Writing Analytically, 6th Edition - Rosenwasser, David & Stephen, Jill [59]
Rhetorical Analysis of an Advertisement: An Example
We have demonstrated how the five moves might work in the analysis of a painting. Our final example addresses a more popular form: advertising. The example is a student paper that uses the moves to produce a rhetorical analysis of a perfume advertisement that appeared in a magazine aimed at young women. Locate the Five Analytical Moves, especially making the implicit explicit.
The visual imagery of advertisements offers instructive opportunities for rhetorical analysis because advertising is a form of persuasion. Advertisers attend carefully to rhetoric by carefully targeting their audiences. This means advertisements are well suited to the questions that rhetorical analysis typically asks: how is the audience being invited to respond and by what means (in what context)? You’ll notice that in the rhetorical analysis of the magazine ad, the writer occasionally extends her analysis to evaluative conclusions about the aims and possible effects (on American culture) of the advertisement.
Marketing the Girl Next Door: A Declaration of Independence?
[1] Found in Seventeen magazine, the advertisement for “tommy girl,” the perfume manufactured by Tommy Hilfiger, sells the most basic American ideal of independence. Various visual images and text suggest that purchasing tommy girl buys freedom and liberation for the mind and body. This image appeals to young women striving to establish themselves as unbound individuals. Ironically, the advertisement uses traditional American icons as vehicles for marketing to the modern woman. Overall, the message is simple: American individualism can be found in a spray or nonspray bottle.
[2] Easily, the young woman dominates the advertisement. She has the look of the all-American “girl next door.” Her appeal is a natural one, as she does not rely on makeup or a runway model’s cheekbones for her beauty. Freckles frame her eyes that ambitiously gaze skyward; there are no limits restricting women in capitalist America. Her flowing brown hair freely rides a stirring breeze. Unconcerned with the order of a particular hairstyle, she smiles and enjoys the looseness of her spirit. The ad tells us how wearing this perfume allows women to achieve the look of selfassured and liberated indifference without appearing vain.
[3] The second most prevalent image in the advertisement is the American flag, which neatly matches the size of the young woman’s head. The placement and size of the flag suggest that if anything is on her cloudless mind, it is fundamental American beliefs that allow for such self-determination. The half-concealed flag is seemingly continued in the young woman’s hair. According to the ad, American ideals reside well within the girl as well as the perfume.
[4] It is also noticeable that there is a relative absence of all land surrounding the young woman. We can see glimpses of “fruited plains” flanking the girl’s shoulders. This young woman is barely bound to earth, as free as the clouds that float beneath her head. It is this liberated image Americans proudly carry that is being sold in the product.
[5] The final image promoting patriotism can be found in the young woman’s clothing. The young woman is draped in the blue jean jacket, a classic symbol of American ruggedness and originality. As far as we can see, the jacket is spread open, supporting the earlier claim of the young women’s free and independent spirit. These are the very same ideals that embody American pride and patriotism. The ad clearly employs the association principle in linking the tommy girl fragrance with emotionally compelling yet essentially unrelated images