Visual Communication
Writing Assignment Two: Commercial Analysis Assignment
Overview: 98.1% of American households have a television, while 99% of people in America
can read (2). This means that being able to read barely beats out having a television in your home.
Most of us were taught to read when we were very young, but did we ever learn how to watch
television?
We watch our television shows, and many of us get annoyed when a commercial interrupt our
program. But what if we stopped to consider for a moment, that we have it all wrong; maybe the
television show is an interruption to the commercial? This is because the main way for a
television station to make money is to sell commercial time.
This is why analyzing television commercials is so important. Below are some things to consider
that will help you to understand the messages in television commercials better. We are exposed to
these commercial every day, but we rarely realize their true impact on us. They can influence us
to buy things we do not need, to vote a way we might not normally vote, and to desire a lifestyle
that we wouldn’t necessarily agree with.
For this assignment, you will explore the various tactics used to make a TV commercial effective,
but to do this, you must understand how the various elements function to influence a targeted
audience; your analysis must move beyond the obvious, which is to sell their products.
Select one of the following videos for your analysis:
• 84 Lumber “Donald Trump Wall”
• Apple, “The Song”
• Gillette, “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be”
• Nike “Dream Crazier”
• New York Times, “The Truth Is Worth It: Perseverance
• Old Spice, “Running on Empty”
Length: In standard written English, write 700-word (800 max) essay using MLA
conventions for formatting, in-text citations, and a works cited list. Your essay should be
an analytical essay that explains the overall message and/or effectiveness of a visual
piece. You must provide an explicit thesis –located in your introduction- that will provide
a focus for your paper.
Since commercials are more complex than many other types of media (including the
addition of motion mixed with sound), there are more things to consider:
• What is the product or service being sold? Can you easily figure out what the product
is?
• What is the general mood or feeling of the commercial? Since we know the product or
service being sold, what methods are the advertisers using to make us interested? How do
they portray the product or service in a positive light?
• How does the soundtrack play a role in your interpretation of the commercial? Is the
music cheery, dreary, suspenseful, whimsical, fun, or exciting? Does the music affect our
feeling of the mood? Is there a voice-over of someone telling us something? What is the
Visual Communication
2
voice over trying to tell us? Does the person speaking coincide with the overall mood of
the commercial? Would our perception of the voice change if the voice was of a different
gender or race?
• How do the actors playing the characters affect your interpretation of the
commercial? Would your interpretation change if the characters were of a different race
or gender? What if the characters dressed differently or spoke differently? How would
that change your attitude of the character?
• How does the commercial try to get your attention? Does it use flashy graphics with
fast music? Does it alter the way we see the world, either using special effects or through
the story line?
• Who is this commercial aimed towards? Is it you or someone like you? How do you
know? Why do you think the advertiser created this commercial the way they did? Would
it have been as effective if it was just black and white text on the screen? Why or why
not?
