Mason Allenger - Santa Ad #32 Analysis

Ad w/ notes:

Santa 32

Reflection:
I'm convinced that drawing a bald eagle perched upon the crying boy's back or changing the blank background to an American flag are the only manners by which this ad could be made more patriotic. This is an ad by The Cleveland Welding Co., the metal company that makes bikes for Roadmaster. The ad is basically a consolation to whoever is unlucky enough to receive it saying that "I'm sorry you didn't get a bike this year; the company who makes them is too busy supporting the troops to care about you, but you are getting the next best thing! That thing? A war bond. The kid is obviously white, his hair is obviously blonde, and his eyes are most likely blue - the cliche American boy. As such it's no wonder that he only shed two tears. After all, the welding co. is making war materials for his big brother, and the other millions of American troops. Making sacrifices is the American thing to do! Moving on, the most interesting parts of this ad are the author of the words written and the relationship between father figures, Santa, and the welding company. The first three words imply that it's written by a father, or even a grandfather - really any male elder, honestly. But later in the text "This Christmas your dad's bought you.." suggests that it isn't the father speaking. Is it Santa or the company? It's obviously up to interpretation, and it is my belief that the creator of the ad uses such a diverse voice to make sure the ad is compelling to as many people as possible.

Table:

tropes	5) exaggeration	hyperbole	The writer says that war bonds are the “best kind of present.” This is obviously untrue as best extremely subjective. Hyperbole is used to try to persuade the reader to buy war bonds with the money they didn’t use to buy a bike.
	7) apophasis	euphemism	The Cleveland Welding Co., the company that supplies Roadmaster bikes with their material, obviously makes products with metals. As such, we can safely assume that “war materials” refers to weapons of some sort (guns, tanks, etc.), therefore making the term a euphemism.
visual	5) space	open	There isn’t much to the picture. There is really only Santa, the boy, and text. There’s no extravagant color or even pictures of their product. To me this is the company saying, “we’re really too busy saving the troops to even make this add, but we will because we care about you”
	7) angle	low angle	It’s not incredibly pronounced, but the viewer is slightly looking up towards Santa and the boy. This works to cause the reader to hold the two in a higher light. The boy is making a sacrifice so the reader should too.
	8) implied distance	close-ups	The drawing of Santa and the boy are close-up. Close enough for the viewer to see the tears falling from the disheartened boy’s face and Santa’s big, comforting hand wrapped around his back in a fatherly way. These things couldn’t be accomplished as well at any other distance.
	9) figures	abstraction	The boy in the picture is obviously concrete, and although oddly, so is Santa. The subtracted cheeriness and youthful spirit causes this Santa to lose some of his abstraction. His caring, almost sad eyes and droopy, old beard makes him seem more like a father figure than a magical gift giver.
type	1) stroke-height ratio	line thickness vs. letter height	The first three words, “I’m Sorry Son” have the greatest stroke-height ratio. That is, the capital letters are relatively tall compared the the thickness of the letters. This creates emphasis on these three words that are perhaps the most influential to the ad as they establish compassion and and the target audience.
	6) emphasis	underlining	The largest words on the ad, “I’m Sorry Son” are underlined. Not only does this immediately establish that the company is trying to be compassionate, it also raises the question of “who is writing this?” Is it the welding company? Is it santa? Is it a father? Is santa the father?