Analyzing A Visual Text

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Analyzing a Visual Text

In 1972, Chef Boy-ar-dee created an ad and “The Ravioli Smile” was the slogan for that ad. A child is depicted in the ad with a bright and lively smiling having a spoon that is full of the company’s ravioli in his hand. The ravioli is described beautifully below the picture stating that, “Some kids even laugh out loud. They think it’s fun food, treat food celebration food. But it’s more. Chef Boy-ar-dee Ravioli is a nutritious food too.” The main purpose of this ad is to attract many people towards buying ravioli for the kids. According to the description, ravioli is not just a fun food for celebration, but also a nutritious food for kids. The tagline and picture of a smiling child attracts parents as they also want to see the same smile on the faces of their children. It is clear from the description and the picture that the product is a logical and simple choice to buy. The product is more appealing to mothers as they find it an easy, quick and nutritious food to prepare for their children as they love the taste of it.

In the visual of this ad, it can be seen that the young boy is enjoying eating the product that is depicted by his smile. At the bottom corner of the ad, it is stated, “Found in mom’s basement.” It shows that this product is highly approved by mothers as the company understands that parents are much careful about the taste and nutrition of their children. Ravioli is the original and genuine recipe of pasta sauce and it has no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. A careful observation of the ad tells that the words “Ravioli” and “smile” have been placed in direct alignment with the smile on the boy’s face. The company is aware of the complex thinking of parents and their concern about the health of kids. The portion size as shown in the ad seems unusually big for a young kid, but it indicates children’s love for having larger, bigger and stuffed meals. A feeling of stability is produced by the placement of picture as horizontal and flat on the page. There are warm and vibrant colors in the shirt of the young kid and their combination with the pink background give a friendly and trustworthy impact of the company of people. Generally kids are seen as picky eaters, therefore, this ad makes the kids satisfy by showing a happy and smiling child. The audience can be easily drawn towards the simplicity of this ad and the clear and simple idea depicted in it. The simple ideas are that this product should be bought because it is cheap, nutritious and easy to cook, and will make the kids happy and smile brightly.

Ethos is applied in this ad through the picture of a kid and the description as well. The smile of the kid is very warming and huge and he seems very happy. It shows that the child is truly and genuinely happy with the meal. The target audience is given an impression that the child is enjoying the product so the other children will definitely love it. The credibility that is created by the boy and his attitude towards the product is transferred to the Ravioli product and the company’s sale through it. It will make the parents think that they should trust the product and their children will also like it. Parents trust the product because of the simple description stated below the picture in the ad. By reading that Ravioli is both a fun and nutritious product, parents get interested in it. They always try to find new ways of feeding their kids in the best way and this product seems a perfect and appropriate solution for them. Ethos is found in another way that is the description “found in mom’s basement.” It is a common belief that the cooking of mothers is perfect and best in the world. Therefore, it seems like the support of mother is with this brand and they trust it.

Pathos is also found in this ad to evoke the emotions of the readers and make them buy this product. The biggest example of pathos is the smiling face of the kid. The beautiful smile because of a food product seems lovely and evokes the emotions of people. Parents are especially drawn towards buying this product as they also want to see the same smile on the face of the kids. If a meal makes a child happy and cheerful, then it should surely be bought as it is a win-win for the company and parents. By calling it a fun and celebration food, the emotions of people are also triggered as they would feel that this product will bring a smile and happiness to their kids and the kids will enjoy it. The phrase “found in mom’s basement” also creates feelings of pathos in people as the bond of kids with their mothers is very sweet. Mothers are always worried and concerned about their kids” health and nutrition and the kids are rarely satisfied with any other food except the one cooked by their mothers. The pathos evoke emotions in parents and they tend to buy the product.

Logos, the appeal to logic, is presented in the ad both through the description and the picture. The first logic is that it is a nutritious food. Parents thinks that if the food is nutritious then they should definitely buy it for their kids. Of course every parent wants his or her child to be fed with better and nutritious food that has a good quality and quantity. The quantity of this product is also large which is also what parents want that their child gets enough meal. The ravioli is said to be a deal with 20 cents per serving which is also an appeal to logic for the buyers. It shows that the product is simple and cheap. According to the ad, ravioli means a smiling kid, and it is believed that a smiling kid means smiling and happy parents. Then it is necessary for parents to buy the product to make their kids happy and cheerful. Even the recipe is mentioned in the description that make parents aware of the ingredients used for the preparation of the product. The fact that it is easy to prepare also appeals to the logic of parents that the product is simple and mothers can easily cook it for the kids and feed them. It says that the kids don’t stop at one serving shows that the meal has an appealing and delicious taste that would make the parents think of buying it so that their kids enjoy eating it.

Works Cited:

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY JustBuyEssay.com. What Is a Rhetorical Analysis Essay? https://justbuyessay.com/blog/rhetorical-analysis-essay. Accessed 16 Nov. 2019.

McKee, Jessica. “Ad Analysis.” Writing Commons, 2012, https://writingcommons.org.