Advertisements are everywhere. You see them on a magazine, billboard, television, radio stations, etc. They are found almost anywhere you look even though you do not realize it. Advertisements are meant to catch your attention and to appeal to your specific audience. There are many advertisements that are targeted at certain audiences and I have compared and saw how different an ad can be based on the age range a magazine is targeting. In this research I am using Southern Living magazine; Jan 2020 edition and comparing the different advertisements that it contains. Southern Living magazine is a lifestyle magazine that consists of recipes, house plans, garden plans, and information about Southern culture and travel. This magazine had a variety of advertisements. It had ads that I know someone that reads this magazine would be intrigued by. I compared them by using Fowle’s fifteen basic appeals and Aristotle’s three artistic appeals.
In this advertisement from the Southern Living Magazine, Estee Lauder focuses on Fowles’s appeal to have the need for aesthetic sensation. The need to be beautiful comes from seeing a makeup advertisement and having a woman there that seems like she does not even need makeup. This advertisement shows an example of how beauty attracts a woman to want to buy that foundation because then they will think that will make them look beautiful as well. The woman reflects the need for that aesthetic sensation by the caption this ad has… ‘Wear confidence.’ Estee Lauder proves by putting beautiful women for a foundation advertisement will have other people focus on their need for aesthetic sensation. Another appeal from Fowles is the need for attention. Need for attention means that you want to have people’s attention and you want to be noticed. This appeal is usually in cosmetic advertisements because it just comes naturally. When wearing makeup people usually want to stand out and have makeup that everyone wants to compliment. On Aristotle’s artistic appeals this advertisement would be more directed to pathos appeal which is known as emotional appeal. This appeal activates emotions by what the advertisement says, for example, vivid descriptions. This advertisement appeals to pathos by the way they portray the women in the ad. This puts a woman that is beautiful and looks like she does not need makeup. This affects me emotionally because when I see that it makes me think that I want to look like that as well. This ad will appeal to any person that wants to look “beautiful.” By this being a Southern magazine it could appeal to souther women This advertisement does a good job at appealing to the audience because it has already caught my attention and made me think, well maybe I should buy this foundation as well. After identifying all of the appeals this advertisement has given I have realized this is more targeted to one primary appeal, emotional appeal. This is because in both Fowle’s in Aristotle’s appeals they both capture the meaning of this advertisement is by emotionally appealing to the viewers and wanting to be beautiful by what they see. I could relate to this appeal because I can see how this advertisement can attract a person’s attention by wanting to be confident like the women and by wanting that attention to be noticed.
Moreover, I discovered that this magazine included two different advertisements based on similar products.. pedigree and temptations. These products are both dog food. One thing noticed in this magazine is that it included multiple advertisements for dog food but I will only talk about two. The first advertisement is a bunch puppy around the bag but the visual is to make it seem like the puppies are drinking milk from the mom, hence the caption “like mother’s milk.” This advertisement, according to Fowles appeals, appeals to the need for nurture. This is because seeing a puppy and having the caption will bring out maternal or paternal instincts. This is why this is also considered by Aristotle’s appeals; pathos is the emotional appeal. Comparing the bag of food to mothers’ milk gives me the idea that puppies enjoy this food as much as their own mother’s milk. Since this is a family magazine this advertisement goes perfect because it will appeal to families that have dogs. The context of the graphics really did help achieve the appeal of the audience they are trying to target.
Now on to the next dog product… temptations. In this advertisement, I thought it was simple but clever. This advertisement showed the bag of temptation treat all torn up with the caption, “All It Takes Is A Shake.” This advertisement was difficult for me to identify Fowle’s appeal. I have concluded that is also the sense of nurturing. This is because of the sense of having to feed the dog. Even though there is no picture of an animal is still brings out the maternal or paternal instincts to feed your dog or a dog these temptation treats. In this ad, they use a sense of humor by showing that the dog will tear up the whole bag just by moving it around since they know what they are about to get treated with. It provides a good visual to me of how an excited do would try to tear into the bag to get their favorite treat. According to Aristotle’s appeal, this would also be considered a pathos appeal because it is trying to appeal to us emotionally. Instead of these provided of us with a sad emotion, it gives a sense of humor by the emotional tone. As compared to the other dog food advertisement they both appeal to people who own dogs. By the graphics of the torn-up bag really helped me see what audience they are trying to target.
In conclusion, these advertisements in Southern Living Magazine do a good job targeting their audiences. I do notice they are all mostly appealing with an emotional state. These advertisements and the ones saw all were towards the pathos appeals.