ATVs: A Mans World :: essays research papers fc

ATV’s: A Man’s World   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Propaganda is everywhere. It is on the television, in the newspapers, magazines, and the internet. Everywhere you turn, it’s there. The problem with this is that people merely dismiss it as truth. When people see propaganda, they don’t â€Å"see† propaganda; they see a nice new sport-utility vehicle with a â€Å"powerful engine† and â€Å"cool rims†. When an advertisement uses propaganda, it’s over-looked and the reader is caught in the trap laid out for him. People see everything the designer of that particular advertisement wants them to see. The advertisements selected and interpreted for this assignment are directed towards male’s ages 18 to 27 in the United States. They use three different forms of propaganda to send the same message; â€Å"Buy this, it’s fun and your friends will be so jealous.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first advertisement, for the Arctic Cat 650, uses the glittering generalities technique to lure people into buying their product. It depicts a young man riding their product, a massive ATV, with a helmet and ATV eyewear. He is covered in mud from head to toe and seems to carry this â€Å"I’m better than you are.† persona. It seams to me that simply because he is riding this particular product, he feels as though he is better than any who is not riding the same ATV. The glittering generalities technique uses specific words to make us believe that their product is better for us or will make us happier than their competitors’ similar product. This advertisement uses many â€Å"glittering† words and phrases to make their product more appealing to those targeted. Some of these phrases include ‘new and improved for 2005’ and ‘the amazing’. These glittering generalizations could be said about any all-terrain vehic le. The problem with generalizations is that there is no hard evidence to back it up, they simply state what the designer wants them to state. However, the normal reader of this advertisement would never question the truth of the words stated therein. Other generalizations in this advertisement include, ‘the most powerful ATV on the market’. How can they claim this without giving proof of their claim? Simple, they are using propaganda to stretch the truth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another advertisement uses testimonials or endorsements to sell their product, the Kawasaki Brute Force. This ad shows their product ahead of the pack in an actual race. He is just crossing the finish line as the picture was taken.