Analysing an advertisement (Period 5 class)


Your numbers are as follows:

1. Takashi, Shohei; 2. Jun, Ayaka; 3. Kiyofumi, M. Yuki; 4. Hiroyuki, Anri; 5. Yugo, Ryoto;

6. Daichi, I. Yuki; 7. Shoma, Takuro; 8. Yusuke, Yuri; 9. Yu, Takuya; 10. Sayo, Minami.

1. Check what your number is, and choose one advertisement carefully, according to the explanation in 2 a) and b). Be careful to choose a professionally designed advertisement as there will be a writing assignment linked to the activity. The advertisement does not have to use the English language. It is fine to look for one in the Japanese newspapers or magazines that you, your friends, or members of your family read. (In fact, if you use someone else's newspaper or magazine, it might be interesting to ask that person for his or her impressions of the advertisement.)

2. Each person should choose one advertisement of the type specified according to a) and b).

a) If your number is 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9, you should choose an advertisement aimed at women. If your number is 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10, your advertisment should be aimed at men. (However, in your analysis and discussions, you should not focus only on gender differences between advertisements.)

Note: As far as possible, I have assigned you a different gender. In other words, none of the female members of class will be looking for advertisements aimed at women. (Since there are more men and women in the class, some of the men will still be looking for advertisements aimed at men.) I have done this because I want you to look at the advertisements with fresh eyes.

b) If your number is 1 or 2, choose an advertisement for clothes. If your number is 3 or 4, choose an advertisement for a drink. If your number is 5 or 6, choose an advertisement for a product to do with health (including skincare or eyesight). If your number is 7 or 8 choose an advertisement for a machine of some kind (for example a car or a coffee-maker). If your number is 9 or 10, choose an advertisement to do with employment or money.

(For example, number 1[Takashi, Shohei] should each look for an advertisement for clothes aimed at women.)

Try to find an advertisement that is typical rather than unusual. It should contain images as well as writing, and should be a whole-page advertisement or at least half-page in the case of a newspaper. You should be able to bring it to class. (If you search online, look for an advertisement that you could also find in a magazine. The questions below are not really suitable for the analysis of a page that has many links. You should either bring a computer to class or make a high-quality color printout of the advertisement.)

When you have found an advertisement, answer the questions below. Some of the questions, for example, 1) a. and b., are about denotation; they simply ask you to describe the advertisement. Others, in particular 5), are about connotation; they ask you to think about the message that the advertisement contains.

The purpose of the activity is to give you a way of "decoding" advertisements. By analyzing the relationship between the design of one particular advertisement and and the message it is supposed to have for its intended audience, you will develop increased awareness of advertising as a whole. In the class, you will introduce your advertisement to other class members and use your answers to the questions in order to explain it. We will then see if advertisements for particular products, or those aimed at particular age groups or at males rather than females, share common characteristics. We will also discuss the role of advertisements in society, particularly their influence on our buying habits and our identity.

This homework will be linked to a writing task, so please do it properly!

Answer all the following questions:

1 People
If there are people in the advertisement,
a) How old are they?
b) Are they male or female?
c) What ethnic group do they belong to?
d) What are their occupations? (How do you know this?)
e) What is the expression on their faces?
f) What are they doing?
g) What sort of people are they? Do they belong to any particular stereotype?
h) What other people could have been in the advertisement. Why are they not there?

2 Design
a) What colours are used? Why?
b) How are the people/objects placed in the advertisement? Why?
c) What about lighting, focus etc.?

3 Words
a) What is the main sentence or phrase? How is it linked to the picture?
b) Are there any other words? Why, or why not?
c) If the advertisement is in Japanese, are there any foreign words? Are most of the words written using 漢字,　かな, or　ローマ字? Why?

4 Objects
a) Is the advertisement set in a particular place? If it is, how do you know this? If it is not set in a particular place, why not?
b)What objects are in the advertisement? Why?
c) Does the product being advertised appear in the advertisement? If so, how do you know that it is what is being advertised? If it does not appear, why is this?

5 The advertisement seen as a whole
a) What is being advertised?
b) What sort of person is the advertisement aimed at? (How do you know this?)
c) Is there a clear narrative? If so, what is the story and how can we identify it?
d) What does the advertisement promise?
e) What elements make it persuasive?

As you do this activity, think about what you are learning about the design and role of advertisements. This will help you to think of an overall theme/thesis statement for the writing assignment.