The advertisement chosen for this assignment appeared in a May edition of the Entertainment Weekly (2004), selling the idea that a Visa credit card makes life better. It presents a picture of six people around a cake, three women and two men, from a range of ethnic groups. All of the individuals are dressed fashionably in hip styles and appear as if they are in the act of wishing someone a "Happy Birthday." There is confetti floating in the picture to give it a party atmosphere. The cake in the picture has dark brown frosting with light brown trim and candles line the edge. In the middle of the cake, in yellow frosting, are the words, "Cable Bill Due $70.01." Beneath this picture is a 2-inch blue bar with the words "You cable bill will be the last thing on your mind." Next to it is the "Visa" logo with the words, "it's everywhere you want to be" below it. This paper will demonstrate by examining language, visual images, appeals, and target audience, that this ad would be successful in convincing people in their 20s that having a Visa credit card will make their lives better.
There are only 21 words in the advertisement - most of them appear at the bottom of the page in the blue bar in white lettering. The statement at the bottom refers to the words on the cake and the connotation is that if the cable bill is the last thing on a person's mind, then that leaves room for more fun things, like birthday parties. Then, to the right, is the logo statement used by Visa in most of its ads referring to its accessibility in most places. These words leave the reader with the impression that having a Visa makes life easy and fun, since problems like cable bills can be simply taken care of with the use of a Visa card.
The background for the advertisement has warm, dark, muted tones to help outline the people in the picture. The ad then catches the eye at the top of page with three smiling people at
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