#visualrhetoric

For this assignment, you will be using the vocabulary learned from Language of Multimodal Texts and the vocabulary and analysis tips from Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Towards Rhetorical Analysis to analyze a multimodal artifact. Your analysis will be presented as an infographic series.

Your first assignment is to select a multimodal artifact to analyze. Advertisements in magazines, TV commercials, billboards, or even design packaging (cereal boxes) are all great options as it is usually easy to identify speaker and audience.

You will then draft at least 1000 words analyzing the rhetoric of your artifact. Consider all of the rhetorical situations that could be identified, using SOAPStone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone), Aristotelian rhetoric (logos, ethos, pathos, kairos, telos), or the rhetorical triangle (writer, reader, purpose). Consider also analyzing the logic of the claims and unstated assumptions of the persuasion, the visual appeal, or even the word choice. Analysis requires you to not only identify the corresponding elements, but also make a value judgment on the efficacy of the author to persuade the audience.

Finally, you will create the infographic series with the free, online design tool, Canva. You can get inspiration from pop culture infographics, literary infographics, and more. Consider graphs, charts, "anatomy of" comics, exploded view blueprints, and other forms of data visualization. Also be deliberate in your use of fonts, color schemes, and layout.

Lucky Charms Cereal Box Analysis

Metadata

Lucky Charms is considered to be one of the more well-known, staple cereals that is targeted towards a younger demographic and their parents. Produced by General Mills Food Company, the cereal is packaged a signature bold, ruby red color intended to attract attention throughout the breakfast aisles of various supermarkets and grocery stores. The red is contrasted by the deep, emerald green of the hat and suit of the iconic character, Lucky the Leprechaun who is featured front and center along with the cereal product. The name of the cereal is listed in large, gold font accented with sparkles and a hint of a rainbow in the graphic design.

Quality/Graphics

The quality of this advertisement is better than average. The concept of the advertisement campaign goes hand in hand with the concept of the actual product. The description of the cereal listed on the box is “frosted toasted oat cereal with marshmallows”. General Mills takes advantage of this unique cereal and builds an advertisement theme around the product, specifically the marshmallow aspect of the cereal. The rainbow visual and the branch-like patterns embedded into the red background depicted in the graphics alludes to Lucky the Leprechaun discovering and marveling over a pot of Lucky Charms while in the forest. The implication being that Lucky Charms is the treasure that Lucky intended to find.

Analysis

The purpose of this ad is to attract and expose consumers to Lucky Charms Cereal. The cereal brand claims to be “magically delicious”, as mentioned in the Lucky Charms slogan. This slogan also plays on the narrative of their advertisement series (both on TV and in the products). The specific decision to use the word “magically” creates a connection between Lucky’s search for Lucky Charms (magic because he himself is a leprechaun and leprechauns are known as fictional creatures that are usually associated with valuable items such as gold, luck, and treasure), and the Lucky Charms. Specifically referring to the marshmallows in the cereal, shaped and colored to resemble rainbows, horseshoes, hearts, moons, hourglasses, and so on. The consistent plotline and theme for Lucky Charms has been a consistent in the cereal’s advertisements and utilizes pathos through nostalgia and familiarity in order to draw in consumers (both old and new), as well as attracting new consumers by the means of mere exposure. In addition, the blue top of the box emphasizes whole grain as an important ingredient to the cereal product. Diagonally below this is a set of infographics that easily communicate the nutritional facts for each serving and present a sense of transparency. These features would be a logos appeal to parents who are looking to buy a relatively healthy breakfast for their children, or adults who are health conscious and looking for a cereal to buy for themselves.

Persuasiveness

Because the target audience is mainly aimed towards a younger demographic, I would say that the ad does a pretty decent job at utilizing graphics, emotional tone, and perception of the product and its surrounding aspects, and is successful in persuading consumers to purchase their product. The bright colors, enlarged pictures, eye-catching design attracts attention. The showcasing of Lucky the Leprechaun being excited and in awe to discover Lucky Charms communicates excitement and provokes curiosity to the audience. The motif of the vibrant, and fun aspect of the marshmallows and connection of the overall theme of the brand also persuades the audience to try the product everyone else is eating (bandwagon) and to keep coming back.

Raisin Bran Rhetorical Analysis

Metadata Analysis: Sugar Smacks Cereal

I believe this advertisement is aimed at appealing to children and their parents. To me, showing a childhood cultural figure, the clown, on the front cover of this cereal box indicates its place as a child’s cereal. I believe the colors and the humorous expression of the clown, a detail of the mascot that appeals to pathos, would be effective in drawing the eyes of children and relating them to the cereal. To me, this is an effective pathos appeal because children tend to have a sense of humor that is susceptible to the goofy-faced humor of a clown figure. Parents may also be susceptible to this layer of pathos because the image of a clown could appeal to their memories of childhood and the emotions linked with these memories. This mascot also appeals to ethos because it puts an appealing, likable and somewhat familiar face to the cereal brand. Especially with the detail of the clown having a first and last name, Paul Jung, this gives a pseudo-accountability to the mascot, further appealing to ethos. I believe this technique is most effective to the children in the intended audience because they are likely more liable to being drawn into a fantasy world where a clown exists that enjoys and promotes this cereal. I do not believe this technique would fully penetrate the minds of adults within the audience because they are likely more aware of the reality of both advertising and the possibilities of events within the world.

There is also a toy included in the cereal box for children to collect parts of and put together. This makes a goal out of finding all parts of the toy and all parts of each model of the toy, convincing consumers to continue buying the cereal. To me, this is also an effective technique because children tend to enjoy completing short, simple goals due to their short attention spans and intellectual development. Of course, children also love playing with simple toys, making these goals worthy of their attention and efforts. Adults may not be as inclined to want to complete all of the toys using the parts given in each cereal box, but having a child wanting to complete these tasks may be convincing.

While I believe its high sugar content and lack of rectifying it with advertising about supplemented vitamins within the cereal, as is common with modern cereals in a more health-conscious culture, would typically shy away parents, the culture of health in the 1950′s, the time of this cover being used, was much different than that of today. I believe this ad is effective without health-conscious appeals because of the fun, childhood fantasy aspect of this advertisement. 

 Another ethos appeal of this advertisement is the stamp at the lower right corner indicating that the aluminum used in the packaging of this cereal, which is advertised as a good decision because it helps to keep food fresh longer, possibly saving the family buying the product money and time, also appealing to logos, that indicates the brand’s accountability for the safety of their product.

For all of the above techniques being used on a non-cluttered and easily-read cereal box cover, I believe this is a very effective advertisement. I believe its intended audience is well catered to and it uses multiple rhetorical techniques to make this possible. 

The intended audience that the Special K cereal box is catering to is the people that are making a conscious effort to be healthier. The design of this box is particularly effective for that audience because, rather than focusing on a mascot or specific iconography like other cereal advertisements, this box almost solely focuses on the health benefits of the product. The box is fairly simple in design -- the main color that is emphasized is red which makes it stand out even more. This is particularly effective because it makes the strawberries -- whose freshness is one of the focal points of the ads -- pop even more. Instead of slogans or taglines across the box there are two different areas where the nutritional information are located. For its intended audience, what this does is highlight exactly what they are looking for, health benefits in what they are choosing to eat. The Special K cereal box is persuasive in its appeal to its audience as it allows the box itself to demonstrate the same focus of the people that they are trying to sell to -- a healthy product. -HK

In order to understand the aesthetic significance of the Special K cereal box, you must understand the metadata that contributes to its creation. For starters, in the top left hand corner you see “Value Size” in big words; This caters to the fact that people want to be getting the most product they can for their money. By including the word “Value”,you have given the consumer a reason to believe that they are in fact getting the most for their money without getting ripped off. Money is a constant worry, and more recently, people are worrying about their health. The cereal box creators use these two concerns to help sell their product by making the consumer believe that they are getting the best deal possible and saying “Bursting with REAL BERRIES.” Not only does the word “Bursting” give the connotation that there is an enormous supply of something which relates to the money concept, but the “REAL BERRIES” relates to the health conscious concept by signifying to the consumer that this cereal is healthy for you; People associate berries with healthy living. In turn, the expected audience that would be looking at this cereal are people who are trying to live a healthier lifestyle but don’t want to give up taste for health; it’s for people who want to make a change, most likely small, to their diet in terms of eating food with more nutritional value. -LM (REWRITE NUMBER 9)

The picture of the cereal ad - Claim:

           The cereal box claims to be or conveys the overall impression of being healthy and a better, smarter alternative to other cereals a consumer may purchase. Due to the cereal containing “150 Nourishing Calories” in tandem with whole grains, vitamins, and “Real Strawberries” it is the healthiest and the only “smart choice” for cereal purchases. Who says that eating healthy cereal can’t taste delicious? That is what this cereal claims to be: your yummy alternative to healthy diets as a snack, breakfast, or a light but filling meal instead of bland or overly sweet and high calorie cereals made by other companies. - CP.

3. The cover of this cereal box tries to appeal to an older audience rather than a children’s cereal. By placing the healthy upsides of this brand, it attracts those who are trying to stay in shape or become healthier. Special K also keeps the color scheme throughout the box, which makes it more eye-catching that the entire box is red. Once consumers are looking at this almost entirely red box, they could feel compelled to read what else this box has to offer.

Logos

They also use the claim “real berries” which is backed by the image of juicy red strawberries to appeal to the consumers. Why else would they place real berries on the cover unless they are using real berries? It also appeals to logic in the sense that if Special K is placing real berries in their cereals, why would anyone want to eat other brands with fake fruit? The front also clearly lists out the other benefits of eating Special K. Consumers can get all these nutrients from one bowl of this cereal, so it only makes sense to buy it.

Telos

The graphics are simple, rather than big and colorful with a cartoon on it that would be aimed for kids. To really push their goal of getting people to buy their cereal, Special K uses a lot of sensory terms. Describing the cereal with words such as “nourishing”, “bursting”, and “crunchy” aims to induce mouth-watering sensations. Since the product is food, of course this is the key purpose in getting people to want to buy their cereal.

Identifying metadata about Froot Loops (the context, date/timeliness, expected audience/target demographic)

Starting with the date, this box seems to be timeless in its many iterations. There is a consistent quality regarding the packaging, which subtly hints to the consistent quality of the breakfast cereal itself. Froot Loops are the same exact food, from the time they were initially released to the current time. The context of the imagery makes the cereal seem fun and attractive. Toucan Sam is a well designed and cute mascot. The box is primarily red, which not only grabs a shopper’s attention, but also makes the shopper hungry (this strategy is used in many fast food establishment logos, such as McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, etc.). A photo of the cereal is the only non-cartoonishly drawn feature of the packaging, because the producers want to inform the customers what they are purchasing (and that what they are purchasing is consistent with what they’ve come to understand Froot Loops are). I suspect that the expected audience is everybody who enjoys breakfast cereal. Let’s be honest: Froot Loops taste good. Sure, they’re overly-sugary. Sure, they all only vaguely taste fruity. Sure, the flavor is the same in every piece, despite the different colors. However, most people associate Froot Loops with their childhood, so many adults purchase them out of nostalgia. Speaking of nostalgia, if I had to narrow the targeted demographic down further, the cereal is mostly consumed by children. Because of Toucan Sam’s happy demeanor, children expect to become happier due to the pleasant taste of Froot Loops. Relating back to the context and consistency, this helps these children to recognize Froot Loops later in life, and bring them back to the happiness they experienced in childhood. The demographic and the character of Toucan Sam will be discussed further down. - NC

Further Metadata, and arguable claim regarding the marketing giant that is Toucan Sam

As mentioned above, the actual quality of the cereal is less important than the consistency of the cereal and packaging. Yes, the cereal is sweet and tasty, and yes, the box is bright and colorful, but is it just as sweet and tasty and bright and colorful as you remember them? Kellogg’s did an excellent job crafting this box design to be timeless, especially the character of Toucan Sam. He is a toucan, which makes customers think “Ooh, I wonder if this cereal tastes tropical”, and his beak is very colorful, in reference to the colorful nature of the cereal itself. Also, as you might notice, Toucan Sam is swinging on a vine, instead of flying. Why is that? Well, my interpretation is that he needed to be further anthropomorphized than just being a cartoon bird. “Wow! He’s swinging on a vine! I can do that too, because I also have hands with opposable thumbs!” Says the little kid looking at the packaging. Well, perhaps it’s not that literal. However, to some degree, that is what children are thinking. “He’s just like me, and he loves Froot Loops! Now I want some!” The character of Toucan Sam will be discussed further down.   - NC

Analyze (not summarize) a) purpose, b) main points/claims, c) argument types, d) appeals to credibility, logic, and emotion, e) use of support, warrants, qualifiers, backing, f) use of language, graphics, humor, and

The purpose of this cereal box is to entice children into picking it up off of shelves and bringing it over to their parents in order to be purchased.

Evaluate persuasiveness for intended audiences.

Toucan Sam is renowned by all children- he has a smiling face and appears to be having a good time by eating/being around Froot Loops. Considering the fact that the primary audience is children, the front of this cereal box does a great job capturing and holding attention with its vibrant color scheme. Kids enjoy colorful foods, and by having s bright red box with a mix of all sorts of colors, Fruit Loops successfully targets this younger audience by getting them to pick up the cereal box to begin with. The secondary audience, arguably, is the parents buying this cereal for their kids. The cereal is persuasive to them in the sense that it offers nutritional facts right on the front. There’s no need to go searching for whether or not natural fruit flavors are used because it’ right there on the front. Along with other nutritional facts such as how the cereal is a good source of fiber and made with whole grains. Parents appreciate this kind of information, seeing as how most parents want their kids to have balanced diets. By listing what most parents would categorize as the most important nutritional information at the top, it’s easy to say that Fruit Loops does a great job at persuading parents to buy this cereal for their kids.

In an interesting sense the toucan works as an appeal to authority. Although he's not real, he's a beloved character telling impressionable kids which cereal is the most fun. Cereal companies try to make the most lovable “mascots” if you will, with fruity pebbles using the flinestones being a great example. Although not from a show, kids like the cartoon, the cartoon looks fun, and the cartoon eats the cereal.