Studio 1: The Basics of Rhetoric Wrds 1104 Terence Kennedy 1/18/2023 Rhetoric is consumed in every aspect of our lives. Understanding rhetoric helps us look beyond our emotions and deeper into the meaning of the message. Mary Louise Cosmetics ad First Reactions - The Woman that’s in the ad has notably clear skin - The main term used in the ad is “glow” which is mentioned 3 times - Woman seems to be in a natural field - Feeling a sense of gentleness - Font of the letters are also gentle/minimalistic - Glow is mentioned three times, clearly stating the main message of the ad. Visual cues/description of visual elements - Colors of brown and orange (from the woman, her shirt, and the glo - High saturation from the colors in the background of the woman. - Line direction of the woman's hand placement puts an emphasis on her face - The “glow. glow. glow.” in the upper right literally has a glow effect around the letters - Facial expression is showing confidence, elegance Intended Audience - Younger Women - People of darker complexion - People with skin problems - Aspiring Models - Anyone who values having clear skin How is the ad structured visually - The last thing that I noticed in the ad was the product itself, and it's the only feature in the ad that doesn’t have any color at all - As mentioned before, the hand placement of the woman's arms places emphasis on the woman and her clear skin. Any References? - None that I know of What do you think the message is? - You won’t only gain skin that is clear and radiant, you’ll also gain a massive confidence boost How do they use the message to sell their product - The main message/idea of this ad is perfect skin. - The ad is trying to make the woman and the product synonymous with each other. It’s selling an image that says “If you use this face mask, you’ll be able to have the same natural glow as this woman’’ How does the message/rhetoric make you feel - I get an overall feeling of gentleness from the soft features of the woman to the minimal fonts of the text. Takeaways/Opinions I think this ad is a great way to further appeal to a diverse audience. All races face problems with achieving clear skin. The beauty industry has had a reputation of mainly using white women/women of lighter complexion while excluding those of darker complexion. The use of the darker woman helps with the prospect of gaining darker skin toned customers and also melanated people in general. Killer Queen Fragrance Ad First Reactions - The main subject is Katy perry - Setting looks to be a royal palace - Her dress would be considered to be inappropriate by many people due to the nature of the setting. - She's wearing stockings and leather heels and her dress is very clearly made to be more revealing - The main motto in the ad is “own the thrown” which could push the theme of rebellion - Katy perry’s outfit in context of the setting further supports the theme of rebellion - There is a royal crown on the floor - Both the crown and chair are tilted on the floor. - The crown on her head is tilted, and I believe that in the royal culture, the queen can’t have her crown tilted like that. - The crown and chair look like they are very high in value - The title of the fragrance is killer queen. The royal queen's crown is laying on the floor, possibly implying that she killed the queen. - Crown on the floor could be a symbol of defiance/rebellion Visual cues/description of visual elements - Colors of gold in the text and other features of the interior does allude to a royal settingand the Intended Audience - Younger Women - Feminist Any References? - Royal culture/The royal family What do you think the message is? The main message that I sense from this ad is of woman empowerment. The ability of women to do whatever they want & in a manner that doesn’t have anyone’s opinions in mind How do they use the message to sell their product The fragrance is meant to bring a sense of empowerment, dominance, indifference, etc. How does the message/rhetoric make you feel Looking through a woman’s perspective, I’d feel a sense of empowerment. Analysis Conclusion The Mary Louise Cosmetic ad was created to associate the woman in the ad with perfect skin. The product that they are selling is what seems to be a natural face mask. The One thing that really stood out to me is that the product itself isn’t the subject of the ad but rather the woman. The woman in the ad is the epitome of what it means to be beautiful. Perfect skin, defined facial structure, glaring confidence, etc. The creators of this advertisement want people to associate that level of beauty with their product. The ad is less about the product itself and more of the perceived image that the product could create for you, and people would be more inclined to buy it because they want to be associated with that level of beauty. Everything from the placement of her arms that give more emphasis to her face to the vivid colors on the woman and her background makes it clear that the creators of the ad wants the audience to focus on the woman and her perfect facial features. The vivid colors also allude to how much life/energy the facial mask will bring back to your skin. The main message of the ad is that your skin will be “glowing” if you use this product, and that’s seen with the word being placed three times in a circle with a glow effect on each of the letters. The term “glow” has been very synonymous with the black community to refer to someone's skin being perfect or radiating energy in an exaggerating sense. The product itself is of dull color which also helps bring more attention to the woman. The ad is selling the perceived results of using their facemask instead of the product itself. The idea that you could achieve perfect skin is enough to have people running the shelves empty of this product, and making the woman in the ad the point of emphasis makes that idea even more believable. The Killer Queen Fragrance advertisement is also selling an image more than the product itself. Other than the text at the bottom that mentions that this is a perfume ad, there are no other visual references that alludes to this being an advertisement perfume. The ad is selling the product through the use of Ethos & Pathos. The input of Katy Perry is a very notable use of ethos because she is seen as a very notable celebrity. Her credibility as an artist and also her being notably spontaneous in nature helps to push the product further. The use of Pathos can be seen in many features in the ad. The ad seems to take place in a royal palace where several objects seem to be out of place. The normal image of a royal setting is defined where Ms.Perry is wearing a revealing dress while sitting on a chair that's been tipped over. Also what’s notable is that there is a crown on the floor, alluding to the fact that Ms.Perry has the power to take over any authority. All of these factors help give the advertisement a sense of superiority and paramountcy. As mentioned before, the advertisement is selling an image more than the perfume itself, and the purpose of the ad is to sell the feeling of confidence and empowerment. Many advertisements like this are always attempting to sell a certain feeling in an attempt for consumers to subconsciously associate their product with that feeling/image. The overall message of the ad is that women have the ability to take over whatever they want in their own style. The belief that nothing can stop them from getting what they want, and that message is seen through Katy Perry taking over the throne. I believe that this message has been influenced by the rise in feminism in the last couple of years. Women want to take over the factors that control their lives, and they want to be seen in higher positions of authority and I believe that this ad does a good job of displaying that idea.
