Ad Ananlysis Essay, Research Paper

Is there anything more appealing to a man’s senses than beautiful women in tight, revealing dresses? Ok, maybe if the women were naked. Ad designers know their target consumers, and how to get their attention. A good ad can put ideas into the reader’s head, and influence them to try out the product being advertised. Every aspect of an ad, from the wording through what magazine it appears in, has relevance to selling its product. As I was flipping through the pages of my Sports Illustrated, I came upon an ad that caught my attention.

There is no magazine better than Sports Illustrated for advertisements that are targeted at men, since the readers of this magazine consist almost entirely of men. One is not going to see advertisements for tampons in this magazine. That is why the FX network chose to place their ad for “The X Show” in Sports Illustrated. The show itself was created for a male audience, so what better place to advertise than a man’s magazine.

In this ad, the advertiser uses the power that beautiful women have over men. Scanning over the magazine, the reader’s attention is quickly caught by this ad. Five women with great figures, wearing tight dresses that show off their sexy legs and bare shoulders are leaning against each other. After seeing only a glimpse of this picture, the reader quickly turns back the page to look at the women more carefully. The women do the job of capturing the reader’s attention. This plays a key role in how effective this ad is. What purpose does an ad serve if it does not capture the reader’s attention? The women in this advertisement catch a man’s eye, and their curiosity leads them to look at the actual message of the ad.

The ad begins by telling the reader to match each of the ladies with the magazine she appeared in. As a man reads the choices – Playboy, Hustler, Penthouse – he begins to become even more interested in the ad. It might be possible for him to match the ladies with their magazine. With the association of magazines that portray naked pictures of women, a man’s curious ways are now running wild. The reader goes on to see that there is a web site to check your answers. This part of the ad hopefully gets him to go to their web site, where one will see more promotions of the FX network.

The ad next tells the reader you can “watch this and more tight-fitting fun on The X Show”. This is where the ad for the first time makes the association between the women and what the ad is actually advertising. It first gets the reader interested, and then tells him how to see beautiful women like the ones appearing in the ad. The statement of “tight-fitting fun” puts a lot of wonder in the reader’s head. One begins to wonder what happens on this show and it makes him want to check it out.

What a surprise! Right below it gives you the time and days the show is on. The advertiser knows exactly at what point the reader is pondering about checking out the show, and then gives him the information to do so.

Finally, the ad tells you to “please watch responsibly”. This statement can make one think that the show can get carried away, unpredictable, crazy, wild, and sexy. It gives a sense that the show would be exciting to watch. The statement, along with the beautiful women pictured above, puts thoughts into the reader’s head of women doing crazy things.

The ad was not placed into the back of the magazine for no apparent reason. It was put there for a reason. Flipping trough the magazine, it is the last ad that the reader will see. Obviously, the ads you see last are the ones you have the best chance of remembering. The lay out of the ad is done in a certain way for effectiveness. There is a reason for the bright red background. It makes the ad stand out amongst the other ads. An ad that stands out is an ad with better odds of being looked at. The advertiser also makes the more important things stand out in the ad. The women obviously stand out along with the name of the show, and the network it is on. This allows one to make the association between beautiful women and the television show. I felt that this ad was put together with a lot of thought. The advertisers make correct assumptions about the kind of people who read the magazine and what they like. They knew they were dealing with men, ranging from teenagers to adults, and knew that all men share one thing in common, their admiration for beautiful women. The layout of the ad was constructed from top to bottom in a logical way. The advertiser knew how their audience was going to react at any given time and the ad progressed with those assumptions.