Ad Analysis Hand To God

AKA, a marketing and advertising firm, created a print advertisement for the new Broadway play Hand to God, which appeared in the October 19th, 2014 edition of The New York Times. The advertisements purpose is to create positive branding, and sell tickets. Hand to God’s advertisement bluntly uses the play’s commercial weaknesses in a dark comedic way in order to characterize their vulnerabilities as strengths.
The advertisement sets a dark tone through its imagery. First, the words are displayed in an eerie handwritten scrawl. The ad uses only three colors, a bloody red, black, and white. The writing of the ad is focused in the center of the black background. The red writing of “Hand to God” reminds the reader of blood.
The advertisement uses religion in order to draw the audience’s attention. The play Hand To God takes place at a catholic school, and features a demonic puppet. Therefore, the words “pray for us” and “Hand to God,” relate to religion. Lastly, the dark background and font reminds the audience of the devil.
The words “Hand to God” are the most prominent and eye-catching.
The eye is immediately drawn to the show’s title “Hand to God” at the center of the ad. Next, the reader sees the writing is positioned in the center of the ad. The ad is read from top to bottom. The darkness of the black background draws the reader into the words.
By looking at the advertisement and the subject of the play, the key audience’s demographic are young adult theatregoers. Because of the advertisement’s dark nature, the ad does not appeal to children. According to Pew Research Center, New York Time’s audience is 32% made up of by people that are age 18 to 29. Because of the shows dark comedic nature, it does not appeal to a highly religious or elderly audience. Due to location and the facts on the ad, the advertisement’s main audience is frequent
theatregoers.
The advertisement’s regional demographic is New York City. Residents or tourists of New York City can only see the play. The ad was placed in New York City’s main newspaper “New York Times.”
Although the play will not open until April, the release of the ad so close to Halloween draws people’s attention to it in an effort to promote buzz and early ticket sales. This advertisement was released in the October 19th, 2014 edition of the New York Times. Halloween is a big holiday for all things bloody, and scary. Nonetheless, this play relates to the tone of Halloween, which is sure to draw in an audience. Therefore, after seeing the ad, the reader can go to the play’s website and purchase early tickets.
The advertisement appeals to the audience’s emotions through the overall design of the ad. It makes the reader feel scared with its handwritten text, bloody red “Hand to God,” and the darkness of the background.
The advertisement is clever and appeals to the readers logos through the words displayed on the ad. “No movie stars” appeals to the understanding that a Broadway play usually has at least one movie star to draw a crowd. Also, “no London transfer” appeals to the fact that a London actor can be used on Broadway to create more ticket sales. “No film adaptation” tells the audience that the play is completely new, and has never been done in any other media.
AKA, a marketing and advertising firm, created a satiric print advertisement for the new Broadway play Hand to God, which appeared in the October 19th, 2014 edition of The New York Times. Hand to God, a new American play, in spite of being an unlikely candidate for longevity on Broadway, the advertisement peaks curiosity.