A Comprehensive Manual On Creating A Visual Ad Analysis Essay

A visual ad analysis essay allows you to take an ad and analysis it’s meaning and how they are trying to sell their customers. The advertisement is one of the ways that companies can tell their consumers about their products and sell them on it. Writing this kind of paper can be fun if you find an ad that is great. This guide will tell you what you have to do to write this kind of essay.

A Comprehensive Manual

First, you want to watch some TV, read some magazines, walk around the city, and find an ad that you want to analyze. You can also find tons of ads online to choose from as well.


  • Who is in the ad? Is the person well known? Is it someone that is unknown? What kind of expressions does the person have in the ad?
  • Where does the ad take place? What is the message they are trying to convey?
  • Who is the ad geared towards? How do you know that is the audience that they are advertised to?
  • What language and conversation is used? What is said in the ad? If it’s a print ad, is there any thought bubbles? If a commercial, what is a conversation?
  • How does the ad sell to the person? What tactics do they use to sell them? What are the emotions or desires that the ad plays on with the consumer?
  • Look at the class, gender, ethnicity, race, and sexuality in the ad. What is present in the ad? How does the presence or absence of these subjects convey the message?

These questions should help you analyze the ad that you are using for your paper. It will help you break it down and explain all of the parts of it. You can also look online and find some more questions that you can answer when analyzing the ad that you are writing about. Remember that this is a visual ad that you are analyzing, so you want to pick one that interests you. Pick one of your favorite products or one that you find funny or one that actually made you want to go out and buy their product, there is no wrong ad to pick for this kind of essay.