Analysis Of Persuasive Elements In McDonalds's Advertisements

I started off my writing process by sitting down and really taking the time to analyze the advertisement I choose. I then proceeded to take the information that I gathered from analyzing it, and I incorporated that to the sheets we got in class with the questions about the ad. Then I went ahead and began to put things in order from the background to the foreground. After I figured out the order I went on to write my first draft. I am very pleased with the advertisement that I choose, It wasn’t that hard to describe it and its effectiveness. But there are a few elements that were a little challenging to spot. Like the way that the burgers were positioned to create a sense of depth. It wasn’t something that stood out to me right away, it took some time to examine it and eventually see it. I believe that my description of the advertisement went very well, as I mentioned every single detail there was about the ad. The one thing I really struggled in was finding the original publisher and the original publish date. Not much changed from the first draft to the final draft, the only things I changed was the original publisher and the date.

This is an advertisement for three of the best burgers offered in the fast food industry today. McDonalds being the company advertising these burgers, is advertising their Double Quarter Pounder with cheese, their Angus Deluxe Third Pounder, and their world famous Big Mac. This ad was published on August 16, 2017 and it was first published in the Time magazine. This ad is mostly meant to target people between the ages of Fourteen to Twenty-Six, and mainly people who want a fast-cheap meal. The dominant figure in this advertisement is undoubtedly the Big Mac. The overall purpose of the ad is to make the viewer hungry and want to go out and purchase one of three burgers portrayed in the advertisement.

This McDonalds ad has a lot of essential elements in it that are meant to persuade the viewer into buying one of the burgers shown the next time they get hungry. One of the elements the ad uses are the colors.

The ad uses vibrant shades of red and bright shades of yellow, this is used to represent the McDonalds brand. And it’s also used to make the ad stand out from everything else. Studies show the combination of the colors red and yellow make people a little hungrier than usual, which is why most restaurants and fast food establishments use bright shades of red yellow and orange for their products. Not only is it appealing to the eye, but it also tricks the mind into being hungry. This ad uses that effectively, if you look at the ad the whole background is a bright shade of red. And the McDonalds logo is a bright shade of yellow. And then at the top, it reads in big bold white letters “Big. Beefy. Bliss”. This is also effective because they’re using three words to make a bold statement about the burgers. Another essential element that the ad uses is the way the items in the ad are placed. If you look at the advertisement, there are three burgers displayed. The Double Quarter pounder with cheese is placed in the left side and the Angus Deluxe Third Pounder is placed in the right side. Both burgers are place farther back then the burger in the middle which is the Big Mac. They place the burgers this way to put emphasis on the Big Mac and make it look bigger than the other two. But what makes it stand out even more is the way you look at the ad. The picture is taken facing forward towards the burgers but looking up at them at a slight angle. This really helps put emphasis on the Big Mac and its size compared to the others, making it the true focal point of the advertisement.

The company can successfully use these elements to persuade the viewer to do one thing, and that’s to eat their food. The use of the vibrant colors and the placement and of the burgers, and the proportions of each one help make it stand out even more. The detail in the burgers just makes you want to reach into the ad and take a bite out of one. This ad is using pathos to convey your emotions and the way your brain thinks to make you hungry, which in turn will make you buy their food the next time you do get hungry. The colors are what mostly helps appeal to your emotions. For example, let’s say you’re having a bad day, the vibrant colors in the ad may convey a sense of joy, and then you will associate that joy with the food that you eat. These appeals are very effective and really do make this ad work a thousand times better than if you just displayed a picture of a regular old burger.

I personally love McDonalds and I believe this ad did a great job of doing what it was intended on doing, I believe this ad was super effective. The choice of color and the placement of the objects really help this ad stand out from the rest, but most importantly. It made me hungry and it made me want to go out and buy one for myself. Although I do believe it failed to reach some of the audience. Not all people are into beef, some people prefer chicken over beef. And some people just don’t like meat, they prefer to eat a salad. These are things that the ad did not portray making it a little less effective than it should have. If I were to recommend something to the creative team that would have made this ad a little more effective, it would be for them to add a little more variety into their advertisement. They need to target a broader audience instead of the people who only like burgers. They could also target people who like to eat a little healthier.