Leisure and Wealth Valerye Antantis CMC 100 – Paper 2

Magazines The New Yorker: politics/social issues/art/literature Wired: business technology The Atlantic: literary/cultural commentary Newsweek: news/business Audience: Young, upwardly mobile, educated people (or people who see themselves this way) Paper will analyze how leisure is marketed to this demographic

I. Type/Location of Ad Most pages with advertisements in the first half (2 quarters) of the magazine New Yorker- 1-1/4: 65% 2-1/4: 52% (3-1/4: 16%, 4-1/4: 32%) Wired- 1-1/4: 68% 2-1/4: 60% (3-1/4: 52%, 4-1/4: 22%) The Atlantic- 1-1/4: 72% 2-1/4: 41% (3-1/4: 34% 4-1/4: 70% ) Newsweek- 1-1/4: 47% 2-1/4: 44% (3-1/4: 33% 4-1/4: 26%) Advertisements in the second half of the magazine (where actual content/cover stories appear) are smaller, located in the margins of the text, and are more numerous New Yorker- 83% (of 16% pages with ads in the 3-1/4) are full or partial column ads, 92% (of 32% pages/ads in 4-1/4) Wired- 45% (of 52% pages with ads in 3-1/4) are full column, and 67% (of 22% pages with ads in 4-1/4) are full or partial column The Atlantic- 10% (of 34% pages with ads in 3-14) are full column, and 77% full or partial column (of 70% pages with ads in 4-1/4) Newsweek- 25% (of 26% pages with ads in 4-1/4) are full column Products advertised (mostly travel, cars, “tech” and financial services)  The New Yorker: Accessories (17%), clothing (16%), travel (16%), art (11%), education & medicine (each at 7%)  Wired: “Tech” items (like televisions, computers, cameras- 31%), cars (18%), accessories (all watches- 11%), also alcohol (7%) and phones (10%)  The Atlantic: Cars (16%), books (16%), travel (16%), financial services (10%)  Newsweek: environmental/economic (33%), financial services (12%), medicine (12%)

II. People in the ads Ads with people:  New Yorker: 30% ▫Mostly women alone (43%), then men alone (21%) and couples (17%)  Wired: 36% ▫Mostly men alone (57%), then women alone (20%), and two men (13%)  The Atlantic: 60% ▫Mostly men alone (44%), then women alone (32%), and couples (16%)  Newsweek: 38% ▫Mostly men alone (38%) and groups (mixed gender, 25%) Race: (Mostly white men and women)  New Yorker: ▫White men: 47%, white women: 47%, asian women: 3%, black women: 3%  Wired: ▫White men: 60%, white women: 21%, black men 15%, racially ambiguous males 3%  The Atlantic: ▫White men: 46%, white women 39%, black women 8%, black men %, asian women 2%  Newsweek: ▫White men: 48%, white women: 29%, black women: 18%, asian men: 5% Identity:  35% are doing leisure activities, 34% are in professional/work setting, 19% are travelling or abroad, and 12% are posing with a product. Ads without people  Advertising mostly tech products like televisions and computers (13%), cars (11%), travel (10%), accessories (mostly watches, 9%), education/books (7%), “green” ads with economic emphasis (6%) financial services (5%)

III. Overt Connections to Culture & Wealth Topic ▫Many ads are about financial services, special credit cards, luxury items and travel abroad, which links to both wealth and culture -Rosetta stone ads, airline ads - Vanguard, economics/environmentalism Setting/appearance ▫Class signifiers: style of dress, activities ▫Work signifiers: professional style of dress, briefcase, laptop Copy ▫Many ads make reference to quality, excellence, being “the best”

Ads