ANALYZING PERSUASIVE APPEALS IN ADVERTISEMENTS: 2006
ANALYZING PERSUASIVE APPEALS IN ADVERTISEMENTS: 2006
Nicholas Stripling
Nike's SasQuatch 460 Ad
Nike’s SasQuatch 460 advertisement proves that a simple layout makes a big difference. While thumbing through Links Magazine, I noticed that Nike’s ad. The large picture of the golf club centered in the paper pulls the eye to it, while the "Bigfoot Lives" grab line seems to rival the picture in size. The name of the club alludes to the grab line’s mythical reference. The ad plastered on a plain white background with all varying shapes of black time roman type font. The ad contains no visual ambiguity that other ads sometimes possess due to, much like the golfers and luxury buyers it is appealing to, its clean shaven appearance.
The Bigfoot reference is vitally important to understand. Bigfoot is considered a large and powerful creature. A golfer's driver is the largest and most powerful club is his arsenal. Another element of comparison for the club and the creature is the knowledge that Bigfoot may not exist and is therefore unique. Nike was smart to recognize that the golfers reading Links, a high profile golfer’s magazine, would want the most effective, and the most unique driver that could be found.
The sidebar tells the reader that the club teaches a lesson in "new geometry." Geometry is the most useful arithmetic in regard to golf, and the ad lets the reader in on the joke. There is no such new math, but there is a new club that seems to redefine the principles of that math; or so Nike would have its audience believe. Immediately following that "inside joke" Nike refers to Camden Adams, probably the most famous custom club designer in golf, and noting that the SasQuatch 460 uses similar ideas as some of his clubs.
English 5730 is taught by Dr. Richard Nordquist.
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15 February 2006