Analysis Questions

1) What detail(s) is your eye first drawn to? Why is your attention drawn to that spot, and what effect does this attention-getting devices have on your response to the ad?

 

2) What is in the foreground, and what is in the background? What effects do these choices have on the argument?

3) Does the ad display any text? Are there any colors that stand out? What effects does the placement of the text and choice of color have on the ad? What is the relationship between the text and colors and ad overall?

4) What cultural, sexual, ethnic, or social context informs the ad? What do they tell you about the audience the ad is meant for?

5) What ethical, emotional, and logical appeals is the ad using?

6) How (or does) the ad play up to stereotypes? Where did you find the ad? What does the ads placement tell you about the intended audience of the ad?

7) How is gender represented and/or constructed? How are femininity and/or masculinity being defined in the advertisement? What roles, values, and/or responsibilities are being designated based on gender?

8) How is sexuality represented and/or constructed? (i.e., promiscuity, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, etc.) What norms or values are being argued with regards to sexual preference and/or activity?

9) How are individuals objectified in the advertisement? Who is being objectified? What is the effect of the objectification?

10) Who is looking in on the advertisement? (i.e., Who is the intended audience? Who is the “voyeur?”) What is the object of the gaze? Who is doing what types of the looking in the advertisement and what are the objects of the gaze?