1 . THE ANATOMY OF AN ADVERT :

An ad can be broken down into several parts which are :

a . the visual , i.e a picture either a photograph , a cartoon , a painting , a comic - strip or a simple drawing .

Sometimes it can be a montage of ( at least ) two elements : for example a picture and a drawing .

The visual should attract the attention of the potential customer . It may just be nice to look at or create an atmosphere . It may aim at stimulating a buying impulse . It may also provide information .

b . the text , often called the message or body copy : its main function is to present the product or the service to the potential customer . It vaunts their qualities . Its style , its tone , its type - face and the layout are all - important to study .

c . the slogan : it is an easily - remembered phrase which is used to help sell a product : it can be easily memorized . Actually , it is a good summary of the key - ideas contained in the message . Remember that there is always a link between the slogan and both the visual and the text .

d. the logo or logotype : it is often a trade - mark and helps brand identification . It may be a visual , think about a famous crocodile , it may be a simple word .

e. the headline : there may be a slight difference between the slogan and the headline . The latter is the title of an advert : example : Amsterdam Airport Shopping Center whereas the slogan is : let's celebrate ! The first just presents while the second is more biased : it incites to buy .

f. you may sometimes find some other elements in the composition of an advertisement : it can for example be a reply coupon ( to push the potential customer to ask for a copy of ... ) : it is generally situated at the bottom of the ad .

2 . THE DEVICES USED IN ADS :

Some ideas : they are used ( among others ... ) to :

* attract the reader's attention

* inform , interest , amuse , entertain the reader

* encourage him to read the whole document

* make him remember the message

* persuade him to buy the product ...

A FEW EXAMPLES :

a . USED IN THE VISUAL :

* the photograph is much bigger than the text

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* see the use of warm colours such as red , orange , yellow , purple

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* the use of contrasted colours : black versus white

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* the use of cold colours , i.e green , blue

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* the use of pastel colours ( vs aggressive colours )

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* the use of animals : bull , tiger , lion versus sheep , elephant , monkey , camel , dog , cat

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* the use of the body of woman and man : eyes , face , hands , legs , bosom ...

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* the presence of a family ( including grand-parents )

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* the presence of babies/children

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* the use of shadows

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* the presence of stars such as Elizabeth Taylor ( for PASSION ) , Carole Laure ( for DIADERMINE ) , Gabriela Sabatini ( for her own perfume ) or Wolinski ( for DISTINGO )

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* the presence of another product : wine in an ad for cheese

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* the use of nice landscapes : sea , islands ,mountains...

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* the use of black backgrounds

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* the presence of the whole range of products

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* the use of flowers

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* the presence of famous buildings: Statue of Liberty

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* the use of contrastive photographs : before vs after

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* the visual repeated ( and/ or developed ) on two , three ... pages

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* the use of close - ups

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b . USED IN THE TEXT :

* the use of specific words :

= new : ...............................................................

= free : ...............................................................

= good : ...............................................................

= important : ...............................................................

= in advance : ...............................................................

= secret : ...............................................................

= elsewhere : ...............................................................

= change as a noun or as a verb : ...............................................................

= today : ...............................................................

= light : ...............................................................

= prefer : ...............................................................

= the number one : ...............................................................

= natural : ...............................................................

= choose : ...............................................................

= pure : ...............................................................

* the use of handwriting

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* the use of capital letters and /or bold types

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* the use of very small / tiny letters

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* the use of different types of letters mixed up together

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* the use of frames

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* the use of underlined words

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* the use of words upside - down

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* the repetition of words

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* the use of foreign words

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* words in italics

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* the use of portmanteau words ( valises )

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* the use of blanks ( blancs )

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* the use of a ( very ) long text

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* the use of space between the lines : double spacing

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* the use of questions addressed to the potential customer

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* the use of quotations borrowed from the customer

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* the use of riddles

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* the use of jargon : kiceti lo glouglou

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* words presented with various changing colours

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* the use of adverbs such as mainly , really ...

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* the use of pronoun ' you '

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* the use of pronoun ' we '

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* the use of imperatives: be...

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* the use of exclamatives : !

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* the use of superlatives : first , best ...

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* the use of comparisons : like / as

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* the use of rhymes : matins / calins

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* the use of alliterations : gratin/gratter

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* the use of humour

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c . USED IN THE SLOGAN :

* the use of puns

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