Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Entry Eleven: Myth in Advertising

I found this advertisement for Carnation Breakfast Essentials in the June 2011 issue of Woman's Day magazine.  The ad shows four young students, presumably heading to class at the beginning of a school day.  Three of the students have ridiculously over sized backpacks and appear unhappy as they are dragging themselves to class. One student has a normal-sized backpack and appears to be cheerful and ready to begin the day.  This student is wearing the color yellow which is the first color the human eye notices.  Yellow is also associated with sunshine, happiness, and optimism.  It is also the color the company uses for its packaging.

The message of the advertisement is that a nutritious breakfast helps to provide energy and boost performance and Breakfast Essentials have the vitamins and nutrients necessary to do just that.   The use of myth (i.e. over-sized backpacks) works to demonstrate the lack of energy and hindered performance of students who do not consume adequate breakfasts.  Although the image is exaggerated, the ad "works" by visually communicating this message.  In fact, it is not necessary to read the print to understand the message.  One can gather the message by the photo and the image of the product. 

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