Analyzing Advertisements;
Authenticity, Creativity, and
Corporations
Advertising Matters
• The basic premise of “On Sale at Old Navy:
Cool Clothes for Identical Zombies,” and other
works of cultural criticism that are about
advertising, is that the way in which products
are advertised and the reasons that people
respond the way the do is significant, and can
tell us interesting things about ourselves as a
culture.
Quickwrite #7
• Why is Thomas Frank so critical of Old Navy and similar
companies? (Remember, Thomas Frank is one of the men
the author interviews in “On Sale at Old Navy: Cool Clothes
for Identical Zombies.”) The reading is on p. 268.
• Do you agree with Frank’s criticism?
• Note: An assumption that Frank is making here is that
advertisements influence the way that people think about
things other than the products being advertised. (For
instance, a car ad might make you want to buy a car, but it
might also make you want an entirely different lifestyle that
has little to do with the car. Old Navy ads might make you
want to buy their clothes, but they also might encourage
their audiences to see themselves as unique individuals
who know what’s “cool” because they shop in at Old Navy.)
Two types of messages that ads use:
• The obvious surface message is usually pretty straightforward,
and involves the audience doing what the writers of the ad
want them to do.
– Buy this product.
– Support this cause.
– Vote for this candidate.
• The underlying message is much more tricky, and much more
interesting. This is also the message that is more closely
connected to our discussion of identity.
– It appeals to the needs and desires of the audience.
– It connects the product or cause to events, ideas, lifestyles, and
people with which the audience already has positive associations.
– For example: Beer commercials not-so-subtle underlying message is
often: “Drink our beer, and beautiful girls in skimpy bathing suits will
flock to you!”
Things to think about when analyzing
an advertisement or an ad campaign:
Look at the ad critically and try and answer the following
questions:
Who is the intended audience? (What demographic is it
aimed at? Teenage girls? Middle aged men? Single
fathers?)
What does the advertisement intend for us to think
about the product being advertised?
What needs or wants is the advertisement appealing to?
How does the design of the advertisement get the
message across to the audience?
What are the consequences of the product being
advertised using these messages?
Questions for “On Sale at Old Navy” p.
268 of Mirror on America
• What does the author mean when he
paraphrases Thomas Frank’s ideas in paragraph 2,
saying, “American business and co-opted cool
anti-corporate culture and used it to seduce the
masses” (268)?
• What does it mean for a piece of clothing or
music or any other product (or even a person) to
be authentic? What do you think about the
question of authenticity that is raised in
paragraphs 8 and 9?
“On Sale at Old Navy”
• How do stores like Old Navy, Ikea, and Starbucks
turn shopping at their stores into “experiences”?
Why does this matter, according to the author
and the people he interviews? (See paragraphs
17 and 18.)
• What do you think of the idea that an obsession
with brands eclipses (gets in the way of) any
possibility for real cultural
discussions/developments? (see paragraph 2325).
Let’s do some analyzing of our own on
some ads for two companies…
Write down
everything
you notice
about this ad.
What are
some of the
underlying
messages
here?
What is this
ad saying
about
American
identity?
What is the significance of all of this
for Essay #2?
• You might choose to talk about how ads affect
identity.
• Even if you don’t choose to talk about ads, you
can still learn from the way that we focused in
on specifics during this class, and how the
example essays made detailed, specific
explanations of how the pop culture (in these
articles, it was Old Navy/Ikea ads and Coke
ads) were related to issues of identity.
Preparing to talk about “What is
Independent Hip Hop”
• Do you believe that it is possible for
corporations to be genuinely involved in
creative communities that pride themselves
on being “authentic” and “real”? Why or why
not?
“What is Independent Hip-Hop?” p.
303
• What is the point that Hector Gonzalez is making about
the connection between the independent hip-hop
scene and the advertisers that want to reach that
community?
• Why, according to the author, do the advertisers of the
Scion avoid the mistakes made by other companies
who tried unsuccessfully to market their products to an
urban audience? (see paragraphs 5-7).
• What connections can you make between the ideas
explored in this essay and those in the “On Sale at Old
Navy” essay?
Preparation for Midterm
• The Midterm will be a question drawn from our
discussion of the “What is Independent Hip Hop” essay
and the relationship between creativity and corporate
money. (You might also want to review “Old Navy: Cool
Clothes for Identical Zombies”)
• How do I prepare for the midterm?
– Know the essay and the issues. Know what you think about
them.
– Review the properties of a good thesis and a strong topic
sentence.
– Take notes on the essay, know any unfamiliar vocabulary.
– Bring your text book and class notes.