Download MEDIA LITERACY

MEDIA LITERACY
DECONSTRUCTING A PRINT ADVERTISMENT
SOME KEY TERMS FOR PRINT ADS
Target audience – specific groups of people that advertisers want to reach
Example: this ad aims to reach a wide demographic by depicting a family
Slogan – short, memorable advertising phrase
Example: “It’s a family affair”
Logo – symbol or small design used to identify a product or company
Example: The red circle with the words “Coca-Cola” in a distinctive font
Image – the likeness that is produced
Example: the picture of three people
Subject – person or thing depicted
Example: the family with bottles of Coca-Cola
Copy – text including advertiser’s name, sales message, trademark and/or slogan
This includes “It’s a family affair” and “Drink Coca-Cola Delicious and Refreshing”
Composition – arrangement of elements of text based on design principles
(e.g. Z theory or Theory of Thirds)
Example: the family is centered in this ad, with the patriarch taller than the backdrop. The
audience “read” the elements of the ad from left to right.
Representation – the way groups are presented in the media, often through stereotypical
images that affect our views of gender, race, class, age, and ability
Example: the happy, healthy middle-class family
Camera Angle – the angle (high, straight or low) from which a shot is taken
Example: although not a photograph, this depiction is of a straight angle. This helps make
the reader feel equal to, and possibly even identify with, the subject.
MEDIA LITERACY
PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES
The goal of most media messages is to persuade the audience to believe or do something.
Commercial advertising, for instance, tries to persuade us to buy a product or service.
There are many advertising strategies, but the “language of persuasion” generally falls
into the following three categories.
Ethos – an appeal to our trust in the credibility of the source
Example: a well-known athlete adds credibility to the promotion of a running shoe brand
Pathos – an appeal to our emotions
Example: a phone plan might be sold by the promise of bringing old friends together
Logos – an appeal to our rational thought, typically marked by facts and figures
Example: a claim that 93% of dentists use a particular brand of toothpaste