Looks can be Decieving
Visual aspects of an ad are not only critical in grabbing the audience’s attention, but in keeping the audience engaged throughout the ad. These visual aspects include anything from colors, fonts, symbols, and the clarity of any people that are in the ad. Visual rhetoric, which is a form of communication that uses these images to create meaning, is often used to send the audience the underlining message of the ad without explicitly writing it out (What is Visual Rhetoric?.) In the My Circle ads by Alltel, visual rhetoric is used in several ways to illustrate some of the key messages that the ad is trying to convey.
In the Alltel My Circle ads, there are certain visual trends embodied in each of the ads. Four of Alltel’s competitors’ employees are depicted wearing shirts of the company they represent as shown in the ad below. The colors play an important role in the ads. First, each character from the different wireless company is wearing the color shirt that represents their company. For example, the Verizon guy is wearing red and the T-mobile guy is wearing pink. The guys wearing the colored polo’s are typical nerds, and are representing their companies, whereas Chad, the Alltel spokesman is well dressed but still wearing his brand color, blue. Another similarity between all the My Circle ads is that an Alltel store is usually visible. Either the characters are in the store, or Chad, the Alltel worker is just leaving. Showing the store creates familiarity of brand logos as well as what the stores look like so the audience can associate themselves with it.
The visual rhetoric also presents the idea of superiority. The characters’ style and dress shows them as inferior to Alltel. Superiority is also shown in the My Circle wizard ads. Generally, wizards are considered to be magical and in some stories very wise. Though the wizard in the ad is awoken by the competitors and is supposed to be used for their benefit, even he is impressed by the My Circle deal.
Visual rhetoric also helps create a certain atmosphere. The setting of these ads is generally in everyday places. A lot of the ads are taken place in an Alltel store. Other places that are used are parking lots and one ad even uses a mall food court. The atmosphere is important because using everyday places like these shows that the product is for everyone, which includes the entire audience. If an ad can make someone see themselves in that place, then that someone is more likely to purchase the product or in this care the wireless service.
Even though the audience probably won’t break down and analyze the colors of the ad, or think about what the wizard represents, their brain will automatically make the connection for them. The stronger the connection, the more effective the visual rhetoric worked.
