"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.