AdAnalysis

ANALYZING PERSUASIVE APPEALS IN ADVERTISEMENTS: 2006

Artisheia Brown

Softsheen Carson Let’s Jam Heat Styles

The advertisement for Let’s Jam Heat Styles hair products is successful for reaching its audience. The audience is Afro-American women. The language of the advertisement is generally concentrating on Afro-American women. In big print the words "Keep Hair Tight-3X AS Long," the headline triggers this audience because of the language. In the Afro-American community, slang is a type of language used frequently in order to communicate with friends and family informally. The word "tight" means in place, in order, and in this context--keep hair in the same style without one strand moving. The heading "3X As Long" is a ploy to get the attention of women to actually consider using the product because women want their hair last. Especially, when women go out for an evening of dancing at a night club, they want to look their best all night to get the man of their dreams. After reading the attractive headline, the audience is now curious to read the block text. They will read the text, which gives further detail concerning the product. The text is encouraging the fact that this product will help the woman maintain her runway look and everyone knows runway means glamorous. The paragraph ends with this statement, "So when the party must go on, so can your hair" implies the products will keep your hair beautiful just like you.

The colors of the products are a bright combination of red and orange. Red and orange symbolize heat or fire. Most Afro-American women have problem with the hot humidity in the air, which usually causes the hair to fall. In addition, the young lady standing next to the products is wearing a reddish-orange dress to display how gorgeous and "hot" she is and with this product her hair had endured the night scene. The woman on the next page has a close up shot to show other women that after an evening at the club her make-up is flawless and, most importantly, her hair is still intact. Both of the young women portray an image of being sexy and chic in the heat of night air.

The background of the advertisement is a city shown in the night time. The city has a grayish tent to make it seem like fog. Fog is a definite disaster to black women’s hair. The dew of the night will cause every curl to fall and become frizzy and dry. Also, the blues and purples give the city a look of the transition from late night to early morning. At the same time, the solitude of the city shows the night has become morning.

The ethos of the advertisement is the creator of the products trying to prove that his or her products are the best. This is shown through the design of the product, the models, and the text. The pathos of the advertisement is the illusion of the humidity in the night air of the background. A woman can understand how damaging the night air can be to her hair and knowing the feeling of embarrassment as a result of the humidity. The logos is the demonstration of the model’s hair style while they are in the midst of the humid night.

English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard Nordquist.
Armstrong Atlantic State University
Savannah, Georgia 31419
912/921 5991

15 February 2006