Is it clear which is strong and which is beautiful- the truck or the model?

In my opinion, I do not think it is clear because a woman can be strong and beautiful. In the sense of the semi-truck, it can be both but many people would not call a black semi-truck beautiful. They may call it nice or good looking. It all depends on the person you are directing the question to.

Soft-n-Dri

"Is this an effective ad? Is it sexist? What makes it effective or sexist?

The Soft-N-Dri ad is definitely sexist and mainly an ad for women viewers. The main actress is a woman and is portraying everything that society believes exist with women. The word "princess" is shown everywhere and they use the color pink throughout the ad. I think the creators purposely used all these symbols to show that this deodorant is for women and if you use this deodorant you will be a princess. They also send the idea to women that you will be strong and beautiful if you wear soft-n-dri deodorant. This ad is very effective because it sends out a message to all women why they should use their product.

Erin Duff

Soft-N-Dri ad

Do you think there is any relation between the whiteness of the model and the fact that the word “strong” is also in white? Why wouldn’t it be the same color as the truck?

I do not believe there is any correlation between the color of the text and the color of the woman. The word is on a black part of the ad so the white text is a “strong” contrast to the black part of the ad. In addition, people will be able to read white on black better than other colors. It wouldn’t be the same color as the truck because it is clear in the ad that the truck is supposed to be the hard work and strength, so making it the same color is unnecessary.

Is it clear which is strong and which is beautiful-the truck or the model?

It is very easy to figure out which person or object is supposed to stand for something strong and which one is supposed to stand for something beautiful. The good looking blond model with her tight pink outfit on is supposed to be seen as the ideal woman who is seen as the picture perfect idea of beauty. Long haired blonds with good bodies are always shown as beautiful which tells girls that is the way they are supposed to look, like the Barbie doll for instance. The truck is seen as a more masculine and stronger picture, and shows a manly side that can appeal to many audiences, making the girl almost look a little rough around the edges.

How would the ad be different with an asian model, african american model or a man in dressed in pink?

The ad would convey a different message if they used an asian model or african american model because at the moment they are trying to appeal to the majority, and the majority of Americans are white. Some might think that if they used an asian model or African american model they would trying to appeal to that market, instead they used a white model in order to appeal to the largest market. If they used a man as a model then no women would want to buy the deodorant.

Patrick Millar

Power Stripe

""Given the fact that this deodorant features a 'power stripe,' why are her gloves and the truck important.

       The theme for this commercial is women's strength and independence. Most women have delicate or dainty hands. If the commercial portrayed this, the strong factor would be taken away. Since they have given her gloves to wear it covers her dainty hands, and the gloves make her look more rough. The gloves give her "man-ish" look.
       In an everyday setting how many women do you see driving trucks? Not too many, and if they do the truck certainly is not a semi. This truck gives her power, which puts in place the "power strip." This truck makes her seem like she can conquer anything a man can.

Tommy Hilfiger

What does the text suggest about how Tommy Hilfiger view America? The questions and answers in this section really helped me look at text a different way. It analyzed what was in the ad, but also what was missing. There are middle to upper middle class people sitting on a lawn. No one is above 30, there is not sign of work. I think the ad may be saying something about blue collar work. There are no indians or mexicans and the location is out in a farmhouse area maybe out in new england. The ad represents real america as being everything listed above. They try to broad there market by including a black male and black female, but the TH logo is underneath the white woman. It tells me that Tommy Hilfiger is for well off non working, upper twenties white people. They view America as just that.

Blog Response 8 : Tommy Hilfiger

Why is she wearing work gloves (leather) and a hat? Why aren’t the gloves pink?

    In the Soft-N-Dri “Strong and Beautiful” advertisement, the girl is an attractive, white, blonde woman dressed in all pink except for her work gloves. Having her dressed in pink gives her a very girly appearance. The working gloves and hat however contradict the girly girl look especially since the gloves are leather. Leather is seen as more of a “hardcore” type of clothing choice to wear. I think the gloves are not pink because the creators of this advertisement wanted to have a beautiful woman who could also be hard working in a man’s point of view.  

Is it clear which is strong and which is beautiful--the truck or the model?

It is generally simple to tell which object signifies which word based on the audience they are targetting, younger women. According to their audience, also signified by the magazine that this ad appears in, the truck is the strong one, and the model is the beautiful one. They show the truck in glossy all black paint and seems to hang ominously in the background. The truck is bold and ridged and it has square beaming lights. It has huge bolts in the sides of its massive grill. It is what is considered a man's truck. It signifies power, strength, boldness, and dominence. This massive truck more of the target than the woman is because of what it signifies, the bold and strong in the deoderant that the ad is advertising and it reminds me of a train. The woman, according to the audience the ad is targeting, would be the "beautiful". The woman is there to bring the interest of the young girl audience to this ad as she handles the pipe she has behind her shoulder and wears her trucker hat says she is the driver of this truck. The ad want its audience to say "Oh this woman is using this deoderant because its strong and truckers sweat alot". The woman is further pushed on the audience with her feminine features, especially with her girlish skirt and pink outfit. The star of this ad is the truck however, as it does most of the work, the model is just there for her female audience to associate beauty with this deoderant. Take out the woman and the deoderant and it is very well possible to catch the eyes of many vehicle enthusiasts.

"How about the text copy at the bottom - what do you make of the use of the phrase 'long haul'"?

The phrase "long haul" firstly serves to give meaning to the picture, it alludes back to the semi truck dominating the background of the ad. Semi trucks perform long hauls on a daily basis, it is their job to do this. Using this phrase actually highlights what is good about the deodorant. The company is saying the deodorant can not only last a long time (as is necessary for deodorant) but also put up with difficult work and still serve its purpose. This is also why the gloves and semi are the picture. They serve to represent hard work and a long haul which is what the company is trying to advertise the deodorant as being able to combat. It is saying that it will serve even the woman that works 10 hours a day to come home and be a gardener and exercise and take care of children; it wants the audience to believe it can handle the "long haul."

Donald Perez

Soft-N-Dri advertisement

The target audience for this advertisement is women. Most women can relate to the model in the advertisement, with the girl being the “All American Girl”, being a pretty blond girl who likes the color pink. Even though she is this pretty girl she is still a tough girl, which shown with the worker gloves and the truck. Women are strong with everything they deal with and they still try to look beautiful while being the tough and strong women they are. Since most women can relate to her it will make them think that Soft-N-Dri  is the right deodorant for them.

Why a black semi-truck?

The black semi-truck in this add signifies ugliness.  The fact that she is driving a semi-truck lets us know that she is strong, and because she is wearing all her pink it tells us that she is beautiful.  Because the truck is black, she appears more eloquent, signifying her strength.  This ad shows that no matter what the circumstances, you (women), can always be strong and beautiful.

Soft-n-Dri ad

The ad is effective because it illustrates that the average american girl next door can also be strong and tough. In the ad she is wearing pink clothes, but she is also wearing work gloves. She is a white blond headed women, which represents the girl that every women dreams of being.  Her pink clothes show that though she is a girly girl, she can also compete with men. She can do the tough and dirty jobs that men do while still looking beautiful.
Mary Sullivan

Why a semi-truck?

Why a semi-truck?

A semi-truck is used for the strong part that the commercial is trying to promote. The truck is big and black and supposed to symbolize strength. Semi-trucks are generally associated with the open road because we see them when we are driving on the interstate. The open road is very American and iconic.

Soft-N-Dry "Strong and Beautiful" Campaign

Is it clear which is strong and which is beautiful-the truck or the model?

The reading talks about the ad Soft-N-Dri “Strong and Beautiful” campaign. Instead of describing the ad to the reader, we are given questions to ponder about the ad given. The girl in the ad wears pink and seems to be very girly while standing in front of a semi-truck, appearing beautiful. The ad wants to address the point that the girl is beautiful and the truck is strong. But the ad also wants to identify the blonde white women as being strong. The whole idea of the ad is to advertise the “Strong and Beautiful” campaign, therefore, the women is strong and beautiful while the truck is just strong. The ad is for a deodorant company so they want women to feel strong and beautiful when they wear their product; this is where the truck (strong) and the attractive white women (beautiful) are apart of the ad. 

"Why did the folks put the model in pink? What does pink suggest?"

Why did the folks put the model in pink? What does pink suggest?
The reading talks about an ad for the Soft-N-Dri "Strong and Beautiful" campaign. It talks about how the woman in the ad is "dressed in skimpy tight pink clothes" and in a "pink gimme cap" a.k.a. trucker hat while she stands in front of a semi-truck with the words "PRINCESS OF THE OPEN ROAD" on the windshield in pink. Pink is widely recognizes as a feminine, delicate, pretty color. In the ad being described, I think the makers put the model in pink for these exact reasons. In addition, the words on the truck in pink reflect back to the girliness paired with the word "princess".  Pink is girly and feminine, which contrasts with the black semi-truck behind the model. In this ad, they are trying to promote women as both strong and beautiful. At the end of the ad, they describe how the text "Strong & Beautiful" is written in white for the word "strong" and pink for the word "beautiful". By putting "beautiful" in pink the advertisers are telling the audiencthat even though the white says "strong," the pink "beautiful" reminds them that while being strong they can still be girly.

((Tommy Hilfiger 2010 AD)

Pick a question from the "Reading and Writing about Advertising," and ANSWER the question asked as best you can about the ad being analyzed. Also, make sure it is a question that no other student has asked thus far. You would probably answer the questions differently, but THAT MEANS you need to go read everyone's post before yours and make sure you're not repeating someone. (If you can't find anymore questions, post a repeat and email me). GOOD LUCK!! (PS you are not writing about the ad above. It is just decor).

Thesis

  I have always known that the thesis is a generalization of your paper but I have never known that it can be so broad.  The thesis is also the one thing that holds a paper together; connecting the beginning middle and end.  Also in a paper, the main idea in the body paragraphs relates back to the thesis.  For me, I am always slow to start out my thesis, but once I figure it out I can make a good thesis statement.  Another reason I have trouble starting thesis is because I think to narrow when the thesis needs to be a broad statement.

The Thesis as Lens

What stood out to me the most in the chapter was the reciprocal relationship between thesis and evidence. The chapter argues that the thesis should be like lens because the thesis should effect how the writer sees the evidence. But at the same time, the evidence should also require the writer to readjust the lens. i thought about my own writing process. A lot of times I try to come up with a thesis before finding the evidence. Instead of doing one before the other, you must come up with your thesis while finding the supportive evidence. that is the most effective way to make your argument both clear and effective.

Thesis

The thing that stood out the most to me in this article is the difference in a strong and weak thesis.  The paper defined a thesis as an idea about your subject, a theory that explains what some feature or features of your subject mean.  A lot of times people will make thesis statements that are completely obvious.  They do this because they know about the subject and know that they can write about it.  This handout tells us that that is a weak thesis.  In order to have a strong thesis you must make a claim that is not already understood by everyone, like for example:  candy is bad for your teeth.  A strong thesis proves a point that is not obvious to everyone else and the body of the paper proves the thesis is right.  I will admit, I have had a couple weak theses in my lifetime.  I know now the difference between a strong and weak thesis and will try my best to only use a strong thesis from here on out.

Thesis

One of the main things that stood out to me in this chapter was the idea that the first step in finding a thesis is to recognize what will not appear in the material you’re analyzing. I thought points such as “the process of finding a theses begins when you start to ask questions about the material looking for a problem” and not reformulating the thesis until after you’ve written your essay were very helpful in determining the ways to come up with the best and most effective thesis. The chapter described how a thesis should connect the beginning, middle, and end of a story and evidence should direct and redirect the thesis. The thesis in the exploratory student draft provided background information, evidence, and the claim. I feel that I put some background information in my thesis paragraph, but probably not enough or I don’t connect it to the claim. The student draft offers rhetorical questions, observations and their connection to the story, and the infamous “so what?” that my papers seem to have a hard time connecting. 

Thesis

I have always thought of a thesis as literally stating your three main points of your three body paragraphs and being really straight forward while doing so. The thesis is supposed to show your main point of your paper, but you really do not need to spell it out for your reader. I learned that it is supposed to lead your reader into the rest of your paper, and it is also supposed to hold your paper together. Your thesis will most likely not stay the same as your drafts change. I know with my paper my thesis did not really connect with my evidence at first, even though I thought it would all come together in some way. It was not really clear what my main point was until my final draft.

Thesis

One thing you do not realize is that your paper, based on your thesis could be completely repetitive. This is a fact that stood out to me the most. I feel that is one of my biggest issue sometimes with writing is repetitiveness. It stood out to me because, this is something that could easily be overlooked in a paper. Sometimes I read my paper thinking I have a main point and a paper explaining it, but sometimes I am saying the same thing over and over. Another issue is having a multi- thesis paper. My so-called thesis might be a few weak statements, instead of one strong statement  \wraping up the whole paper.

Thesis

After reading this article, I thought differently on the word "thesis". In high school, I was taught that the word thesis was just a simple, main idea that each body paragraph was based off of. Thesis is not only the main idea, but it goes into more depth. A thesis is not only based on reflecting back to the beginning, middle, and end but it represents the paper as a whole.  The thesis is based on the information given, and it helps the author expand on the idea each time. The last paper assignment over the music video, I clearly understood what a thesis meant in more formal essays. The thesis is a straightforward thought throughout the whole essay and each paragraph must relate back to it. A strong thesis, which is used with class assignments, could be questioned depending on the reader’s points of views. 

Thesis

Many things caught my attention in this chapter, but what mainly stood out to me was that their process of writing and strengthening a thesis was remarkably similar to mine. I thought they were inside my head or something. When I write, I start out with a thesis and then go on to expand the points with deeper thinking, then connect everything together in the conclusion. I may not do it extremely well on certain subjects, but that is what I always at least try to do. The explanation they gave in the chapter was basically deeper thoughts on what already comes naturally to me.

Chapter 9: Thesis

While reading this chapter, one of the points that stood out to me was that they encourage a writer not to ignore contradictory evidence. This evidence should be used no matter what, which would help the writer evolve their thesis into a new and better one. Also, despite how seemingly obvious it is, a thesis is what holds the parts of the paper together. It connects the beginning, middle, and end, which is important if you want to keep your thesis organized. The writer for the painting writes by asking the reader a bunch of questions to make us think while reading. I don’t do that very often but the writing is building up a thesis that is evolving which is something I have not done often. We build up evidence similarly though.

Thesis

After reading the chapter, I have learned many ways to better my writing skills.  The ideas that stood out to me the most are how the thesis statement should have something pushing against it while also making a point. I always thought a thesis was a main subject stating the argument. Also the analogy of a camera lens is a creative way to think of a thesis statement. The clear and fuzzy lens explains how a thesis statement should be written, with a direction to evidence and the analysis of the evidence. My last paper about “Chicken Fried” and the student draft are different because I repeat my ideas throughout the paper and feel as if my thesis is not strong enough. 

Making a Thesis Evolve

What stood out to me from this chapter was how it explained how our thesis should evolve and whether my thesis is strong or weak. The chapter talked about our thesis develops throughout the paper and improving on our ideas. The chapter also talked about our thesis being strong. A strong thesis is an idea that is questioned and examined throughout the paper. I feel like my paper needs to be stronger and develop throughout the paper. I need to make the thesis not so obvious and use evidence to develop the thesis more clearly.

Making a Thesis Evolve

Several things stood out to me while reading this chapter. The first was that the thesis should not be obvious. The thesis is something that should be arguable and it is the author’s job to argue their point in the paper. Secondly, the thesis is where a problem is detected and the author must find evidence to support where he/she stands on the problem and how it should be resolved. Finally the thesis is the glue that holds the paper. Everything should relate back to the thesis, but it should also develop has the paper moves along.

Unlike the draft at the end of the paper my writing usually has a thesis that is very obvious and I find evidence to support that claim. There is just one main thesis, not several. Our writings are similar in the fact that my thesis usually does not develop as the paper moves along, but is simply restated and that I leave a lot of undeveloped observations. .

One thing I found interesting was that it suggested using the word another instead of next or also.