
the multinational corporate giant—has the same values we do. Similarly, we are introduced to the little people
at Ford, the ordinary folks who work on the assembly line, not to bigwigs in their executive officers. What’s the
purpose of such an approach? To encourage us to buy a car built by these honest, hardworking “everyday Joes”
who care about quality as much as we do.
Political advertisements make almost as much use of the “plain folks” appeal as they do of transfer devices.
Candidates wear hard hats, farmers’ caps, and assembly-line coveralls. They jog around the block and carry their
own luggage through the airport. The idea is to convince voters that the candidates are average people, not the
elite—not wealthy lawyers or executives but the common citizen.
6. Bandwagon In the bandwagon technique, advertisers’ pressure, “Everyone’s doing it. Why don’t you?” This
kind of propaganda often succeeds because many people have a deep desire not to be different. Political ads tell
us to vote for the “winning candidate.” The advertisers know we tend to feel comfortable doing what others do;
we want to be on the winning team. Or ads show a series of people proclaiming, “I’m voting for the Senator. I
don’t know why anyone wouldn’t.” Again, the audience feels under pressure to conform.
In the marketplace, the bandwagon approach lures buyers. Ads tell us that “nobody, but all like Sara Lee” (the
message is that you must be weird if you don’t). They tell us that “most people prefer Brand X two to one over
other leading brands” (to be like the majority, we should buy Brand X). If we don’t drink Pepsi, we’re left out of
“the Pepsi generation.” To take part in “America’s favorite health kick,” the National Dairy Council urges us to
drink milk. And Honda motorcycle ads, praising the virtues of being a follower, tell us, “Follow the leader. He’s
on a Honda.”
Why do these propaganda techniques work? Why do so many of us buy the products, viewpoints, and
candidates urged on us by propaganda message? They work because they appeal to our emotions, not to our
minds. Often, in fact, they capitalize on our prejudices and biases. For example, if we are convinced that
environmentalists are radicals who want to destroy America’s record of industrial growth and progress, then we
will applaud the candidate who refers to them as “tree huggers.” Clear thinking requires hard work: analyzing a
claim, researching the facts, examining both sides of an issue, using logic to see the flaws in an argument. Many
of us would rather let the propagandists do our thinking for us.
Because propaganda is so effective, it is important to detect it and understand how it is used. We may conclude,
after close examination, that some propaganda sends a truthful, worthwhile message. Some advertising, for
instance, urges us not to drive drunk, to become volunteers, to contribute to charity. Even so, we must be aware
that propaganda is being used. Otherwise, we will have consented to handing over to others our independence
of thought and action.
Here’s is a quick recap:
1. Transfer: Advertisers transfer or connect their product to a symbolic
object or image to try and connect the meaning of the image to the product.
2. Testimonial: A famous celebrity or expert is used to help sell the product, even if the celebrity doesn't
actually use or know anything about it. This is one of the most effective and common advertising techniques.
3. Plain Folks: Ads that use the idea that you are just like the average people shown using or buying the
product.
4. Bandwagon: Ads that invite consumers to join in with the majority, conform and be like everyone else.
5. Name Calling: Ads that attach a negative label or name to their competition or opponent.
6. Glittering Generalities: Ads using vague or broad statements that are appealing to all
people, but that contain little substance. "New, improved" "Modern" "Revolutionary" "Health" etc.
7. Card Stacking: Ads that only present the beneficial or positive aspects of a product without showing the
negative sides
There are many more advertising techniques. Often, more than one of these techniques is used in the same
advertisement.
The following is a more in-depth description of the 7 most commonly used Propaganda techniques. Some may be
used in face to face interactions while others are more appropriate for add use.
1. Transfer
Using well known symbols or images that are transferred to the product or idea.
For example, the Binder and Binder law firm uses the well-known patriotic
symbols of the American flag and the Statue of Liberty to "transfer" the idea that they are a patriotic company that
believes in American values and supports American troops. It also uses the emotional word "intimidated" to make
consumers feel they will be protected and safe.
2. Testimonial
Testimonials use celebrities or experts to help sell products by giving the impression that these famous people use or
support the product or idea and so we should too. Testimonials are one of the most common and effective
advertising techniques.
Note: Testimonials are a variation of Aristotle’s Ethos, but the celebrity is usually not a legitimate authority
President Kennedy is being used in an obvious

example of Testimonial. Whether he gave
permission for this is doubtful.
This ad for Bavaria Beer is a perfect example of the Testimonial

technique.
A well-known celebrity, in this case Yoda the Jedi Master, is used to help
sell beer- a product he probably doesn't use or know much about.
Because of Yoda's presence, the beer is associated with Jedi power, will
and discipline, and so people who choose this beer will get the same
benefits. So, it also uses Transfer.
Note the heavy use of Green in this ad and the humour.
This famous and ad for Carl's Jr. Hamburger is

another perfect example of the
Testimonial technique
A celebrity, Paris Hilton, is being used to help sell a

product that she may or may not actually use or
know anything about. Your eyes don't focus on the
product, but on the celebrity.
This ad uses an appeal to the emotions, particularly

sex, pleasure, and glamour and uses the color
black.
3. Plain Folks
Unlike Testimonial ads, Plain Folks ads use average or normal looking people to create the impression that everyday
people, just like you, use or support the product or Idea. Here’s a good example of a Plain Folks ad with a message
that many normal people understand. Notice the use of yellow in this ad to create a positive, happy, humorous.
This ad for Miller High Life beer shows the Plain Folks technique.
These normal looking, everyday folks from the 1950’s are having a
great time pounding down Miller beer with their feast.
This ad for Benetton clothes is a good example of a Plain

Folks ad addressed to young people. Notice the use of color
in this ad and the diversity of the "young Americans."
4. Bandwagon
The Bandwagon technique persuades people to join the group, to conform to the style or choices of the majority of
people. Bandwagon ads make feeling or being different something negative and to be avoided, so there is usually a
Pathos appeal about feeling left out or being weird.
5. Name Calling
Name calling is used in ads to create a negative image of the competitor or opponent. Name calling can be obvious
or subtle.
“Name Calling” is clear in this ad. It uses an unflattering picture of Hillary

Clinton, dramatic red lettering with a black background for drama, and the
emotional words “defeat and communism.” It’s an effective three-word ad
that identifies Clinton as a communist and brings up the memory of President
Reagan who “defeated” communism in the 1980’s.
Supporters of President Obama are being called

unthinking robots in this ad, and associated with
Nazis.
6. Glittering Generalities or "Weasel Words"
Ads using vague or broad statements that are appealing to all

people; but that contain little substance or meaning. Peace,
love, success, freedom, health, truth, justice etc. can all be used
as common glittering generalities or weasel words.
The use of “the real thing” a phrase which doesn’t really mean
anything and can’t be proven, is an example of “Glittering
Generalities.” Also, the presence of gobs of healthful fruit and
cheese “Transfers” the idea of health and nutrition to Coca Cola,
which is not a very healthful drink.
This ad appealing to college students uses both Plain Folks

and Glittering Generalities. The words “money” “lowest price
guarantee” “save” “your textbooks, your school, your
bookstore” all add to the persuasion, as does the normal
looking college student.
7. Card Stacking
Presenting only the positive or attractive features of a product, even if it has

negative, unhealthful or dangerous qualities.
This milk ad uses Card Stacking by only presenting milk’s good qualities and not
mentioning the fat content, cholesterol, expense, or possible hormones in
milk. It also uses Testimonial, Transfer (Batman) and dramatic blues for a male
appeal.
This cigarette ad not only shows Card Stacking because it makes

cigarettes so attractive, but it also Transfers Christmas joy to
cigarettes, and uses Ronald Reagan in a Testimonial. The red colour
used everywhere symbolizes health, vitality and energy. This was
made before health warnings were put on cigarette packs and ads.
TEST
What Propaganda Is Being Used?
What rhetoric is being used?
What Propaganda Technique

is being used? What do you
think is being advertised and
to what market? How do you
know this?
What is the message of this ad? What would the consumer

need to know before understanding this message? Is this ad
fair? What propaganda technique is being used in reverse?

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Topic: AD - Analysis

International English IB & IG

Advertisers are like salesman in many ways.

Why Should We Analyze?

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

To convince people to buy their products, ideas or candidates, advertisers use:

• Pathos: Appeals to the emotions

3. Colour and Design principles

Colour symbolism, atmosphere, aids the mood creation.

Rhetoric (n) - the art of speaking or writing convincingly or persuasively.

This makes Ethos a particularly effective technique today.

Logos - Logic and Reason

Fear! Patriotism! Pride!

Anger! Love and Sex! Humour! Etc...

Color and Design

Placement and Design for ads

COLOUR SYMBOLISM CHART

The Seven Most Common Advertising Techniques

Advertisers use very specific propaganda techniques to sell products.

Propaganda: " deceptive or distorted information to promote a policy or product"

Propaganda Techniques in Today's Advertising by Ann McClintock (Article Insert)

“Vote for progress.” (Progress by whose standards?)

“Vote for the future.” (What kind of future?)

Here’s is a quick recap:

1. Transfer: Advertisers transfer or connect their product to a symbolic

President Kennedy is being used in an obvious

This ad for Bavaria Beer is a perfect example of the Testimonial

Note the heavy use of Green in this ad and the humour.

This famous and ad for Carl's Jr. Hamburger is

A celebrity, Paris Hilton, is being used to help sell a

This ad uses an appeal to the emotions, particularly

This ad for Benetton clothes is a good example of a Plain

“Name Calling” is clear in this ad. It uses an unflattering picture of Hillary

Supporters of President Obama are being called

6. Glittering Generalities or "Weasel Words"

Ads using vague or broad statements that are appealing to all

This ad appealing to college students uses both Plain Folks

Presenting only the positive or attractive features of a product, even if it has

This cigarette ad not only shows Card Stacking because it makes

What Propaganda Is Being Used?

What rhetoric is being used?

What Propaganda Technique

What is the message of this ad? What would the consumer

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