Analyzing Advertising

As I was waiting for a move to begin, I was presented with and advertisement in which a series of very muscular men were hitting each other and yelling in participation for the sporting event in which they were preparing for. Even when the brand logo appeared at the end of the ad I was unsure what they were trying to sell me. The two people I was with were similarly confused, since none of us could properly be considered “athletes.” I viewed another ad from the same company and I am beginning to see the idea. The Air Jordan line of athletic apparel relies heavily on the viewers memory and identification with the basketball great Michael Jordan. Both ads show athletes being passionate and working very hard at their respective sports. They present the idea that Michael Jordan, considered by many to be one of the greatest athletes of all-time, relied heavily on hard work and dedication to achieve such high levels of success. These advertisements don’t explicitly sell shoes, t-shirts, or other apparel. They sell the idea of becoming “legendary” as the ads often end. The Air Jordan brand of athletic apparel identifies with these ethics and can help you along your journey. (View the ad here)



You see online dating services all over the Internet. All these ads do is create a common area where people can communicate. For many people, this is a scary place. You can never really be sure if the person's profile truly reflects who they are. Even sites like Facebook and MySpace can be misleading. This fictitious advertisement that I created targets a niche audience on how they can improve their "coolness." I guess it is a parody of all the online dating services, as well as dieting ads that show radical transformations from geek to chic, or obese to athletic. Here is the ad, made using VoiceThread.