Advertisement: How to Grab the Reader's Attention
“You know why she’s wearing the sweatshirt, don't you.” was a print advertisement created by Metrecal for their weight loss product “Shape” in the 1970s. This is a persuasive advertisement created to convince the young female who is self insecure about their body to buy their newly released product “Shape”. The “Shape” advertisement uses visual texts, repetition of languages, personal pronouns, and patronizing language which mocks the reader to believe and accept the advertisement to lower their self-esteem in order to influence consumers buying behavior and persuade the young female who wants to lose weight into purchasing their product. Here is “How to grab the reader's attention”, in an essay we will discuss the process based on example of the advertisement.
The placement of the visual texts in this advertisement played an effective role in sending out negative body images of young females in order to catch the consumers' attention and create resonance. The larger image within the advertisement was a photo of three young females on the beach, and two of them were wearing bikinis whereas the other one was wearing a sweatshirt on top. The image was placed in the center for emphasis which would grab the reader's attention in the first place, it reflected the beauty standard and what young females look up to back in the 70s. The creator chose this specific image to conceive an association with the advertised product with a certain value as if they were eager to create this patronizing effect through the usage of this image to force the reader to buy their product.
On the right bottom of the advertisement was an image of the product. It gives out a general idea to the reader of the product and brand. The specific spot chosen by the creator to place image was a reinforcement of the product, it was placed next to the last bit of the copy, and where it indicted “Shape liquid. And Shape powder:” This helped the readers to deepen their impression on the product and which also consolidated the company's intention on persuading consumers.
The reoccurrence of the same language and terms was a big part of this advertisement. It was used to keep the image of the product at the forefront of the reader’s mind. The way terms repeated, it establishes familiarity with the brand. The product name “Shape” was mentioned frequently, as the number of times it was mentioned increased, it leads the reader to a mindset from completely unfamiliar to have a deep understanding of what the product is. The repetition of convincing phrases such as “Shape has no cyclamate, no saccharin.” and “Shape has no artificial sweeteners” enhanced the credibility of the product by describing it “new” “natural” and “wholesome”. Readers would be convinced that Shape is the best product in the market and would know that they will be benefited by buying it. Another repeating phrase in the advertisement was “Stop eating”, it made the reader believe as if the company understood their struggle and demanded them to “stop eating” and drink “Shape”. This phrase also served as the slogan of the product, so a solid idea and concept were created inside the readers' minds that this product advantages more than disadvantages. Which eventually leading them to buy the product.
The usage of personal pronouns in the copy of the advertisement demonstrated a direct relation to the reader and through patronizing language it made the reader felt as if it was a demand to buy the product. The most frequently used pronouns in this advertisement are in the second-person pronoun“you” which is considered to be omitted in imperative sentences. In the headline of the advertisement “You know why she’s wearing the sweatshirt, don’t you”, it talks to the reader straightforwardly. The personal pronouns made the advertising text conversational which were intended to shorten the distance between advertisements and the reader. However, in this advertisement, the usage of personal pronouns seemed to create an impasse with the reader. The rhetorical question of the headline mocked the reader by making them feel being pointed out and guilty. When the advertisement stated “Because right now, you’re a little overweight too”, it created a bandwagon effect and patronized the reader by making them believe how their physical appearance is perceived by others. This resulted in the reader's dissatisfaction and therefore persuaded them to buy the product.
This advertisement “You know why she’s wearing the sweatshirt, don't you.” created by Metrecal utilizes visual texts, repetition of languages, personal pronouns, and patronizing language to display a strong persuasive message and impose the reader’s self-confidence in order to increase their profit upon the product. However, the choice of language used in this advertisement was extremely offensive and sexist, they body-shames the young female and the reader in order to create anxiety and fear by damaging their confidence. Which they had successfully met their purpose of convincing and persuading. The phenomenon of body-shaming and sexism in advertisement can also be seen broadly in our current generation. Physical body humiliation and racial discrimination are the same in terms of cultural roots and propagation. They all create a so-called social mainstream standard concepts, which makes us think that this is right. And each of us is afraid of being abandoned by the mainstream, so we eventually end up accepting these concepts. However, in today’s world, our perception of beauty had become more generous. Advertisements that perpetuate sexism or body shaming would be subjected to consultations and may even be taken down due to the negative message that promotes harmful and offensive stereotypes.
