Chapter 8

 Key Points:  Everything in a text such as a commercial is important  The more you know, the more you can see in a text  This because texts store a tremendous amount of information in themselves and are a great deal more complicated than we might imagine  The idea is also that print ads and TV spots can be seen as popular or commercial art  The notion is that, like other art such as paintings, music, sculptures, and poems, you can see, notice, even appreciate, new things in more complex commercials and ads  Such ads are often rich in symbolism and interesting material for those who have the keys- that is, the theories and conceptual framework- to unlock their meaning  Ads and cxs are richer in meaning than we might think  And it takes a good deal of work to understand how they communicate ideas and meaning and, to the extent that they are successful, shape our behavior

 Pages in our book lists 15 possible topics to consider in analyzing a print ad  The example given is a photograph of a man and woman with some textual material  For homework use the Bono and wife Louis Vuitton full color ad (handout and posted on our class website) to thoroughly analyze its content, messages, design, style and other factors  This questions will direct your attention to various matters that might be considered when interpreting a typical print advertisement found in a newspaper or magazine

 The more critics know, the more they can find in commercials or any kind of artistic or literary text  Book’s author uses a six different theories to analyze this Fidji “Woman with the Snake” perfume ad

Detailed Analysis of this ad:Pages  Semiotic Analysis - What signs, symbols, and codes are found in the text?  Psychoanalytic Theory - How does the text make use of the basic elements of the human psyche to sell goods and services? Id, ego, superego?  Sociological Analysis- What does the text contain that is relevant to such matters as socioeconomic class, gender, race, status, and role?  Historical Analysis -If the ad or cx is part of a campaign, what is the campaign like? Where and how does this text fit into campaign?  Political Analysis -What role does the ad or cx have in the political process? What techniques used, what appeals are made?  Myth/Ritual Analysis - What mythical or ritualistic aspects of the texts are of interest? How does it relate to ancient myths?