Purpose and Description:
Similar to the rhetorical work done for your billboard essay, the goal of this paper is to examine the context, purpose, and effectiveness of an advertisement. Instead of a static imagine, however, this time we will be working with a short video. Much like what we did with the last assignment, we will build on the concepts we use to discuss essays in class (such as audience, author, context, etc.) and incorporate them into our own analysis.
Specific Requirements
Your paper should:
Include a link to a short advertisement on YouTube, preferably 30 seconds to 1 minute in length;
Identify and discuss both the author and audience, along with what and how you believe the author is attempting to communicate;
Identify and discuss why the video is currently relevant (due to social, cultural, or economic factors), along with how this affects or informs the ways in which its communicating;
End the essay with an overall conclusion about why you view the ad as effective or ineffective;
Be written in formal academic prose;
Be 1200 – 1500 words in length;
Be written in 12 point Times New Roman typeface;
Be uploaded to Blackboard by 11/7 at 11:59 pm.
Potential Approaches
Some thoughts/questions to help get things going:
Similar to the approach you might have used in Essay 1, imagine the authors of your chosen advertisement planning the video in a meeting room. What do you think this conversation might have looked like? Why do you think the members of this company/organization made the specific choices they did? Do you think they were correct? Incorrect? Why or why not?
Again similar to questions you might have used previously, identify both the tangible and intangible item you believe is being sold in this advertisement. If youre working with a shoe ad, for instance, we know that the author likely wants to sell more shoes, but what feeling is being implicitly promised? And how is it being promised? In addition, do you think this kind of communication is ethical or unethical? Why or why not?
Consider the abilities of a video advertisement, as opposed to another form (such as a billboard, a radio ad, etc.). What potential might a video possess compared to these other mediums? What limits? Why do you think the authors of the ad chose to invest in a video as opposed to something else? What was gained or lost?
Imagine youve been hired to assess the advertising campaign for whatever company or group authored your video. What would you say about the choices theyve made in the ad? Would you try and convince them to shoot something else, or move in a different direction? Target a different audience, or double-down on the same one? Why or why not?
Watch the ad scene-by-scene, pausing every few seconds to assess the ways in which images are working (color, spacing, line, lighting, etc.). What do you notice? What choices can you tell the authors took their time with? What were clearly conscious decisions? And why do you think these were made? Whats working about them? Whats not?
