Overall, this advertisement accomplishes its goal of drawing attention to the Lake Tahoe Resorts. The image draws in the reader and leaves a statement with which anyone who has ever skied can relate. Most likely, this was found in some sort of winter sport magazine which would allow the audience to relate to the thrill of the jump. With a picture that emphasizes the details of the snow flying behind the skier as well as the way the skier seems to be flying through the air with his arms outstretched, the advertisement seems like it would pop out when flipping through a magazine. The message-to experience or even just see this happening in real life would be truly amazing or as described in the ad epic.
A closer look at the description underneath shows use of repetition. This repetition, or more specifically anaphora, emphasizes the message: “Epic snowfall. Epic vistas. Epic nightlife.” This is a fair description, though it is based on opinion and not fact, because to the audience that would buy this magazine, this would be true. As explained in the advertisement, there is only one word to describe a trip like this one. Ending the description by relating the last sentence back to the picture and the one word used in it pulls the ad together as a whole; no matter what happens and how the trip is remembered it will always be considered epic, just like this picture. To emphasize this further, a period is added after “epic” in the image making the statement seem more real and concrete.
Lastly, this advertisement draws on its reputation to give it a more reliable ethos. If people have been going to these resorts and to the Lake Tahoe area for fifty years, as stated in the description, it must be a fun trip otherwise people would stop going. This indirect use of the bandwagon effect is considered fair because their message doesn’t rely solely on it. Their use of this is an attempt to show how popular the area is for tourists and explain why this advertisement should be taken seriously. In such a quick glimpse into the area, one is immediately drawn into the excitement exhibited in the image and the wording used in to short blurb to describe it creating a strong and effective advertisement.
Lake Tahoe uses one word, “Epic” to characterize their resort so I’ll use one word to characterize their ad: awesome. I agree with you that the ad accomplishes its goal, but I would go one step further and say that this is one of the best magazine ads I have seen in a long time. As an avid snowboarder it had a powerful effect on me. I wish I were out at Lake Tahoe right now instead of typing this response. There are a lot of reasons this ad is effective, but you mentioned the image of the skier first because it’s so powerful. As someone who has been snowboarding out west I can relate to the image, but this could still register for non-skiers. Find me somebody that doesn’t think that someone flying through the air is a cool image. It is perfect because it appeals to the two audiences. Most people that go out to Lake Tahoe can’t jump off cliffs, but the image just shows that Lake Tahoe is cool place worth visiting. The skiers that are that good may say, “Hey look at that jump, I want to go out there and hit that too.”
ReplyDeleteThe advertisement also does a great job of using the word “epic.” I haven’t been to Lake Tahoe so I don’t know if they have “epic snowfall, epic vistas, and epic nightlife,” but that image of the skier is definitely epic. This gives the rest of the claims more credibility. The pictures in the upper right also give these claims more credibility. It’s kind of hard to make out the pictures on the computer, but they show people gambling and dancing. These activities are obviously fun and show more about what you can do off the mountain. It also doesn’t hurt that the girls in the pictures are really cute.
You also bring up a good point about reputation. The ad capitalizes the whole phrase about celebrating 50 years. This is not as important as the main image, but they want to make sure that people see that the resort has been around for 50 years. It is a subtle yet effective little scheme to give the resort more credibility.
I don’t have anything else to say that hasn’t already been mentioned. It is a great ad and the more I write about it the more I want to go snowboarding. I guess I’ll have to settle for youtube videos for the next 30 minutes and a trip to Cascade as soon as possible.