Ashley Proctor

Ms. Caruso

Engl 1101

October 31, 2013

What do you see?

When I was considering advertisements to analysis for this project I considered what kind
of advertisements would have conflicting messages if viewed by a variety of different people.
With that in mind I plugged in controversial advertisements into Google images and found that
there were many rather good candidates for this project. However, one advertisement stuck out to
me. In the background of this ad one can make out the torso of a topless, rather fit male figure.
In the top left hand corner as well as the bottom right hand corner there is bold white text that
states CHEAT ON YOUR GIRLFRIEND, NOT ON YOUR WORKOUT, and Reebok THE
SPORT OF FITNESS HAS ARIVED. My first reaction when I viewed this advertisement was a
feeling of being stunted. I could not believe that a company as well known as Reebok would
have the audacity to make a statement like this public and of their own accord. One could
imagine that many women would be susceptible to feeling negative emotions towards this
advertisement, because of its suggestion that women are inferior and less important than a mans
workout. However, women that have detrimentally low levels of self-worth, or are from cultures
that are extremely patriarchal and women hold no value in the eyes of society, probably would
not see anything wrong with the statements made in this advertisement.
It is made rather clear that this advertisement is made to speck to the heterosexual male
population. This is shown by the male figure in the background, and appeals more to the
heterosexual male because of the insinuation that the viewer has a girlfriend.
yassenes medina 10/31/13 8:54 AM
Comment [1]: I feel like the title uoesn't ieally
claiify oi give meaning to this papei. I uon't feel
as if they'ie specifically ielateu. Naybe if you
auueu the othei aus I woulu ieceive a bettei
unueistanuing but iight now I'm uncleai as to
why 'What uo you see' is the title.
yassenes medina 10/31/13 8:31 AM
Comment [2]: Analyze.
yassenes medina 10/31/13 8:56 AM
Comment [3]: I feel that this makes it veiy
unueistanuable as to how anu why you founu this
auveitisement but I feel it might also be unielateu
to the topic of this papei. Consiuei ievising it,
maybe making it shoitei, so the ieauei uoesn't
get confuseu like I uiu.
yassenes medina 10/31/13 8:52 AM
Comment [4]: Focus is lackeu heie by youi
being stunneu anu I uon't think you shoulu've put
that you coulun't believe it. I feel you shoulu get
moie to the point so that you coulu be bettei
unueistoou.
yassenes medina 10/31/13 8:27 AM
Comment [5]: You shoulu consiuei ievising
this.
yassenes medina 10/31/13 8:59 AM
Comment [6]: I cleaily unueistanu how you
can insinuateu this anu it is logically aiguable that
the auuience is speaking to heteiosexual males.
I plan to continue on going over the views of the homosexual male and the location of the ad and
how that can change viewpoints of the ad. I also plan to add in my other ads but Im not sure
where to bring them up in the paper. I am also worried that this paper sounds to personal and not
enough objective, and am considering revising the first half of the paper for that reason but I
dont know how I would start the paper without it because Im awful with introductions. I am
open to all ideas and suggestions!
yassenes medina 10/31/13 8:47 AM
Comment [7]: Yes this woulu help, this au uoes
seem to be a little uisciiminant ovei the female
population. I expect that theie was some
contioveisy ovei this au, because I uon't see
wheie in the 0S this coulu've been acceptable.
yassenes medina 10/31/13 9:00 AM
Comment [8]: Yes, this papei might be a little
too peisonal anu is baseu moie on youi opinion
anu how you feel about the auveitisement than
anything else. I woulu consiuei ievising it a bit foi
giammatical eiiois anu tiy to claiify what youi
tiying to say. I felt a little confuseu on the fiist
paiagiaph, but ieauing ovei it a few times I
unueistoou what you weie tiying to say. Also
being that the othei aus weien't incluueu in youi
papei I coulun't ieally giasp youi iueas anu views
on how the auveitisements woulu uiffei anu be
similai to youi fiist au. I woulu consiuei biinging
the othei auveitisements into this papei by
saying in compaiison to the ieebok's au. this au
uoes this oi uoes not uo that. Also the coloi
scheme still neeus to be mentioneu anu how it
affects how people view this auveitisement. I
think you've got a gieat stait on this papei anu I
hope my ciitique helps you make youi papei
above & beyonu.