English 101
Magazine Ads Analysis
September 2007
Magazine advertisements contain various symbolic messages in an attempt to
reach their target audience. In this analysis, I will analyze two different full page ads in
US News and World Report. I will be using Jib Fowles’ Advertising’s Fifteen Basic
Appeals to analyze symbolic construction and basic emotional appeals. Fowles states
the goal of advertisers is to tug at our psychological shirtsleeves. Advertisers bombard
us with pleasing images to draw us in and get us to pay attention to their ads. Let’s
take a deeper look at these two ads and what they are conveying to consumers.
The first advertisement is an ad for Philips Brand Computed Tomography
scanner, or CT scanner for short. The ad depicts a young boy standing on the beach
smiling and holding an umbrella to shade him from the sun. This adorable young boy
has been specially selected to stimulate our desires.
US News and World Report is a general interest magazine appealing to a broad
spectrum of audiences. The ads primary symbol is the young boy. This image calls upon
our need to nurture. The umbrella shading the boy from the sun furthers this need. When
we look further and read the text we find out that Philips has improved their CT scanner
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and lowered the dose of radiation when this machine is used. Appealing again to our
need to nurture and protect. In the back ground we have the ocean. Though the least
effective symbol it appeals to our need to escape.
The need to nurture is often aimed at women. More nurturing by nature it is an
effective technique when used properly. Had this ad been seen in a magazine such as
Contemporary Diagnostic Radiology, I’d wager the ad would have been geared more
towards medical professionals, siting the technical aspects and benefits of the product.
Changing the appeal to the need to achieve. Using only the X-ray symbol and text,
the ad would still convey its’ meaning to the audience. This ad would still be effective to
the target audience. Without knowing what a CT scanner is or why we would need to use
one, Philips tells us they care for us and are working to better their products for us the
consumers. In turn, this may cause people to look at all Philips products in a positive
light and possibly purchase them.
The second advertisement is for a Citibank American Airlines AAdvantage
program. The ad shows a woman relaxing in a canoe on a peaceful lake near snow
covered mountains. The ad has two of Fowles’s fifteen basic appeals. These are
autonomy and the need to escape. The ad appeals to our sense of pride and self worth.
They (Citibank) want us to believe that by using their card for everyday purchases will
lead to our ability to take time off and enjoy ourselves.
The image of the woman relaxing and enjoying a beautiful view is focusing on
her independence. The independence Citibank wants us to believe we have using their
card. She is shown alone so you get the sense she doesn’t need anyone or anything,
except her Citibank card, to get what she needs. There is a strong need for autonomy in
women and this ad meets it. The advertisers chose not to use the negative approach, guilt
or neglecting yourself. This would have cast a bad light on their card for some viewers.
When you read the question you start to think about stopping on your way to
work for a latte. There is nothing visual to suggest this but our minds start to form a
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familiar narrative by seeing the ad. One that is logical and that we can accept showing
steps taken by the woman to bring her to this lake in this boat. She obtained her card,
used her card, earned rewards and used her rewards. The advertisers are appealing to our
need to escape. This need often comes with a sense of pleasure and advertisers use it
often. We hope to leave behind the daily drudgeries of our lives and relax or live out an
adventure.
This very ad would continue to work well in other more specialized magazines.
Travel magazines, for instance, in an effort to inform their readers of destinations and
attractions, would be furthered by Citibank’s ad on how they could obtain these trips.
This ad would be less effective in a magazine such as GQ. Published with a male
demographic in mind, the female image would be changed to a male image to ensure
maximum effectiveness.
Both of these advertisements appeal to the need for aesthetic sensations.
Fowles states “Some few ads have their emotional appeal in the text, but for the
greater number by far the appeal is contained in the artwork.” Advertisers
use this appeal in almost every ad. Advertisers have learned it is easier to communicate
with perspective buyers using visually pleasing images than with text. These
ads have two forms of content; consumer appeals and information. These ads would be
hard to improve upon.
Advertisers have learned to use beautiful pictures and well laid out ads to
spark an interest from consumers. Witty slogans and carefully thought out camera
angles step up their ads. They have been sneaky and underhanded in efforts to bring
us a message they want to convey. Advertisers have used the fifteen basic appeals to
reach us by any means necessary, sometimes using several appeals in one ad. Their
campaigns have been and will continue to be successful. A. C. Neilsen Company states
that seventy-five percent of new products expire each year yet advertisers spend fifty
billion dollars a year in ad costs. Advertising sells.
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