Chapter 1 – Who Creates Advertising

Volkswagen revolutionized the visual style of advertising in the 1960s with its “Think Small” campaign, shown in Chapter 1. The advertisement focuses on the compact nature of the Volkswagen Beetle. Its design is simplistic and clean, which goes pairs well with the nature of the Beetle compared to the larger vehicles of its time. Even over 50 years later, the Volkswagen advertisement is well known for both its design and its effect on the world of advertising. The design is so successful because of its simplicity; the size of the Beetle contrasts great with the negative space. The slogan “Think Small” is located in such a matter that is catches the audiences eye and comes across loud and clear. I chose to compare the Volkswagen “Think Small” advertisement to an Always advertisement. The Always advertisement was a first of its kind, similarly to the Volkswagen Beetle one. It was the first time “blood” was depicted in a period advertisement. Additionally, the ad uses a similar sense of negative space, though the pad takes up more space that the Beetle does, however the effect on the audience is similar. It draws people in through the use of contrast and places the remaining text on the bottom of the page.

The Chick-fil-A advertisement, displayed in Chapter 2, evokes a variety of emotions ranging from humor to discomfort to being impressed. The outdoor ad is a large billboard with two three-dimensional cows spray painting “Eat Mor Chikin” as if they were vandalizing the advertisement and underneath is the Chick-fil-A logo. For all intensive purposes, the advertisement gets the point across in a fashion that resonates with the audience; it is comedic, uses unconventional means that are quick to understand, and creates positive sentiments. I compared the Chick-fil-A outdoor ad to a McDonalds Filet-o-Fish ad. The McDonalds ad uses a similar sense of humor; it depicts a goldfish in a Filet-o-Fish shaped fish bowl. The layouts of the ads both have a center focus with a simple red, white, and blue color scheme and an emphasis color. Something that I find unappealing from both ads are unappetizing because they depict animals that are eaten. The simplicity of the ads are great for getting a message across, however a lot could have been done to make the ads more successful.

The ad I chose from Chapter 3 is the “Stolen Handbag” campaign for Best Behavior Handbags. The ads show the content of a woman’s purse both on the floor of what appears to be a bathroom and in an outdoor garbage can. The ads cause the viewer to dig deeper to understand the concept, which is a critique I have of this campaign, the concept is not immediately translated to the viewer. I understood it as the bag as more valuable than the entirety of its contents. Overall, I think the message is confusing. I compared these ads to a significantly more effective handbag ad from the 2011 Vera Bradley summer collection. This ad works significantly better because it engages the audience and shows a positive life experience that many women would want to enjoy. It depicts a playful family going to the beach, they are all smiling and clearly having a good time; the bags in the ad are not too in-your-face and are seamlessly placed in the ad.

The Columbia print ads from Chapter 4 emphasize the functional elements of the products in such a manner that it makes the consumer laugh through the use of wit. The overall design of the ads is successful because they are not too busy, do not distract from the product shown. The type is strategically placed at the bottom of the page in a font that is legible and leads the eyes through the page. I believe the ads are a success and match with Columbia’s mission, ideals, and design. I believe another company that does a decent job with their clothing advertisements is Old Navy. Their viral campaign was a hit because it pokes fun, gets people talking, and creates a humorous conversation. The ads are busier than the Columbia ads, which can be seen as a negative; that being said, I feel that ads were successful because it showed men how they should not be dressing in order to fit with the Old Navy image.