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My ad is for Harley Davidson motorcycles. The ad is very artistic and creative with the way it uses all the parts of a motorcycle to create the face of a human. I got it from a Rolling Stones magazine. This magazine most likely has many males over the age of 30 that are amongst its readers. The target audience are most likely males above the age of 30 that have a rock n' roll personality. The ad's design seems to resemble this personality with its artistic and eccentric representation. The ad uses its white space very well in the way that you don't even notice it. It correlates well with the layout of the magazine ad. The ad immediately catches the readers attention, especially if they catch that the parts make up a face. They they begin to look at it longer once they notice this in order to figure out what the ad is telling them. They then draw their eye to the corner of the page where it has a picture of a bike in full completion saying "build your own". It is a very clever and creative way to send the message they are trying to get across.

Elements of an Effective Layout

I believe the analytical tool seems to be elements: balance, proportion, movement, utility, clarity and emphasis are key components of a strong layout.

My ad that I chose is a Harley Davidson ad that shows a bunch of parts needed to assemble a motorcycle in the pattern of a face. The advertisement is telling the consumer to build their own motorcycle that most resembles them. It is giving the owner a chance to put there own creative touch, as well as personality aspects on the motorcycle.

When first looking at the ad, the reader may just see all the various parts laying on a page. As they look closer, it is easy for them to see it makes a human face. The neck of the assembled face leads down to a bike that is completed. The balance then makes sense to the onlooker.

Along with balance, the main aspects from "Elements of an Effective Layout" is the emphasis. The are emphasizing that no bike is the same. Unlike cars, which are mostly custom, Harley Davidson wants the consumer to be able to customize their bike. They want the person to feel like they are the only individual that has the exact bike they have.

All the elements seem to make sense to me. They can all be used very strongly within an ad or they can be limited depending on which message they are trying to send. Simplicity is probably the most important so you don't confuse the consumer. I don't think this ruins advertising. Advertising is an attempt to sell a product, no matter what that may be. It is up to the consumer to understand this and make an intelligent decision amongst themselves.

Democracy of Goods

After reading the article "The Appeal of the Democracy of Goods" I think the analytical tool being used is the advertisement from the Ladies Home Journal that is being read. The thesis however, I believe is in the second paragraph when it explains the most persuasive advertising strategies of the 1920's. It says, "According to this idea, the wonders of modern mass production and distribution enabled everyone to enjoy society's most desirable pleasures, conveniences, with each advertiser who used the formula." They compare the average person to the riches while explaining although the richer may have the luxury's no one can enjoy this type of coffee anymore than the next. The article then organizes itself into balance, movement, unity, proportion, clarity and simplicity, and emphasis. These five elements state how an advertisement needs to be set up in order to be effective to the consumer.

Advertising

At this time in year, there have been a lot of holiday ads that are always appealing to me. Most of the time, the companies are using Santa Claus as a character while trying to sell all their products. The one that caught my eye is a Chevy commercial who has a car salesman looking exactly like Santa Claus while dressed up in a suit. He has the massive white beard and the big belly. At the beginning he walks into an employees room and the rest of the employees are looking at him because he had ate all the cookies that were left on the table the night before. It is a funny scene because all the employees know the guy isn't Santa Claus but he wants to be him since its Christmas time. At the end of the commercial, the Santa character is helping a customer with a truck. The customer says "yeh, I could really use a silverado since I like to hunt". Santa responds "Oh yeah? What do you like to hunt?" The Customer then replies immediately, "Dear!" he then looks at who he was talking to, realizing he looks just like Santa and corrects himself by saying, "Fish!"

This was a funny commercial and caught my attention mostly because of the Santa Claus character within the commercial. The sense of humor made me like it as well. Companies know Santa sells, so a lot of them are featuring him in their commercials during this time of year. 

As far as an ineffective commercial, its hard for me to think of one. The most recent would have been the chase sapphire credit cards regarding customer service. They show a customer service person talking like an automated recording. They go on to say, "We know how you hate customer service automation, and so do we". I just felt the commercial is overdue, and that they need to come up with a better way of representing their customer service.