High Definition Television Advertisement Claims example essay topic

We see advertisements all around us. They are on television, in magazines, on the Internet, and plastered up on large billboards everywhere. Ads are nothing new. Many individuals have noticed them all of their lives and have just come to accept them.

Advertisers use many subliminal techniques to get the advertisements to work on consumers. Many people don't realize how effective ads really are. One example is an advertisement for High Definition Television from Samsung. It appears in an issue of Entertainment Weekly, a very popular magazine concerning movies, music, books, and other various media. The magazine would appeal to almost anyone, from a fifteen-year-old movie addict to a sixty-five-year-old soap opera lover.

Therefore the ad for the Samsung television will interest a wide array of people. This ad contains many attracting features and uses its words cunningly in order to make its product sound much more exciting and much better than any television would ever be. The ad itself is fairly large, taking up four full pages, which feel a little bit thicker than the pages in the rest of the magazine. Many people will notice the ad not only because of its size but also because of its coloring.

All four pages of the ad are filled with eye-catching green grass and a bright blue sky. On the first page, lying on top of the grass are various models of the High Definition Televisions from Samsung and a playful looking girl with her back turned away from the televisions and her eyes closed. The statement "Come Closer" is imprinted at the top of the page (Entertainment Weekly). On the next pages the television sets are shown up close displaying the same green grass and blue sky but this time with the girl looking in awe at the TV's. In addition to the beautiful looking imagery, the ad also uses some clever words to entice the reader. Jeffrey Schrank's "The Language of Advertising Claims" explains wonderfully the most common techniques that advertisers use in their ads.

In the advertisement for the High Definition Television by Samsung, three of Jeffrey Schrank's techniques are used: the "Weasel" claim, the "Unfinished" claim, and the "Vague" claim. The claim that is most apparent is the "Weasel" claim. A weasel word is one that appears to be pretty significant and meaningful but if analyzed further really don't mean much at all (Shrank par. 9). The High Definition Television advertisement claims that it as a flat screen that is "virtually distortion and glare free" (Entertainment Weekly).

The ad doesn't say that the TV has no distortion or glare. Instead what is says really has no meaning since virtually can be interpreted in many different ways. The ad does give the impression, though, that the television has no distortion or glare. Another claim that is used is the "Unfinished" one (Shrank par. 10). An example of that in this television advertisement is when it says that the picture on these TV's is "bolder, brighter and more exciting" (Entertainment Weekly).

It doesn't, though, say what it is bolder, brighter, and more exciting than. It just makes these inarguable claims that sound very promising and make the product look much better but again have no real meaning. Any product can be called bolder and more exciting without being compared to anything else. The "Vague" claim is also used in the ad and is similar to the other claims in the sense they really have no real meaning (Shrank par. 6). This ad claims that the televisions have "brilliant digital clarity" and "unexpected detail and beauty" (Entertainment Weekly).

These words are once again very good at making the product sound like something great but still can be said about any product. How can someone prove or disprove that the any product is brilliant and unexpected? No one can, therefore they are just colorful adjectives that don't really say anything special about the product. All these techniques combined really make the product that is advertised look very superior to anything else even though nothing meaningful was really said. This advertisement, and most other ads, also uses the AID MA technique of attention, interest, desire, memory, and action.

This particular ad grabbed the readers' attention with its colorful pages, held the readers' interest and made them desire the televisions with the crafty words that were used, and will almost certainly be remembered by the reader.