"The Parable of the Ring around the Collar"

For this assignment I chose to do three advertisements about frozen entrees, because they were the ones that really stuck out to me and actually related to Neil Postman's beginning, middle and end parables. The first ad I found was about Ore-Ida Steam n' Mash potatoes. The parable's beginning was basically a picture of a potato peeler with a phrase next to it saying, "give your potato peeler a time out." Then the middle would be on the bottom left where it says "a new way to make real mashed potatoes, and it introduces the item. The end parable is just the picture of the actual bag and the potatoes in a bowl showing the items used to make them. I thought this one was the best at showing Postman's idea, because it did have a beginning middle and end even though it was just showing frozen food. This one ad really showed people who have busy lives, that they can create a nice meal once in a while without the hassle, that's how it worked its magic on consumers. But, this definitely shows that our society is getting a bit lazy or maybe just the fact that moms are just to busy to make long homemade meals anymore.

The second ad that popped out at me was a bagel bites one. It has a girl sitting at a table with two plates in front of her, one with the bagel bites and one with pizza rolls. So, that is obviously the beginning, basically saying which one will she choose or would you choose? Then under the bagel bites it says "zero trans fat," while under the pizza rolls it says "more than you want," which states that the bagel bites are better for you and less in everything. Then at the bottom of the page it shows the brand name and what they have in them and how your snack choice just got easier; clearly showing the parable's end. The entire ad just catches your eye, especially if you're a mom looking out for a child and the food looks good, so you want to know why it's on the page. Although, in terms of society I think this shows that we are not that concerned about the food that go in our bodies, because after really taking a good look at this ad it was talking about giving bagel bites to your children as snacks rather than something healthier.

Then the third ad I did was about skillet meals from TGI Friday's. It is actually a very simple advertisement when looking at it; the only way they catch your eye is with the bold red and white stripes across the page and the bag of food smack dab in the middle. So, our beginning is the in all capital letters phrase at the top of the page saying,"turn on taste buds you never knew you had." With that phrase you think, okay with what? Then you look down, showing the parable's middle is the skillet bag with a picture of a meal on front of it. Then at the bottom, being the parable's end is a phrase saying, "eat bold, not bland." This all captures the audience's eyes by showing that nothing is bland with this meal according to the colors and big letters you see, everything is out there and tastes good and different. As for society I would say it is just like the first ad most people don't have time to make homemade meals, so when they see this meal in a bag, they think why not? Society has definitely changed over the years and advertisements had to change with it, and that's just the way it goes. Nobody is perfect; not everyone can sit at the table every night eating a home cooked meal or grab a snack that is better for them, it's just the way society is.

Ad Gallery

I chose to write about the car advertisements in the gallery, because they were the ones that really caught my eye. Each one showed what the car could do for the person. One being that you will be able to do all the major sports you set out to do, and the other being that moms don't have to stay at home now that they have this great car. I noticed that in both ads the phrase had everything to do with the action in the picture. In the truck ad there was a mountain climber in focus with the phrase "no boundaries all new ford explorer sport trac," meaning that not only does the climber have no boundaries but the truck has none either, which would make some athlete very happy. Then the other one has a mom and kids slightly out of focus and the van in the background, with the phrase "what idiot coined the phrase stay at home mom?" This shows that any mom can take their kids out if they have the right car. I just think they made these ads perfect, fitting them to the specific audience they wanted and making them inviting and likable.

"Sex as a Symbol in Fashion Avertising"

I found an advertisement in Woman's Day magazine for a yogurt shot that helps remove cholesterol, it is called SuperShots. The entire advertisement creates a very happy and bright mood, leaving you wanting to buy the product in the end. Most of the information on the ad is scientific or more facts than anything, letting us know that this is a sure thing. At the top of the page in capital green letters are the words "removes cholesterol,"catching your attention right away. There is a lot of white space surrounding a stethoscope with the supershot bottle in front of it and two strawberries. The stethoscope makes it seem like doctors approve it or it really is good for your health, and the fact that there is strawberries made me want it even more. Right underneath the graphic is the scientific fact that out of 310 cardiologists, 4 out of 5 endorsed the product for cholesterol from the nutritional information. At the bottom of the page is a portion of green with a picture of the package the bottles come in and some more information. To me the green actually makes me feel like this product is really good, because green is such a bright and warm color. I think there are some cultural attitudes that are indirectly reflected here, because practically everyone now wants to make the effort to become healthy, and the ad reaches out to all those people.