Advocacy Advertising: It’s Not Always a Product When we think of advertising and marketing, we often assume that they are used to sell us products. Advertisers and marketers have a much larger role in our society, being often called upon to promote abstract concepts, ideas, information, places, corporate and public images, and even social norms. The following pieces feature media texts designed to serve purposes beyond the sale of tangiblproducts.

#1 For each of the previous media texts, identify what you perceive to be the intended audience and purpose (e.g., to persuade, to sell, to inform, etc.).

#2 Each of the selections focuses on an image or concept as a controlling idea. What is the central idea in each text? In what way(s) are these ideas different from what we find in the majority of advertisements and marketing texts we encounter?

#3 Propaganda is defined as texts aimed at “persuading people to support a particular cause (political, social, or religious).” All of the previous texts included some elements of propaganda. What specific features of the writing and visual texts persuade the viewer of a particular point of view? Support your answers.

#4 Visual elements are often designed to set a mood or tone for the written text. For each selection, determine what mood the creators were trying to evoke in the viewer? What visual elements did they use to set this mood? How does the form of the text (e.g. poster, print advertisement, brochure) change the way in which visual elements are used?