Media Consumption Analysis
Media Consumption Journal #2 Advertising Analysis In this media consumption journal, you will be turning your attention to a print advertisement. Imagine that the Media Education Foundation (MEF) has asked you to be a consultant for them. According to their website, the MEFs mission is as follows: The Media Education Foundation produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical thinking about the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media (http://www.mediaed.org/wp/about-mef (Links to an external site.) ). Your assignment as a MEF consultant is to deconstruct a recent print advertisement and analyze the ad you deconstructed. Choose a provocative advertisement that provides you with sufficient fodder for your analysis, and address the following questions: Background: What is the ad selling? (e.g. product, brand, lifestyle) Target Audience: For whom is the advertisement intended? How do you know this? Are you the intended audience? Hook and Story: How did the ad get your attention? What story does the ad tell? What problem is the product meant to resolve? What do the advertisers want you to believe? Assumptions: What assumptions does the ad make about gender, race, class, success, beauty, etc.? Intended and Unintended Effects: What do you think are the intended effects of the ad? What could be some of the unintended effects of the ad? What other meanings could audiences consciously or unconsciously construct from the ad? What the Ad Does Not Show: What information is withheld from the audience? Labor involved? Resources used? Cost to the environment? Health concerns? Etc. Personal Reactions/Reflections: What are your personal reactions to this ad? What are your reflections on the social, political, and cultural impact of ads such as this on American society? Connection to Course Content: What concepts/ideas that we have read about/discussed/viewed do you see illustrated in this advertisement? (Consider Chapter 11 in our textbook, Kilbourne & Levine readings, and other related material.) Anything else you would like to discuss: Are there other questions/ideas that come to mind as you critically analyze this ad?
