Mentos Ad: Close Reading
Jasmine Tsai
E. McCarthy
Fourth Period AP Lang
25 September 2011
Close Reading: Visual Advertisement In this eye-catching print advertisement for Mentos Gum, marketers successfully captured the attention of their intended market: those who are interested in bold flavors with natural origins (as I am among them.) This is achieved through the texture and style of the text, the meaning the text bears, as well as the brightness of the ad itself. Accompanying the extensive usage of the color green, the marketers used an all-capital font that is slightly worn-down to indicate an active and hands-on feeling. This brought a prominent outdoorsy and strong-willed character to the ad. Its brightness, coming mainly from the lighter green in the center of the ad, contributes to its aforementioned boldness. The transition from light to dark from the middle of the ad outwards also constructs a spotlight effect on the text, forcing the consumers to focus in on the text and the product. Furthermore, the red packaging of the product in the vast green-ness of the ad helps it pop out even more.
The message of this ad can be credited for a large part of its appeal. Gum is something that is traditionally associated with artificial things, like rubber and food coloring. By using the words “freshly picked” to describe the originally man-made gum, the readers are then lead to couple nature-related elements with the product being marketed, ultimately changing the connotation of Mentos Gum.
In addition to the specifically designed font and the contradictory message, the text was also manipulated in terms of size and placement. In decreasing the amount of letters in each word while enlarging the font size, the marketers created a terraced effect: as we move closer and closer to the product, the layers become simpler, bolder, and even more important than the one preceding it. This strategy leaves the readers with the indescribable impact of the product that would not have otherwise
E. McCarthy
Fourth Period AP Lang
25 September 2011
Close Reading: Visual Advertisement In this eye-catching print advertisement for Mentos Gum, marketers successfully captured the attention of their intended market: those who are interested in bold flavors with natural origins (as I am among them.) This is achieved through the texture and style of the text, the meaning the text bears, as well as the brightness of the ad itself. Accompanying the extensive usage of the color green, the marketers used an all-capital font that is slightly worn-down to indicate an active and hands-on feeling. This brought a prominent outdoorsy and strong-willed character to the ad. Its brightness, coming mainly from the lighter green in the center of the ad, contributes to its aforementioned boldness. The transition from light to dark from the middle of the ad outwards also constructs a spotlight effect on the text, forcing the consumers to focus in on the text and the product. Furthermore, the red packaging of the product in the vast green-ness of the ad helps it pop out even more.
The message of this ad can be credited for a large part of its appeal. Gum is something that is traditionally associated with artificial things, like rubber and food coloring. By using the words “freshly picked” to describe the originally man-made gum, the readers are then lead to couple nature-related elements with the product being marketed, ultimately changing the connotation of Mentos Gum.
In addition to the specifically designed font and the contradictory message, the text was also manipulated in terms of size and placement. In decreasing the amount of letters in each word while enlarging the font size, the marketers created a terraced effect: as we move closer and closer to the product, the layers become simpler, bolder, and even more important than the one preceding it. This strategy leaves the readers with the indescribable impact of the product that would not have otherwise
Cited: “Mentos Gum is Picked Fresh.” AdMonkey. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://admonkey.org/2009/02/09/mentos-gum-is-picked-fresh/>.