A Rhetorical Analysis Of Cannery Row Advertisement

This add, for Cannery Row, shows a picture of three children playing on a white sand beach, all alone, with a woman’s image transparently imposed over the top. On top of the add is the text “Cannery Row/ Stay Here. Play Here.” On the bottom is a dark blue box with the text reading: “When was the last time you had time to just watch your kids play? Come to think of it, when was the last time you joined them.” The thesis for this advertisement is: Consume our product, or “Stay Here. Play Here.” The purpose is to convince the audience to come to
Cannery Row.
The intended audience for this advertisement is mothers. The image of the mother watching her children in the ad is something women can relate to. The transparency of the image makes it look like the reflection in a window, as …show more content…
Furthermore, the children appear to be happy without the mother’s help – which means the mother can relax. At the bottom of the ad, there is the rhetorical question: “When was the last time you had time to just watch your kids play?” In this add we see the mother doing just that, and this makes her happy. Cannery Row, this ad implies, can make that happen.
The advertisement also suggests that Cannery Row is exclusive, or remote and discreet. In the picture, there are no other people on the beach and there are no boats out on the water. The family had the whole place to themselves. But, if you look closely at the sand, the reader will see a myriad of footsteps and tracks. This is contradictory to what the image of children alone suggests. Having the family have the beach to themselves implies exclusivity, making Cannery Row more appealing, than it deserves.
Having the children alone on the beach, it can be said, is also something that is comforting to the mother. She does not have to worry about other people – criminals or otherwise – coming into contact with her children. Cannery Row is a place that she can