How to Understand an Advertisement
Who Says It's Good?
Every day you see many advertisements, or ads, for products. Ads are on TV, in magazines and newspapers, and on billboards. An advertisement is a way to get information about a product. With catchy advertising, the maker of the product tries to get you to buy it.
One way to convince you to buy is through endorsements. An endorsement is the use of a famous person to help sell a product. Look at the ad in this page. It has an endorsement. Would the product look as good to you without the athlete's endorsement of it? Does this ad make you want to buy the product? Think about different ads you have seen that use a famous person to endorse a product.
The steps on the next page will help you understand these ads.
STEPS IN Understanding an Advertisement
1. Look for Helpful Information
Facts and truthful details are helpful information. The ad for Star Athletic Shoes says that all sizes and widths are available. This is useful information for shoe buyers.
2. Look for Loaded Words
Loaded words are words that try to persuade you but don't give facts. In the ad for Star Athletic Shoes, loaded words are "More Powerful than ever!" In what way are the shoes more powerful than ever? The ad doesn't give you any facts that support this claim.
3. Examine the Images
Besides words, ads often contain images to persuade you to buy the product. Look at the Star ad. The champion runner is shown wearing his Star Athletic Shoes. The picture suggests that if you buy the shoes, you will win races. There is no proof, however, that buying the product will make you a champion runner.
4. Judge the Claims Made
Look at any endorsement in an ad, and ask yourself these questions. Who says it's good? Does this person have the experience to judge if th product is good? Could that product be the only reason for the person's success? In the Star ad, Mark Johnson is a champion athlete, so maybe the athletic shoes are good. However, Mark also trained very hard. So you can not be sure the shoes are the only reason for his success.
TIP: Keep in mind when you see a product endorsement that people are usually paid for giving endorsements.