Fane Reading One

Advertising is everywhere. From the moment we step outside in the morning we see advertisements on billboards, newspapers, magazines, street signs, and so much more.  It is impossible to ignore. In the book “Advertising by Design” written by Robin Landa we learn that an advertisement is “ a specific message constructed to inform, persuade, promote, provoke, or motivate people on behalf of a brand or group.”  These advertisements can come in many different forms depending on what message is trying to be conveyed.

The first advertisement that really caught my attention in chapter one was the Motor-Tober ad.  It is obviously a seasonal ad that was put out around Halloween.  They relate it to the viewer through the use of a holiday that everyone knows about.  Turning the car from a ghost to a pumpkin is a charming and clever way to grab the viewer’s attention and make them want to know more about this vehicle.  I think this ad is successful in capturing the audience’s attention and leave them wanting to know more.

In chapter two, Landa explains the six phases of the project process: overview, strategy, ideas, design, production, and implementation.  In the Campaign: “I Know This Stuff” ads client Taneff Law met with the creative director and art director to come up with campaign slogans in hopes of winning the vote.  They had to find out who they wanted to target and the best way to do so.  In this case they chose average, middle-income Americans.  The goal of these ads were to “put the reader at ease with simple, straightforward, no- nonsense approach” – Stephen Fechtor.  To achieve this they used plain black and white ads with a simple sans serif bold font to get the point across in the easiest way possible.

The ad that I found that I thought went with these chapters well is a Human’s for Animals ad that was made to show that animal cruelty is unacceptable.  In the ad below you can see that this controversial ad is effective at capturing any viewer’s attention with the dead infant and the seal holding a baton in his mouth.  The makers of this ad thought of a strategy to put this into the public and implemented it by playing on the viewers pathos.