Critique of an advertisement helps analyze the several factors that are an important part of the ad and also helps in associating the factors that make the ad offensive and those factors that can make an ad great (Frith, 1998). The advertisement that I observed is that of Ikea and Virgin Atlantic.
The campaign of Ikea was designed with the objective to inform the people about the shifting of the location of the store and involve the neighbourhood in the whole process. The creative starts with animated visuals of shifting a store from one place to another highlighting the road to take to reach the new location. The advertisement creative has successfully covered all the required information to be conveyed to the customer that a world class store is going to come up and its opening would be done in a grand way. The advertisement has consistently carried the element of fun and excitement from start to finish. It was not a sales ad. The creative have the ability to attract all age groups. The ways of participation portrayed helps the customer to relate to Ikea at a personal level. The customer understands that shifting is a troublesome activity just as a family faces so would Ikea face. The persuation strategy used here is implicit. The Virgin Atlantic advertisement appears several times and uses strategies that are focused on making people believe that it is an airline with high connectivity and reasonable fair. The persuasion is evident and explicit although it is not realistic because Virgin Atlantic is an expensive airlines in the luxury category. Being international is essential for them as it helps achieve a higher level of growth and market potential. Yet it is essential to provide the correct picture.
Reference
Frith, K.T. (1998). Undressing the Ad: Reading Culture in Advertising, 2nd ed. Peter Lang
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