What Ads Say Without Using Words Essay

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childhood obesity advertising. First, there is the issue of why a young child is overweight. Of course, it can be bad habits and examples portrayed by the parents or guardians or it can be a health issue such as a gland or metabolism problem. Either way, the potential health problems for that child immediately and down the road are hard to miss. The other issue would be the bullying/social side of things. One can take one look at this girl and know that she will be bullied and made fun of for her weight. This picture of her and the implications thereof clearly focus on the former of the two points of analysis listed above rather than the latter. Some might say that the focus on the bullies and their negative actions. However, the root reason for the child being overweight is the cause of everything else and that needs to be analyzed and fixed, at least in the estimation of this author. Regardless, it is clear what the ad's creator wants the focus to be on. Indeed, many would say that the child is too young to know better and that this must be the focus. Parents are deemed to be the issue at hand in the ad above (Where The Classroom Ends, 2016).

Ad 2

The ad above is pretty straightforward. Pepsi is obviously trying to show that one of the benefits of drinking its diet beverage helps people keep their weight down. The context, of course, is that diet drinks have little to no calories as compared to the calorie-laden offerings that are manifested in the form of their non-diet offerings. Above, there is a clear playing on the feelings and desires of women to have a refreshing beverage (or at least one that does not make them wretch) while at the same time not unnecessarily upping one's caloric intake. It plays on people's vanity and the idea of staying skinny so as to become or remain attractive in the eyes of society. There is much that could be said about the negative implications of all of that but Pepsi is far from being the one that created that paradigm nor are they solely guilty in perpetuating it. It's much the same paradigm that drives context of the first ad (Jarrous, 2016).

Ad 3

The ad above is obvious in its connotations and implications. The use of the female model, the fact that her mouth is noticeably agape and the verbiage used throughout the ad clearly leads to associations of the sandwich with one of two other things ... a gun or a phallus. The bun is clearly indicated through the use of the word "blow," although one could say this is pointing to the phallic symbol situation as well. The "super seven-incher" verbiage, the use of a woman, the position of her mouth and the orientation of the image as a whole are all extremely suggestive. If the advertising "professionals" behind this message did not know the implications just stated, they should have and the surely did indeed know what they were inferring as part of the message. Not unlike the Pepsi ad, there is a link here between sex (or sex appeal) and food and drink. However, what Pepsi did to draw that link is paltry in comparison to what Burger King is doing in this ad. While many people who see this ad may get a chuckle out of it, the women's groups and those generally against ads that are suggested or even obscene surely had a field day with this ad and its obvious overtones (HiddenValue, 2011).

Ad 4

This ad has much the same issues as the Burger King ad just looked at, even if the rather sexually-charged message is a tad subtler. Within this ad, noted pop superstar Katy Perry is hocking chips. She holds two bags of the product up so that they are visible in the frame. Of course, there is a sexual connotation to this ad as well. This is made clear with the combination of the "nothing fake about 'em" header at the top and the fact that Ms. Perry is holding the bags of chips over her breasts. Even though she is fully covered and clothed in the picture, the correlation surely cannot be an accident. Indeed, Katy Perry uses sex appeal in great part to sell her music and she's doing the same thing with these chips (Makena, 2013).

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Ad 5

The above ad is proof that women are not the only subject of sexually-driven advertising. However, it is also quite obvious that the means used to drive that advertising are entirely different. First of all, the sexual innuendo is basically absent. There is indeed what many women would consider an attractive man with an attractive body in the ad. The man is presented in an idyllic and fantasy-like way. However, there is also a message to men in this ad. The "smell like a man" quip is not unlike what is seen in ads for products like Axe and other male scents. The very thinly disguised message is that men should buy, in this case, Old Spice so as to make them more attractive to women. Of course, most women are not remotely that shallow but there is something to be said for not stinking when "making a move" on a potential mate. Even if there is a clear disparity and difference between the way the marketing is done when it comes to women in the ads versus the way it is done when men are in the ad, this ad is clear a male-oriented version of the Burger King and chip ads mentioned above (YouTube, 2016).

Ad 6

The genius of the ad above is that while it might be clear to the layman what the main purpose of this ad is, there is something else going on that some people might miss. Indeed, it is obvious that the ad is selling Canon cameras. Further, it is clear that they are cameras that can be used for filmmaking or other professional purposes. However, the elephant in the room that people might miss is the shadow being cast by the man in the frame. Any fan of Alfred Hitchcock knows that shadow when they see it. However, Canon, other than the "unleash the filmmaker" quip, does not really give huge clues about that shadow being important. However, it is clear even to people that do not know that shadow that the shadow is the focus of the ad. It is just a question of why the shadow is important and many people will "get it" (Hitchcock, 2016).

Ad 7

This ad is admittedly from far in the past and would not fly in today's world that is fully aware of how dangerous cigarettes are in the short and long terms. However, above is a real and genuine example about how such a dangerous product was marketed back in the day. One could clearly draw parallels between this ad and what is very much going on with "vaping" tools and products. This is despite the fact that, just like when this ad was published, the risk of nicotine on its own and the new risks (if any) that vaping brings to the table are not that well-known. Regardless, this ad clearly links cigarettes with se and glamour. While that is obviously unseemly, it is an ad that was really printed (Mama Mia, 2016).

Ad 8

Anyone that knows their American history knows why this ad was a terrible idea. Even though it is clear that the ad was not done for an American market given the language of the t4ext on the page, it is clear it is from Dunkin Donuts and their use of this motif and approach was obviously very obtuse. A woman that is ostensibly white being portrayed in blackface for ANY reason is something that, regardless of intent, is a social and cultural third rail that is never, ever to be touched because of the implications relating to Jim Crow, slavery and racism. Somehow, this ad slipped through and that is pathetic (Creative Bloq, 2013)

Ad 9

The socio-cultural implications, not to mention the racial ones, for this ad are off the charts. The author of this report is aware of the fact that out-of-wedlock births are almost a majority as the rate for ALL births is approaching fifty percent. However, the author also knows that the rate for blacks is roughly three out of four. While race is not specifically mentioned in this ad, the implications of the race of the child and what is otherwise said in the ad is rather controversial even if the context is largely valid and true. This would seem to be an example of people that deem out-of-wedlock births to be a problem and they want to use the verbal.....

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