Analyzing Ads Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analyzing Ads - Research Paper Example However, this changed with Listerine ads, such as the one analyzed in this paper from 1932, which brought the previously obscure term halitosis to national popularity (Twitchell 39). This particular ad shows a young woman who is part of five million women who had reached marriageable age at that moment. It contends that she should worry about her breath if she is to make the grade and get a husband. Through this ad and the creation of fear around halitosis, Listerine brought the painful effects of bad breath to young single American women, especially that of getting a husband and settling down. The ad is attempting to make life for young and single American women easier by making them a promise, which is that using Listerine will make them socially acceptable and attractive to eligible men. It seeks to maintain a consumer culture that Listerine had already created around the importance of good breath, especially for women. In this case, they sought to integrate Listerine into a culture that viewed consumption as beneficial to an individual’s happiness (Twitchell 40). The message is that women should strive to achieve good breath in order to charm and romance men. It also seeks to attract men to the fact that women should have good breath for them to be marriageable, which can only be achieved by Listerine. The idea of being attractive is that the young girls should have nice breath, especially when they are youthful. They also make the consequences of having bad breath clear to the young women. Those who fail to use Listerine prior to each date will suffer from hali tosis, which will mean a life of boredom, loneliness, and being single (Twitchell 41). However, if they use Listerine, there will be good times ahead with a man they can attract and hold onto. The ad succeeds in making halitosis a fearsome condition of bad breath that nullifies all other charms. Listerine, therefore, is the only way for young women