Advertisements and Persuasive Visual Texts

Advertisements are among the most concentrated persuasive texts we encounter. Whether promoting a product, a service, a brand, or an idea (as in public-service announcements), an advertisement compresses appeals into a small space and works hard to be memorable. Because advertisers pay for every inch and second, nothing in a professional advertisement is accidental. This makes ads ideal training grounds for analysis: every color, font, image, and word has been chosen to influence an intended audience.

The purpose behind the pitch

Most commercial advertisements aim to move an audience from awareness to desire to action, often summarized in marketing as attention, interest, desire, and action. But not all ads sell products. Public-service advertisements sell behaviors (buckle your seatbelt,