Every day in today’s world, people encounter advertisements through various media forms such as television commercials, magazine ads and billboards. Through advertisements, advertisers are able to persuade their viewers to buy their products through persuasive tactics. In a September 21, 2015 Sports Illustrated issue, Gieco Insurance ran an ad which used subtle messages, encouraging words, and appetizing images in an attempt to create a desire for its product. The use of a subtle hidden message “Make the Smart Choice,” that Geico Insurance used was just one of the persuasive tactics used in the ad to create a desire for the product. In an article by Jib Fowles “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals” Fowles explains, that
…show more content…
Images play a major component in advertisement since images are the first thing a viewer sees at the start of an ad. Geico used such an image when it placed an image with a stack of cookies next to one cookie in the ad. In an attempt to prove the effectiveness of images in advertisements I conducted two interviews with two separate participants at different times using the same images both times. In both interviews, two advertisements were placed next to each other. Participants in the interviews were asked to choose which advertisement appealed to them the most and why. Both interviews resulted in Geico’s advertisement image being selected. In the interview with Robert Cressman, a father of three, he stated; “I chose the ad because the cookies looked good”. Jason Cressman who participated in the second interview stated; “He desires cookies and lots of them”. These interviews support the claim that by using appetizing images viewers are persuaded to choose the product. In the article “Advertising Fifteen Basic Appeals” Fowles explains, one of the fifteen basic appeals as “Physiological needs… appeals to sleeping, eating, and drinking… The Art of photographing food and drink is so advanced …” (Fowles 8). Like Fowles, Ann McClintock in the article: “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s advertising” calls such images “Card stacking… Set up a straw man-a false target…” (McClintock). This technique is demonstrated when one cookie is compared to a whole stack of cookies. The advertisers put the label “Geico” underneath the stack of cookies, and the label “the other guy” under the single cookie. A “straw man” is set up because there’s no defense for “the other guy” since they stack all the facts against the “straw man”. Geico’s advertisement successfully used images in this ad to help sell their
Images play a major component in advertisement since images are the first thing a viewer sees at the start of an ad. Geico used such an image when it placed an image with a stack of cookies next to one cookie in the ad. In an attempt to prove the effectiveness of images in advertisements I conducted two interviews with two separate participants at different times using the same images both times. In both interviews, two advertisements were placed next to each other. Participants in the interviews were asked to choose which advertisement appealed to them the most and why. Both interviews resulted in Geico’s advertisement image being selected. In the interview with Robert Cressman, a father of three, he stated; “I chose the ad because the cookies looked good”. Jason Cressman who participated in the second interview stated; “He desires cookies and lots of them”. These interviews support the claim that by using appetizing images viewers are persuaded to choose the product. In the article “Advertising Fifteen Basic Appeals” Fowles explains, one of the fifteen basic appeals as “Physiological needs… appeals to sleeping, eating, and drinking… The Art of photographing food and drink is so advanced …” (Fowles 8). Like Fowles, Ann McClintock in the article: “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s advertising” calls such images “Card stacking… Set up a straw man-a false target…” (McClintock). This technique is demonstrated when one cookie is compared to a whole stack of cookies. The advertisers put the label “Geico” underneath the stack of cookies, and the label “the other guy” under the single cookie. A “straw man” is set up because there’s no defense for “the other guy” since they stack all the facts against the “straw man”. Geico’s advertisement successfully used images in this ad to help sell their