Visual Rhetorical analysis of an ad.

So in class we were discussing the importance of ads and their details. The colors that they use, layout, font (color, size, type), subject, and anything else they put into the company's advertisement. Everything that a company does is for a reason. We took an example from our Writing Arguments book and analyzed it. We are to do the same on our own with an advertisement from a magazine (or an online ad if desired). Mr advertisement comes from the magazine Cosmopolitan. The magazine itself targets women, and with women, the "need" to be beautiful. So what are their ads going to consist of? Of course anything to make you beautiful. The advertisement that I chose is one for Tampax Pearl products.

This ad shows a famous athlete in an accomplished success in "shut(ing) out mother nature's monthly gift." The bottom right hand corner shows you the product and obviously refers to a woman's menstrual cycle. The athlete, Serena Williams, is wearing white to show how there are no leaks (as depicted next to the image of the product). She's also wearing jewelry to show that women can still feel beautiful. The tennis court setting is in a sense Serena's daily lifestyle. With that being the set, it also portrays that women can go about their normal routines and tasks they come across day by day. In the background, it show's a woman being carried out by two security officers. The words "Serena shuts out mother nature's monthly gift" are purposely placed across mother nature so the reader implies that the woman is "mother nature", the pink present is the menstrual cycle, and the "shutting out" with the officers is the tampon. It's nothing but similes in this ad! The three people in the background are not in focus, so the reader's focus is on Serena and her accomplishment. The fact that they're not in focus also implies that a woman's period is in a way, no longer important (in the background) and if they buy the product, they no longer have to worry about it anymore (hence the security). They place some words in pink because females are associated with that color. the words "Outsmart Mother Nature" are in a different font so as to bring attention to it. The other text tells the reader that so-and-so trusts this products and like it, so you should to! It also give a minor illustration and bolded text as to WHY the product is better ("...new and improved LeakGuard braid.").