Analyzing Advertisements in Different Media

Choose magazine, newspaper, Internet, or television advertisements that sell the same kind of product to different intended audiences. For example, find an advertisement for a hybrid car in a women's magazine and another in a men's magazine. Begin by describing these ads in detail. How do the images work within their contexts? Next analyze the way that each appeals to its intended audience. What values does each ad seem to convey? How does it convey them?

After you've examined your advertisements, re-read Seth Stevenson's "You and Your Shadow" (pages 457-460) and try to evaluate the messages and how they are executed.

• See how one student completed this project: Jonathan Krellenstein, "Attack Ads: More than "Child's Play"