Ad Analysis of Wilshire Homes
Ad
Analysis of Wilshire Homes
by
Jim Butcher
This is an
analysis of an advertisement for a Wilshire Homes’ ad. In this ad, the home builder uses language/
language placement, and imagery to transmit desired attributes they feel their homes
offer. By using these ideas, Wilshire
Homes is attempting to show a monopoly on beautiful, custom, & unique homes
available in their communities.
Using Toulmin’s
theory, the ad vaguely shows the claim that they can give buyers a perfect fit
to their living requirements. There is bold
wording that declares that client’s needs are different and so should be their
homes. The grounds of this ad are both in images and words used. The images used by the ad shows 2 different
families, both well dressed, and average looking; A map of different sites
around the city, and bold text with a tag-line.
All of these images are meant to show diversification, customization and
quality. Even though the ad does not show any person in contact with a Wilshire
Home, the creators must have felt the reader would associate these pictures and
text with the product. We are also given
language in the ad telling the reader to imagine it being exactly what they
want, “Your clients don’t look alike. Neither do our homes”. The third part of
Toulmin’s theory, the warrant. We are
told how their homes would fit the need of the individual family. The ad tells of how the quality of their
product “will make it hard not to say “yes” ”.
It also states that they are current with the demand for new energy
efficient homes and a part of large creditable organizations. In addition to the language used, there is
also an image of a map with a list of subdivision names under it on the page. This is used to convey that they have
successful locations throughout the Houston area.
In terms of
overall effectiveness and persuasiveness, I feel the advertisement is vague and
not very persuasive. There are a few
items in the ad that would appeal to a reader’s ethos, for example, the ad does
show logos for the builders association and other creditable organizations.
This reflects the writer creditability by association. In terms of logos, again
we have little here that would appeal to our logical senses. The only item in the ad which does appear to
cater to the reader’s logos is a note which refers to making things different
for different clients. The use of pathos
is slightly obvious, with the images different types of families and claims to
individuality.
When trying to
determine a target audience, this again presents a problem, as there are
pictures of families but it seems the target audience is too broad (anybody
that makes 150k to 450k). It is obvious
the designers of the ad wanted to communicate feels of individuality. However there is little that is truly persuasive
about the advertisement. I feel it would
be more effective to use more imagery that conveyed their ideas, mixed with the
catch phrases in the ad; using testimonials from current owners would also create
more credibility.
In this ad, Wilshire
Homes is using vague and ambiguous images, surrounded by lofty claims of being
unique. They do a decent job in appealing to logos but lack in ethos, and
pathos. The ad does not seem either effective,
or persuasive. I feel there are much more
persuasive routes to show diversification, customization and quality in homes.
Reference:
Wilshire Homes, Custom Home
Builders [advertisement]. (2008, October). Houston
Realtor Magazine, October 2008, issue,
p.10