advertisement essay introduction

Essay On Advertisement

500 words essay on advertisement.

We all are living in the age of advertisements. When you step out, just take a quick look around and you will lay eyes upon at least one advertisement in whichever form. In today’s modern world of trade and business, advertisement plays an essential role. All traders, big and small, make use of it to advertise their goods and services. Through essay on advertisement, we will go through the advantages and ways of advertisements.

The Various Ways Of Advertisement

Advertisements help people become aware of any product or service through the use of commercial methods. This kind of publicity helps to endorse a specific interest of a person for product sale.

As the world is becoming more competitive now, everyone wants to be ahead in the competition. Thus, the advertisement also comes under the same category. Advertising is done in a lot of ways.

There is an employment column which lists down job vacancies that is beneficial for unemployed candidates. Similarly, matrimonial advertisement help people find a bride or groom for marriageable prospects.

Further, advertising also happens to find lost people, shops, plots, good and more. Through this, people get to know about a nearby shop is on sale or the availability of a new tutor or coaching centre.

Nowadays, advertisements have evolved from newspapers to the internet. Earlier there were advertisements in movie theatres, magazines, building walls. But now, we have the television and internet which advertises goods and services.

As a large section of society spends a lot of time on the internet, people are targeting their ads towards it. A single ad posting on the internet reaches to millions of people within a matter of few seconds. Thus, advertising in any form is effective.

Benefits of Advertisements

As advertisements are everywhere, for some magazines and newspapers, it is their main source of income generation. It not only benefit the producer but also the consumer. It is because producers get sales and consumer gets the right product.

Moreover, the models who act in the advertisements also earn a handsome amount of money . When we look at technology, we learn that advertising is critical for establishing contact between seller and buyer.

This medium helps the customers to learn about the existence and use of such goods which are ready to avail in the market. Moreover, advertisement manages to reach the nooks and corners of the world to target their potential customers.

Therefore, it benefits a lot of people. Through advertising, people also become aware of the price difference and quality in the market. This allows them to make good choices and not fall to scams.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Essay On Advertisement

All in all, advertisements are very useful but they can also be damaging. Thus, it is upon us to use them with sense and ensure they are entertaining and educative. None of us can escape advertisements as we are already at this age. But, what we can do is use our intelligence for weeding out the bad ones and benefitting from the right ones.

FAQ on Essay On Advertisement

Question 1: What is the importance of advertisement in our life?

Answer 1: Advertising is the best way to communicate with customers. It helps informs the customers about the brands available in the market and the variety of products which can be useful to them.

Question 2: What are the advantages of advertising?

Answer 2: The advantages of advertising are that firstly, it introduces a new product in the market. Thus, it helps in expanding the market. As a result, sales also increase. Consumers become aware of and receive better quality products.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Free Advertising Essay Examples & Topics

The advertising industry plays a critical role in modern society. We can see ads everywhere. They make us create opinions about all that we see, from food to politics. It is also the main source of income for most of the media, from newspapers to Facebook.

What can you write in an essay on advertisement?

In essence, your task is to compose an advertisement review. You have to analyze an ad or a few and explain how it promotes the product. Who does it appeal to? Tell about its aim and target audience. Then describe the main points and how it impacts people, providing your opinion. Write about the influence of advertising and your own impression.

To make it easier for you to decide on a topic for your advertising essay, our team has created a list of ideas for you. We also analyzed the structure of this type of academic paper and prepared some advertising essay examples.

Advertisement Essay Structure

When you’re writing a standard academic piece, your essay on advertising should be five paragraphs long. In the table below, we will analyze what you should describe and how to do so in detail.

• Introduction: Describe the product and provide some background information about it. You should state what exactly you will analyze. Include your personal opinion in this part. Explain why the company needs a commercial for the product. Summarize the content of the ad.
• Thesis Statement: Mention the main descriptive points that will appear in the body of your essay. There is no need to introduce your personal opinion in the thesis . Focus only on the vital aspects. Don’t write more than two sentences — preferably stick to one.
• Body Paragraphs: Here, you should describe the target audience of the commercial in any essay on ads. Besides, in the paragraphs, write about the concept of the brand and advertised product. Provide a visual analysis of the ad: colors, lighting, actors, and props and their meaning. Then switch your focus to the pros and cons of the ad.
• Conclusion: Try to keep it short and logical, covering the most significant points. Summarize the information about the targeted audience, the aim of the ad, and if they achieved it.

The structure above can serve as an outline for your argumentative essay on any chosen topic. But that’s not all. To write a successful essay, you need to take a few steps before writing:

• Select a topic . Try to remember some ads that you have recently seen. Think of your reaction to them and choose the one that strikes you the most. You can also use one of the topics from this article instead.
• Carry out research . Make a semiotic analysis of the ad. Search for the psychological techniques, values, and tricks used in the ad. Also, focus on the purpose of the advertisement.
• Determine the audience. Your essay should be interesting to your readers. Make sure you highlight the aspects that are valuable for them. Avoid mentioning unsuitable details or using a wrong writing tone.

Don’t hurry.

Spend some time planning your essay and create an outline. Try to understand what the creator of the commercial is aiming to say. Think of the advertisement is successful or not and make your analysis simple and involving. Of course, highlight the positive and the negative aspects of the ad.

13 Advertising Essay Topics

As we mentioned above, choosing the right advertisement essay topic is a vital part of the job. In this section, we will provide a few ideas, among which you can find a suitable one for your assignment.

Try one of the following advertising topics:

• Should alcohol advertisements be banned entirely?
• Nike feminist commercials and their significance to women.
• How Coca-Cola commercials became a symbol of Christmas.
• The advantages and disadvantages of Internet ads.
• What is wrong with shampoo ads?
• Advertising strategies on social media.
• The adverse effects of violence in the media.
• How does advertising affect children?
• The ethical side of the advertising industry.
• Marketing strategies in the political advertisement.
• How does advertising affect the economy?
• What are the main media and advertisement techniques of Netflix?
• Unethical aspects of using women objectification in ads.
• Hybrid marketing model as a way of reducing costs for a company.

Thank you for reading this article! You can also find some useful advertising essay examples below. They will help you to see how to use all these tips.

436 Best Essay Examples on Advertising

Facebook should be banned essay (privacy invasion, social effects, etc.), facebook essay, facebook should be banned.

• Words: 3209

Advantage and Disadvantage of Facebook

• Words: 1373

McDonald’s Company: Bandwagon Technique

Coca-cola: advertisement critique.

• Words: 1930

Sexual Imagery in Advertising

• Words: 2885

Crest Toothpaste Advertisement’s Rhetorical Analysis

• Words: 1201

A Rhetorical Analysis: “Chevy Commercial 2014”

• Words: 1495

Facebook’s Negative and Positive Effects on Children

• Words: 1207

“Open that Coca-Cola”. Advertisement Analysis

Nivea: analyzing and evaluating an advertisement, print and broadcast computer advertisements.

• Words: 1538

Water Advertisement

Advertisement review, successful advertising in fashion.

• Words: 4469

Coca-Cola Company’s Advertising Effectiveness

Typography in coca-cola’s advertisements.

• Words: 1819

7Up Advertisement Campaign

The bmw advertisement analysis.

• Words: 1739

Porsche 911 Commercial: Analysis of an Advertisement

• Words: 1018

Feminism in Advertisements of the 1950s and Today

• Words: 2432

PepsiCo Inc.’s Kendall Jenner Advertisement

• Words: 2212

The Nivea Skin Care Product Advertisement

Advertisements of chanel no. 5.

• Words: 1743

Persuasion Techniques in Dwayne Johnson’s “Got Milk?” Advertisement

• Words: 1476

Advertising Strategy and Campaign for Hershey Kisses

• Words: 4443

Role of Ethics in Advertising

• Words: 1108

The iPad Air Pencil Advertising

Advertising analysis: real beauty sketches by dove.

• Words: 1424

The Impact of Social Media on a Brand, Its Image, and Reputation

• Words: 4023

McDonald’s, IKEA and Coca Cola Brands Advertising Analysis

• Words: 1405

Ethics in Advertising and Its Importance

• Words: 1153

Marlboro Cigarette Advertising Semiotic Analysis

• Words: 2304
• Words: 1392

Louis Vuitton: Objectives of the Advertising

Dove ad campaign for real beauty.

• Words: 1673

“We Believe: The Best Men Can Be” Advertisement

L’oréal and lab series advertisements analysis.

• Words: 1310

The Effects of Facebook and Other Social Media on Group Mind and Social Pressure

• Words: 1400

Gucci Company Advertising

Propaganda techniques in the vitaminwater advertisement, visual argument analysis: kentucky fried chicken website advertisement, international advertising and its aspects.

• Words: 5448

Location-Based Marketing and Advertising

• Words: 1910

Television Commercial

Ban on all advertising of alcohol.

• Words: 1238

Social Media and the Hospitality Industry

• Words: 3093

“Moms Demand Action” Print Advertisement

Communication dilemma: johnson & johnson tylenol crisis.

• Words: 1787

Ralph Lauren’s Printed Advertising: Semiotic Analysis

Bmw company’s advertising strategies.

• Words: 1183

Ethical Dilemma of a 2016 TV Commercial for Milk by Juhayna

• Words: 1425

Motion Pictures and the Media

• Words: 1348

Alcohol and Tobacco Advertising History in the American Media

• Words: 1176

Sexually Oriented Adverts of AXE Deodoran

• Words: 1492

Teen Fashion Advertisement

• Words: 1171

McDonald’s ”I’m Lovin’ It”: The Illustration

Examples of advertisements by nike, kfc and coca-cola.

• Words: 1144

Marriott’s Advertising Campaign

Coca cola company’s communication message, advertising strategy for cartier bridal.

• Words: 2482

Promotional and Advertising Strategies – Automotive Industry

• Words: 1713

Advertising Campaign for Mountain Dew

Morgan spurlock’s “pom wonderful: the greatest movie ever sold”, multimodal analysis of cosmetic surgery advertising.

• Words: 7050

Mango Juice Advertising in Mexico

Lexus car advertisement, can advertising to children be ethical.

• Words: 1378

Representation of the Body in Advertising

Classification of facebook as a communication media, advertisement analysis: the camel cigarette, advertisement by dr. martens analysis, targeting uninformed consumers in the advertising campaign, visual analysis of the maybelline commercial, analysis of apple’s “privacy on iphone” commercial, celebrity advertising: great opportunities for brands.

• Words: 1097

The Advertising Industry Development

• Words: 1837

“The Heart” Movie’s Poster Analysis

• Words: 1664

The Representation of Men and Women in Advertisements

• Words: 2259

The “Optus” Advertising Analysis

Advertisements usage in consumer manipulations.

• Words: 2036

Ronald Reagan Cigarette Advertisements Pics Analysis

Advertisement «refresh on the coca-cola side of life».

• Words: 1118

Effective Electronic Advertising

• Words: 2239

Future Trends in Advertising

• Words: 1677

New Technology is Detrimental to the Organization

• Words: 1360

Coca Cola Advertisement

• Words: 1088

Cigarette Advertising

• Words: 1082

Survey Carried Out at Tim Hortons

• Words: 1114

Advertising to Children

• Words: 1865

Television (TV) Ad Execution Styles

Hall’s account of how messages in the media are encoded, advertisements emotionally appealing to older adults, the camel brand: tobacco advertising.

• Words: 1178

English Language in Coca-Cola and McDonald’s Advertising in Russia

• Words: 4283

Ad Comparison: Domino Pizza in India and in the USA

Absolut vodka.

• Words: 3590

2011 Super Bowl Pepsi Max Commercial

• Words: 1397

Advertising and Branding: Product Positioning

• Words: 1210

TV Advertisements Aimed at Children in Australian should be banned

• Words: 1085

Quaker Oats Company Business Communications Practices and Strategies (Internal & External)

• Words: 1265

A Semiotic Analysis of the Dove Racial Ad

• Words: 2265

Analysis of Advertising’s Impact

Coca-cola company: multicultural advertising, 7up advertisement objective, the crisis communication in the toyota motors.

• Words: 2170

An Analysis of Carney’s “African Rice in the Columbian Exchange”

Analysis of the starbucks uk advertising.

• Words: 1384

Logical Fallacies in Advertising

• Words: 1569

Click Fraud: The Dark Side of Online Advertising

Logical fallacies in advertisement, controversial advertising: producing cultural affect.

• Words: 2573

Employment of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Sexist advertising and gender-oriented visuals.

• Words: 1149

Ads Promoting L’Oreal’s Men and Women Moisturizer

• Words: 1716

Tea for Trump Public Relation Campaign: ROPE Theory

Barbie product advertisement: rhetorical analysis, advertising’ damaging effects in society, coca-cola’s advertising: media and cultural criticism.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

16 Drafting Your Ad Analysis

Dr. Karen Palmer

Now that you have a solid outline, it’s time to start writing your ad analysis paper! Here we will work through fleshing out each part of your outline–turning your outline into a full draft.

Introduction

The first part of your paper is your introduction. You may remember from the Writing Formula chapter that an introduction consists of three main parts: the hook, the introduction to the topic, and the thesis. Let’s begin with the hook. A hook does two jobs–it connects the topic of your paper to your readers, and it attempts to capture their attention.

This video highlights some of the most common techniques for writing a good hook:

Now that you have a general idea of what a hook does, let’s focus in on the kind of hook that would be most useful for your ad analysis essay. Let’s say you are doing an analysis on that milk ad we discussed earlier in the text.

Strategy 1: Connect to the topic of the ad: milk. You could say something like, “Do you drink milk?” But…would that really draw in readers? Surely, there is a better way to grab the attention of our audience.

Strategy 2: Connect to the broader topic of advertising. Here you might say something like, “Advertisers are always trying to get our attention.” Sure, this is a broad opening to the paper, but is it really going to make anyone interested in the topic?

A good idea is to brainstorm some current events or topics that link to your ad. A brainstorming list for this milk ad could include lactose intolerance, the concept of looking at TV sitcom characters as role models, the changing role of mothers, and even the pressure placed on moms (and women in general)  to be perfect. Choose something that appeals to you and that illustrates a theme that runs through the ad. When brainstorming with my classes, we often land on the idea of perfection with this particular milk ad. It makes a compelling frame for the paper.

Introducing the topic is just that–letting readers know what the paper will be about. ie An ad for ________ located in _________ magazine illustrates this concept. Note that you need to include the specific product advertised in the ad, the name of the magazine in which the ad is located, and include a connection/transition to your hook.

Finally, the last sentence of your introduction is your thesis. Here you make your argument. While you already wrote a thesis for your outline, you want to double check that the thesis connects in some way to your hook. Our example thesis is: “The advertisers successfully persuade the consumer that milk will make them a great mom by using nostalgia, milk branding, and the image of ideal motherhood.” We might make a slight adjustment here to make the connection a bit more explicit: “The advertisers play on the desire of moms to fulfill an image of perfection by using nostalgia, milk branding, and the image of ideal motherhood.”

In the ad analysis, our background consists of two different sections: the description and the discussion of context.

Description

Remember that your audience cannot see the ad you are discussing. If you were in a room presenting to your audience, you might project an image of the ad up on a screen. Since we can’t do that in an essay, we need to describe the ad for our readers. Essentially, you want your readers to be able to draw a basic picture of your ad–or at least visualize it accurately in their minds.

This video from James Rath discussing how people with visual impairments see images on social media gives an important life reason for learning how to write solid image descriptions:

Here are some good tips for writing a description of an image:

1. Start by giving readers a one sentence overview of the ad. For our milk ad, that might be, “In this ad, three mothers from iconic sitcoms sit side by side in a beauty parlor under old-fashioned hair dryers.”

2. Determine in advance how you want readers to see the image–do you want them to look at the image left to right? Foreground to background? Clockwise? Bottom line here–don’t make readers minds jump around from place to place as they try to visualize the image.

3. Choose the key elements. You don’t have to describe every single thing in this paragraph. Tell readers who the three moms are and what show they are from. Give enough basic details so that readers know the setting is old-fashioned. Remember, you’ll be able to bring forward more detail as you analyze the ad in the body of your paper. Readers don’t need to know what color a person’s eyes are unless it’s a key part of the ad.

4. Don’t forget the text! While you should not write every word in the ad in your description, especially if there are lengthy paragraphs, you should include a brief overview of the text. ie placement, basic overview Again, you’ll be able to give specific quotes that are relevant to your analysis in the body of your paper.

5. Write in present tense!

The context of an ad really focuses on the audience of the ad. Remember that advertisers very carefully consider the audience for their product and create their advertisements to best reach that target audience. Let’s look at this from the perspective of a company looking to place an ad:

So, if an advertiser goes to this much trouble to determine the demographics of their target audience, it’s obviously important! The ad (unless perhaps it was published by an inexperienced advertiser) is not “for everyone.” An ad in Newsweek , no matter how childlike it appears, was not created for children. It was created for the audience who will purchase and read this magazine. When we do an ad analysis, we want to share similar information with our readers. What magazine is the ad placed in? What is the general focus of that publication? What kinds of articles appear in the publication? What general types of ads appear? In short, who is the audience? Of course, you can look at a magazine and get some of this information. You can also do a quick online search for the demographics of the magazine or for their media kit, which is what advertisers look at prior to purchasing advertising space to ensure the magazine is a good fit for their ad.

Now that you have the background out of the way and your audiences thoroughly understand the topic, it’s time to begin your analysis. Your thesis should have given at least three advertising strategies used in the ad. Your paper should include a paragraph for each one of those strategies.

Topic Sentence

The topic sentence should echo the wording of the thesis and clearly introduce the topic. For example, “One way the advertisers use the concept of the perfect mother to convince readers to purchase milk is by using iconic mothers from television shows.” For your next paragraph, you’d want to be sure to include a transition. For example, “Another way” or “In addition to” are both phrases that can be used to show that you are building onto your previous paragraph.

In this part of the paragraph, you want to give specific examples from the ad to support your point.

First, you should introduce the example. “The three moms from iconic tv shows are the focus of this ad.”

Next, you should give specific examples from the ad–this could be pointing out particular details about the images in the ad or quoting from the text–or both! For example, for the milk ad, you might give the specific names of the characters and the shows they are from. You might point out that every detail of their outfits are perfect. That they are wearing makeup and jewelry. That they have their wedding rings prominently focused in the image. You might also quote text, like the line from the ad that says, “Another all-time great mom line.”

Finally, wrap up your examples with a clear explanation of how the example proves your point. For example, you might say that, especially in modern times, it is very difficult for mothers to live up to the standard of perfection set by these three television moms. You might explain how causing readers to feel “less than” sets the stage for them to accept the premise that giving their children milk will make them more like these TV moms.

The wrap up for your paragraph is similar to the wrap up for the evidence provided. Here you want to reiterate your thesis in a simple sentence. For example, you might say, “Using the images of these iconic moms convinces moms that, in order to be a good mom, they must buy milk for their children.”

The conclusion of your paper is essentially a mirror image of your introduction. Think of your paper as an Oreo cookie. The introduction and the conclusion are the cookies that surround the best part–the body of the paper. Like the cookie outsides of the Oreo, the introduction and conclusion should be mirror images of each other.

1. Start with re-stating the thesis.

2. Reiterate the topic.

3. Return to your hook and elaborate.

Unlike an Oreo, the conclusion should not simply copy your introduction word for word in a different order. Try to restate your sentences in a different way. Elaborate on your hook so that you leave readers with something to think about!

 Content written by Dr. Karen Palmer and is licensed CC BY NC.

The Worry Free Writer Copyright © 2020 by Dr. Karen Palmer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• Essay On Advertisement

Advertisement Essay

500+ words essay on advertisement.

Advertisement is a means to make people aware of any product or service using commercial methods. It is a sort of publicity designed to endorse a person’s specific interest intended for product sale. We live in an era where advertisement plays a vital role in promoting business and products. Whether big or small, all brands and companies advertise their products on various mass media platforms. When we step outside our houses, we get to see advertisements for different brands in the form of a billboard, flyers, posters, etc.

In this essay on advertisements, we will discuss the advantages and different ways of creating ads.

The Various Ways of Advertisement

In this modern world of competition, everybody wants to be ahead. So, in this scenario, the advertisement comes in. We get to see or hear advertisements for several things. It proves beneficial for business people and can be used in various forms. Job vacancy ads posted in the employment column prove highly advantageous for the unemployed. Matrimonial ads also provide a trusted platform for both bride and groom for marriage proposals.

People can advertise their shop or property they want to sell, and anyone who wants to buy it can contact the person after seeing the advertisement. Through advertising, we can also find lost people, plots, goods, homes, etc. Previously, we used to see traditional advertisements in magazines, newspapers, and building walls. But, still, today, the most meaningful way of advertising is through television. Advertising your product or brand on television will help to reach the masses.

There are numerous positive effects of advertisement, and due to this, more businesses utilise this medium for their branding and marketing. Big and small companies spend the maximum of their budget on advertising, creating great ads for a positive impression on people. The best and most influential platform for advertisement is the World Wide Web. People are very active on social media in today’s world, and posting a single ad can reach millions of people easily in just a few seconds. Other forms of advertising are banners, posters, road crossings, flyers, billboards, digital screens, walls and railway stations. Sometimes, you can find them written or painted on trains, vehicles, and buses.

Benefits of Advertising

Advertisement is considered the prime means of generating income for magazines, television, and newspapers. They are beneficial for producers as well as consumers. Producers earn loads of money by spending their resources on advertisements. Models also make a handsome income by acting in ads to promote products and services.

In the technologically advanced business world, advertising has been seen to play a critical role in the establishment of contact between sellers and buyers. It is a medium by which the customer learns about the existence and use of goods available in the marketplace. As there is a lot of competition among businesses in various domains, advertisement has become a profitable investment that helps companies reach nooks and corners of the world and target their potential customers.

Drawbacks of Advertising

As every technology has some good and bad points, the same holds for advertisements. It has its share of disadvantages. An advertisement creates an artificial demand for things that we don’t need. It compels us to purchase expensive items. It has also been seen to generate disagreement within the family when the children make wishes for all those advertised goods that they see on television that are beyond the spending capacity of parents.

Watching your favourite stars promoting alcohol, cigarettes, etc., negatively impacts people who follow them. Another disadvantage of advertisement is that superior quality products that are not advertised lose their worth, and inferior ones enjoy more visibility in the market. This proves a means to cheat the innocent public. Buyers also suffer as the cost of advertisement adds to the entire production cost.

Conclusion of Essay on Advertisement

So, we know that advertisements are essential to launching your brand or product in this competitive market. Creative ads will help you to attract more people. These ads are entertaining as well as educational. Signing a celebrity or known personality will be the icing on the cake to advertise your product.

Students of the CBSE Board can get essays based on different topics from the BYJU’S website. They can visit our CBSE Essay page and learn more about essays.

Frequently Asked Questions on Advertisement Essay

What are the advantages of an advertisement.

Advertisements are good sources of information for ordinary people. They reach the public sooner and help in the faster marketing of a product. Advertisements also help in the sustenance of the product in the competitive world.

What are some of the traditional ways of advertisement?

Magazines, newspapers, paintings and posters are some of the traditional ways of advertising a product.

Is advertising good or bad for society?

Although advertisements are majorly beneficial for society, advertisements of harmful or illegal products can pose a threat to the younger section of society.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request OTP on Voice Call

Post My Comment

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

Excellent essay writing blog for students seeking help with paper writing. We provide exclusive tips and ideas that can help create the best essay possible.

Advertisement Essay: Writing Tips and Topics

Advertisements are everywhere, from the streets to your mobile phone. On average, people get to see up to 5,000 advertisements and brands in a day. More than 153 of these advertisements get registered in our minds. Advertisements are not just popular, but subconsciously, they form some of our thinking patterns.

Considering the popularity of ads and their importance, it would not be out of place if you are asked to write an advertisement analysis essay. It is commonplace for college essays . This advertisement essay will help you know more about how to write an essay on advertisement.

With advertisement analysis essay examples, you get to learn more about the world of advertisement. There are several ways to write an advertisement essay, from a rhetorical analysis of an advertisement essay to a visual analysis essay advertisement. You can learn about how to write them from our tips on how to write an advertisement analysis essay.

Tips On How To Write An Advertisement Analysis Essay

You do not need an advertisement analysis essay sample to write an advertisement analysis essay. With these tips outlining how you should write an advertisement essay, you can write a good essay. Follow these steps carefully and you will be able to familiarize yourself with these types of essays.

The advertisement analysis introduction is very important. You need to catch the attention of your audience from the first word. Assume your reader has never seen the ad or know the product and include a description of the product and its history.

The introduction of the advertisement analysis should be focused on the subject matter which is the advertisement. You should also point out how the advertisement paints the product as being better than any other product in the market. If the ad doesn’t contain any such description, it is not so effective. After you have done justice to the introduction, your next paragraph should contain the thesis statement.

This part of the essay embodies the description of your point of view on the advertisement. The thesis of an advertisement essay tells you the message the advertisement conveys and how it conveys it. Your thesis should include the aim of the advertisement, whether to improve sales or to make customers carry out a particular action. You want to keep the part of the essay as short and as simple as you can. It should not be longer than a paragraph.

The body of your analysis should build upon your thesis statement, elaborating on various points of the advertisement and how they are used to achieve the aim of the advertisement. One of the details that would be included in the paragraphs of the essay is the set of people or group for which the advertisement was intended.

You should also highlight the popularity and effectiveness of the ad. Why the advertisement was able to become popular and draw people is important in your analysis. The analysis of an advertisement will also have examples of the rhetorical appeals which are ethos, pathos, and logos. The ethos pathos logos advertisement essay part consists of how the rhetorical appeals are used to draw the attention of the audience.

Logos pertains to the logical appeals of the ad, ethos describes its ethical appeal and pathos illustrates its emotional appeal. Any rhetorical analysis essay example advertisement should contain an analysis of the appeals. After writing all the points that you be reviewed while writing an analyzing advertisement essay, you can move on to the last point in the essay.

Your conclusion is the last paragraph after you have written all your relevant points in your analyze advertisement essay assignment. This paragraph should restate the key points you raised in your analysis in summary form. You should also state if the objective of the advertisement was achieved or not.

Following these steps and tips will help you write a great analysis of an advertisement even if it is a print advertisement analysis essay. Now that you know how to write an analysis essay on an advertisement, let’s look at advertisement essay topics that you can practice your prowess on.

Examples of Advertisement Essay Topics

You don’t have to wait until you have an assignment on advertisement analysis before you understand how to write it. You can practice with these topics and other sample advertisement analysis essay. Once you have seen an advertisement analysis essay example and practised the writing of advertisement analysis essays, you will not find it difficult when you have an assignment on it.

Some of the topics you can practice with are:

• Analysis of a TV Advertisement
• Selling Women on a King’s Length Advertisement Analysis
• Advertisement Analysis of a Mermaid Advertisement
• Advertisement Analysis on the Use of Women in Sport Advertisements
• Accessing the Company Motive in Media Advertisements
• Analysis of Vice Principals on HBO Advertisement
• Advertisement Analysis of Coca-Cola Advertisements

Using the outlined tips and these advertisement essay examples, you can write an advertisement essay sample. You can also check an advertisement analysis essay sample online if you get stuck.

Difference Between An Advertisement Essay and An Advertisement Project

An advertisement project is quite different from an advertisement essay. A school advertisement project could mean in-depth research into an aspect of advertising. These projects are book advertisement projects. Advertisement projects in this regard are longer than an advertisement essay will be.

Advertisement projects could also be the practical execution of an advertisement. You can also be asked to do these projects in the form of coming up with creative advertisement project ideas. These ideas could be implemented in fun ways like the sales of a school play ticket.

Now that you know the difference between advertisement essays and projects, let’s look at how you can make your project ideas stand out above the rest.

How Your Advertisement Project Ideas Can Stand Out?

Devising great project ideas is not as difficult as you might think it is. You just have to put your imagination to it and keep the following tips in mind.

• Incorporate the pop culture influence
• Put cute animals in your ads
• Do funny advertisements; everyone loves a good laugh
• Freebies, Freebies, Freebies; not only will they help people remember the brand but it could also get their loyalty
• Use puns; It stays in people’s memories
• Add some street art to your buildings
• Think outside the box. Do something unusual
• Try jingles; those songs and words never really get old
• Make use of innuendos; give people something to think about for a few minutes after seeing your ad.

Do not worry too much about how you can create an advertisement project. Put one or more of these ideas into good use and you will be able to do so without stress. Contact a writing service and ask for hep. Professionals surely know how to do it properly. Now you know how to write an essay on advertisements and create a great advertisement project.

Take a break from writing.

Top academic experts are here for you.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Dissertation
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Book Report/Review
• Research Proposal
• Math Problems
• Proofreading
• Movie Review
• Cover Letter Writing
• Personal Statement
• Nursing Paper
• Argumentative Essay
• Research Paper
• Discussion Board Post

Starting an Essay on Advertising

Table of Contents

To start off, whenever you are writing an essay on a particular topic, the first thing is to strive to make your audience get a picture of what you are talking about. The best way to do so is by first defining your topic or explaining what it is that you aim to achieve or how the reader will benefit. As far as advertising goes, we are going to look at some of the angles an advertising essay can be approached from.

Essay on Advertising : Sample Approaches

The first way to approach advertising essays can be through looking at how advertisements are brought to life from conception to implementation. This means looking at the different players in the industry and what they do. How they impact advertising and their ways of doing business. This alone can be approached from many different angles depending on the resources one has as a writer and how far they are willing to go to find out the finer details. This is where as an advertising essay writer ; one can cover various media used to roll out advertising campaigns. Whether it is television, the internet, outdoor advertising, print, audio or audio-visual media the list is endless.

Advertising Organization

Figure 2 advertising medium

While writing this sort of essay, it is also important to look at how the whole organizations of the industry including the key figures that make advertisements come to life. This includes companies and advertising agencies that create the adverts.

Advertisements are a huge part of our everyday lives; everywhere we go we see different types of ads which appeal to different target audiences differently. Advertising techniques have changed along the way, and this also influences the way companies/business sell to their customers, with the internet or online advertisements, we have seen more online business or e-commerce which has, in turn, forced businesses to do doorstep deliveries. This mostly is common in food and fashion industries.

A Look at Writing Essay on Advertising Ethics

Ethics can be defined as the moral principles that govern a person or group’s behavior. Code of ethics is used by companies, professional organizations and individuals, it contains some rules and principle which help them in making decisions between right and wrong.

Lately, there has been major controversy in the ethics of advertising. A good example is a Calvin Klein undergarment advertisement that appeared in Times Square. On a billboard was a photo of two children in underwear, standing on a sofa, smiling and playful. The advertisement was criticized as sexual and promoting pedophilia.

Some advertisements are very creative and fun; however, with the competitive nature of the industry, they are continuously becoming unethical in comparison to the advertisements in the 50’s. For example:

• Television consumers today are exposed to many ads which interrupt attention to their most favorite programs.
• Advertisements wrongly target vulnerable populations with a poor diet such as fast foods the likes of KFC or McDonald’s, hence lifestyle diseases such as obesity or diabetes at a very young age.
• Some ads brainwash children who attend to them reducing the children into nagging and pestering towards parents in relation to advertised products.
• Using obscene materials and content has been a great ethical disaster in advertising. Obscenity such as sex appeals has been used to attract viewership a practice that is not ideal for an ethical society.

An ethical ad is the one which does not lie, does not make any fake or false claims and is in the limit of decency. Nowadays advertisers only focus on their sales; they just want to attract customers and increase their sales. They present their ads in such a way that people start thinking that this is the best product as compared to others however most products are found to be fake, false and misleading customers.

Nevertheless, the positive side of advertisements cannot be ignored. Of course, advertising increases awareness about services and products of organizations without which the profitability and sale of these products would be difficult. In other words, demand is a product of advertising since it educates potential consumers about new market offers.

As you can see, there are a lot of angles one can approach an essay on advertising as has been highlighted above. My hope is that this has been an eye opener on the essay possibilities in this industry.

Thoughts on writing abortion persuasive essay

How to Write Your Dissertation Chapter 3?

Desperate questions for writing a Paper

• AI Content Shield
• AI KW Research
• AI Assistant
• SEO Optimizer
• AI KW Clustering
• Customer reviews
• The NLO Revolution
• Press Center
• Help Center
• Content Resources
• Facebook Group

Advertisement Essay Introduction: Effective Guide

Table of Contents

Advertisement is the means of publicizing a product or service using commercial methods to create interest and attract a mass market. Advertisement essay is a typical writing assignment for high school and college students. The advertisement essay introduction establishes the topic of the essay, providing background information and briefly summarizing the essay’s main ideas.

An advertisement essay may discuss advertising and analyze the role advertising plays in making a business successful. The introduction of such an essay will provide the reader with a summary of the essay’s central focus. This guide discusses how to write a compelling advertisement essay introduction .

What Is An Advertisement Essay?

Advertisement is a way to create awareness and reach potential clients with certain products or services. An advertisement is an announcement that promotes an event, a service, or a product. They’re informative notices aiming to persuade the public to purchase a product, attend an event or make a donation. Advertisers may use a variety of mediums to make their offerings known, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and social media. 

An advertisement essay analyzes the different forms of advertising and the benefits of advertisement to businesses. The introduction of an advertisement essay includes a hook that catches the reader’s attention, background information, and the essay’s thesis.

Advertisement Essay Introduction

The introduction of an advertisement essay is quite similar to any other essay type. It begins with a solid opening paragraph that grabs the readers’ attention, followed by the necessary background of the topic. The introduction also establishes the essay’s purpose (or thesis). 

The advertisement essay introduction must include three main parts:

• The hook : An attention-grabbing opening statement. It could be a bold statement, an interesting anecdote, a thought-provoking question, or a shocking statistic.
• Background Information : Provide the reader with enough information to understand the essay topic better. You may include historical or social context.
• The Thesis : The thesis is the overarching argument of the essay. What are you trying to prove? End your introduction with a statement about the central focus of the essay.

We live in an age full of advertisements. Take a quick look around, and you’ll find at least one advertisement in whichever form. Advertisement plays a major role in the modern world of trade and business. Almost all traders use it to promote their goods and services.

The advantages of advertising are pretty enormous. It is an excellent source of information and entertainment. It also boosts the popularity and awareness of goods and services. Advertisement has become a significant avenue for promoting brand names and generating sales of goods and services. 

Advertising is the most powerful, persuasive, and manipulative tool firms have to control consumers worldwide. It’s a way to persuade customers to buy or consume more of a particular product or service. Its impact on society has been remarkable, especially in this tech age.

With the positive effects come negative implications. Advertising has become a poisonous snake ready to hunt its prey. It manipulates people’s habits, creates false needs, and distorts our society’s values and priorities with sexism.

Advertising isn’t just about informing but also getting the commons to buy available products and services. The advertisement message can be visual or verbal. Products or services must be advertised to increase awareness about a brand or its offerings.

Commonly used media for advertising are magazines, newspapers, hoardings, billboards, T.V., radio, and the internet. The liberal economy and the changing social trends are making advertising multiply. In its non-commercial form, advertising is a powerful educational tool that can reach and motivate people.

An advertisement is a notice or announcement of an event, service, or product. Advertisement is a way to raise awareness about an offering or event and reach potential clients.

To stay competitive, businesses and organizations need to market themselves personally. Billboard advertisements, newspaper ads, radio splashes, and magazine ads are just some forms of advertisements. The most effective ad is the one that grabs attention and builds intrigue about the product or company.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

Explore All Essay Intro Generator Articles

The different ways to start a comparative essay.

Some writers intend to compare two specific things or ideas through their articles. They write these essays to compare and…

• Essay Intro Generator

Know The Best Way to Start an Expository Essay

Are you into writing essays that tackle a still-unknown fact? Do you know how to write an expository essay? Before…

Writing an Opinion Essay? Read This First!

Students are required to express their opinions on a topic in an opinion essay. Pertinent illustrations and explanations support their…

Identifying the Best Transitions to Start an Essay

A typical academic assignment is the essay, which must meet certain requirements in order to be written properly. Even students…

How to Write Introductions for Synthesis Essays

One of the most exciting assignments you could have is writing a synthesis essay. For a college or university student,…

How to Write Introductions for Music Essays

Music is food for the soul, or so they say. A music essay analyzes or describes a piece of music,…

• IELTS Scores
• Life Skills Test
• Find a Test Centre
• Alternatives to IELTS
• General Training
• Academic Word List
• Topic Vocabulary
• Collocation
• Phrasal Verbs
• Writing eBooks
• Reading eBook
• All eBooks & Courses

Student Sample Essay: Advertising

by Rahul (new delhi, India)

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Writing Submissions - Task 2.

Before you go...

Check out the ielts buddy band 7+ ebooks & courses.

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

• Click on the HTML link code below.
• Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Band 7+ eBooks

"I think these eBooks are FANTASTIC!!! I know that's not academic language, but it's the truth!"

Linda, from Italy, Scored Band 7.5

IELTS Modules:

Other resources:.

• All Lessons
• Band Score Calculator
• Writing Feedback
• Speaking Feedback
• Teacher Resources
• Free Downloads
• Recent Essay Exam Questions
• Books for IELTS Prep
• Useful Links

Recent Articles

Key Phrases for IELTS Speaking: Fluency and Coherence

May 26, 24 06:52 AM

Useful Language for IELTS Graphs

May 16, 24 04:44 AM

Taking a Gap Year

May 14, 24 03:00 PM

Important pages

IELTS Writing IELTS Speaking IELTS Listening   IELTS Reading All Lessons Vocabulary Academic Task 1 Academic Task 2 Practice Tests

Connect with us

Copyright © 2022- IELTSbuddy All Rights Reserved

IELTS is a registered trademark of University of Cambridge, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. This site and its owners are not affiliated, approved or endorsed by the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia.

How to Write an Advertisement: A Complete Guide for Students and Teachers

As with persuasive texts in general, advertisements can take many forms – from billboards and radio jingles to movie trailers and pop-ups on your computer.

In this guide, we’ll work towards writing a standard magazine-format advertisement known as the print ad. Print ads are text-heavy enough to provide something meaty for our students to get their teeth into. Though advertisers are increasingly overlooking print ads in favor of more trackable and often cheaper digital forms of advertising, the same strategies and techniques can apply to both.

Likewise, strategies such as emotive language and other persuasive devices are essential when writing ads. Much of the writing advice that follows applies to the other persuasive texts , which can also be found on our site. Be sure to check it out, also.

Let’s explore the structure and persuasive elements that make an advertisement successful. These elements combine to make us think and act favourably about a service or product. So let’s get into it and learn how to write an advertisement.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON ADVERTISING FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS

Teach your students essential  MEDIA LITERACY SKILLS  with this  COMPLETE UNIT  on  ADVERTISING.  It’s packed with  ENGAGING, INFORMATIVE & FUN  activities to teach students the persuasive techniques to  READ ADVERTS  and the skills to  WRITE ADVERTS.

This  COMPLETE UNIT OF WORK  will take your students from zero to hero over  FIVE STRATEGIC LESSONS  covered.

PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES TUTORIAL VIDEO (2:20)

STRUCTURE AND FEATURES OF ADVERTISEMENTS (PERSUASIVE ELEMENTS)

For students to create their own advertisements and successfully employ the various persuasive techniques, they’ll first need to develop a clear understanding of an advertisement’s underlying structure. We’ll explore the primary structural elements and features of advertisements, though the order of how these appear varies from advert to advert. Here, we’ll take a look at the following persuasive text elements.

• Call to Action

THE BRAND NAME AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

The brand name of the product or service frequently comes at the top of the advertisement – though not always. One of the first tasks for students when writing their own advertisement is to decide on a name for their product or service.

Please encourage students to select a name that reflects the product, service, or values they wish to present to their audience.

Brand names have evolved from being wordy and aspirational to very short and snappy since the inception of the internet, so they can be found easily on a search engine.

BRAND NAME CONSIDERATIONS

• What are the names of similar already existing products or services?
• Does the name look and sound good?
• Is the name short, punchy, and memorable?
• Does it evoke a feeling or an idea?
• Is it distinctive and original?

THE AUDIENCE AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

An advertisement’s target audience may not always be immediately apparent and often needs to be inferred through language and imagery choices made by the writer.

However, who the target audience does need to be decided before writing as it will inform subsequent choices on the use of language (e.g. pronouns, tone, etc.) and imagery.

There are several ways to help students determine their target audience. A good starting place is for them to consider creating a target persona, a fictional character who represents the type of person their product or service is aimed at.

• Education level
• Marital status
• Likes/Dislikes
• Who they trust
• What they read/watch

An effective print advertisement presents a product or service in an appealing manner. It quickly conveys essential information about that product or service. It will include a clear and specific offer and also provide the information required for the reader to act on that offer.

Once we have the brand name sorted and the audience defined, it’s time to look at the critical structural elements to consider when writing an ad. It’s important to note that not every element will be used in every ad, but the following model serves well for writing most print advertisements.

THE HEADLINE AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

The ad headline should provide a short, snappy preview of what the reader will find in the copy. A good headline grabs the potential customer’s attention and makes them want to read the rest of the ad. There are several tried and tested means of writing a good headline. Here are 3 of the most effective:

The Problem/Solution Headline – This headline details a problem a potential customer may be facing and offers the solution in the form of the product or service. For example: Tired? Sluggish? Overweight? Excero Bike Gets You Where You Need to Go, Fast!

The Testimonial Headline – This headline uses a quote from a customer’s positive review to help sell the product or service. The testimonial allows the potential customer to see some ‘proof’ upfront before buying. “With the Excero Bike, I lost 15lbs in 15 days. I’m now thinner, fitter, and much, much happier!”

The Question Headline – This headline asks a question that the target customer will be seeking an answer to, for example, “Are you paying too much for your x?” Are You Paying Too Much for Your Gym Membership?

THE LOGO AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

Logos are visual representations of a brand and are used to help promote a range of products and services under a single umbrella and also to allow for quick identification by the reader. They are more of a design element than a writing one.

THE SLOGAN AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

A slogan is a phrase or a short sentence used to represent or sell a particular brand. Usually, they’re designed to be short and snappy to help make them more memorable for readers. Slogans often use alliteration, rhyme, puns, or other figurative language techniques to make their message more memorable.

THE OFFER AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

A good print ad makes readers an offer. This is usually in the form of a benefit the potential customer will gain or a motivating reason for finding out more about the product or service.

The Offer acts as a ‘hook’ that maintains the reader’s focus and draws them into the body of the ad. It can take the form of a time-limited discount or a 2-for-1 offer, etc. This Week Only – 25% Off!

Offers can also form part of the Call to Action at the end of the ad – more details on this soon.

THE BODY COPY AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

Good body text (or body copy) in an ad is well-organized and quickly gets to the point. Readers want to get the necessary information with minimum effort. For the writer, this requires skill, patience, and much editing. There are several different types of body copy that students need to consider when writing their ads. Let’s take a look at 5 of these:

Factual – Factual copy gives the reader just enough factual information about the product or service to persuade them that it’s worth buying.

Humor – Using humor is a tried-and-tested means of making an ad memorable. To use it successfully, students will need to have an excellent understanding of their target audience.

Narrative – This copy tells a story as a way to draw the customer in. Many people are resistant to direct selling. Narrative copy uses the power of storytelling to build a connection with the customer to ‘soft sell’ to them.

Testimonial – While testimonial content usually comes from a customer, it can also come from experts, celebrities, or any kind of spokesperson. The testimonial is based on what the customer or spokesperson liked about the product or service. Testimonials are often woven into the humanity of the ad. This copy appeals to emotions. Rather than boasting directly of the benefits of the product or service, this type of ad evokes the senses and appeals to emotions.

The body copy might include details of available products or services, special offers, or specific information the advertiser wants potential customers to know. Subheadings and bullet points can help organize the text and make information easier to find. Texts should be short and easy to read. Walls of text can be off-putting; if the language is too complex, it may turn off potential customers.

THE CALL TO ACTION AS A PERSUASIVE ELEMENT

The Call to Action or CTA frequently comes at the end of the advertisement. It’s usually made up of a few sentences that invite the reader to take a specific action. This action might take the form of buying the product, sharing contact information, or, in the case of an online ad, clicking on a link to find out more about the product or service.

Call to action Contexts:

• An electronics company encouraging readers to buy their new computer
• A helpline requesting readers to call a number
• A political party urging readers to vote for them in an upcoming election
• A travel agent appealing to readers to book
• A travel agent appealing to readers to book their next holiday through them

There are many ways to write a CTA but some effective strategies that are commonly used include:

• Start with strong action words urging the reader to take action, e.g. Join, Discover, Order, Subscribe, Buy , etc.
• Let the reader know precisely what you want them to do.
• Ensure the necessary contact details are included, e.g. address, email, website address, phone numbers, etc.
• Motivate the reader to take action through the use of promotional offers, e.g. Get 50% off or Book your free consultation today!
• Provide a reason to take action by communicating the benefits, e.g. Losing weight, Saving money, Performing better, etc.
• Use numbers to appeal to the reader, e.g. Save 20% on your next video, Now with 33% extra free! etc.
• Make your audience an offer they can’t refuse, e.g. Book Your School Marketing and Promotion Analysis today – No Strings Attached.
• Create a sense of urgency by limiting a special offer in some way, e.g. 25% off for the first 100 customers, Free T-shirt if booked today, Buy 2 get 1 free this month only , etc.

PERSUASIVE DEVICES

The use of persuasive devices is an essential aspect of writing an advertisement. Our students must clearly understand the following strategies to confidently produce an advertisement that works.

ALLITERATION IN ADVERTISING

This is a literary device that involves the repetition of the initial letter or sound of consecutive words or words near each other. It’s more commonly associated with poetry than nonfiction text types; however, it is also a popular technique used in advertising. Alliteration can help make brand names more memorable. Examples abound, e.g. PayPal, Coca-Cola, Range Rover, and Krispy Kreme, to name but a few.

It’s not just in company names that you’ll find alliteration at work, though. We can also see alliteration alive in slogans such as:

The best four by four by far – Land Rover

Made to make your mouth water – Opal Fruits

Greyhound going great – Greyhound

Don’t dream it. Drive It. – Jaguar

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE

Using emotive language involves deliberately choosing words to provoke an emotional response in the reader. Different ways exist to express the same idea.

We can choose to put a positive, neutral, or negative spin on the same event through the words we select. For example:

Positive: She triumphed gloriously against stiff competition in the spelling bee.

Neutral: She won the spelling bee.

Negative: She received first prize in the poorly attended minor-league spelling bee.

Asking questions can help to engage the reader and persuade them to come to the desired conclusion by themselves. This is the ad equivalent of the ‘show, don’t tell’ mantra employed by fiction writers.

As with all the techniques and strategies, this technique must be used with care. It can have the opposite of the desired effect, such as building resistance in the reader, if used carelessly. Students should avoid making hyperbolic suggestions with their rhetorical questions. For example, the question “Want to lose 50lbs in 2 weeks?” implies a highly exaggerated claim that most intelligent readers will not believe. In this instance, the rhetorical question detracts from the ad’s effectiveness rather than enhances it.

The most important thing for students to remember when using this technique is that they should only ask rhetorical questions in their ads when they can predict with a reasonable degree of certainty what the answer will be in the reader’s mind. Nine times out of ten, that answer should be a simple yes. Questions should be straightforward, as should the answers they generate.

Advertisers know that we usually need to see or hear things several times before we’ll remember them. Also, the reader is more likely to believe something true the more frequently they hear it. For these reasons, advertisements rely heavily on repetition to drive their message home.

In advertising, the repetition of certain keywords or phrases is used to emphasize a specific idea or emotion. When used well, it can increase the overall effectiveness of an ad. However, students should be careful not to bore the reader. Repetition should always be used strategically.

Repetition doesn’t just involve the repeating of words. It can also include repeating colors and images.

Here are some examples of repetition at work.

ADVERTISING WRITING TIPS FOR STUDENTS

• Carefully Consider the recount TYPE and AUDIENCE before writing.
• Keep the title simple, e.g. My First Day at High School
• Organize the text using paragraphs, e.g. a new paragraph for each section. Use the first orientation paragraph to set the scene by introducing characters, setting, and context.
• Write the recount in chronological order – the order in which things happened and keep it in the past tense – relating events that have already happened.
• Choose the correct perspective from which to write the recount, e.g. personal recounts will be told from a first-person perspective (e.g. I, me, etc.). Factual recounts are most often told from the third-person perspective (e.g. she, he, they, etc.).
• Use time connectives to help organize the text and link the different sections of the recount together.
• Avoid repetitive use of language like then x, then y, and then z.”
• Aim to draw the reader into the action by using descriptive and figurative language
• Focus on the most critical/exciting parts.
• Use plenty of detail but ensure it is relevant to the purpose of the recount.

PERSUASIVE VOCABULARY

Vocabulary can elicit an emotional response beyond the literal meaning of the words used. When students understand this, they understand a powerful tool of persuasion.

PERSUASIVE ADVERTISING STRATEGIES

The Pain Solution: Persuades by highlighting a problem and suggesting a solution.

The Bandwagon: Persuades to do, think, or buy something because it is popular or because “everyone” is doing it.

The Testimonial: Persuades by using a previous customer or famous person to endorse a product or idea.

The Logical Appeal: Persuades by using reason, usually in the form of a claim backed by supporting evidence.

The Emotional Appeal: Persuades using words that appeal to emotions instead of logic or reason.

The Youth Appeal: Persuades by suggesting you’ll feel younger and more energetic using this product or service.

The Romantic Appeal: Persuades the reader by invoking the powerful and inspiring feelings of love.

The Empathy Appeal: Persuades the reader by encouraging them to identify with the plight of another.

The Testimonial: Persuades the reader by using a previous customer or famous person to endorse a product or idea

THE ROLE OF IMAGES IN AN ADVERTISEMENT

It’s a competitive world out there! Advertisements must catch and hold attention in an overwhelmingly noisy world, and images are a powerful means of doing this. Photos, pictures, diagrams, logos, color schemes – the visual look of an ad is as important as the text and, in some cases, more important!

Interesting images capture interest. They can intrigue the reader and encourage them to read the text they accompany.

Images also help the reader visualize the product or service offered. Advertising space can be expensive, and, as the old adage has it, a picture tells a thousand words. Images help advertisers make the most of their advertising real estate.

Students should carefully choose (or create) images to accompany their text. They should ensure that images are relevant and appropriate for their selling audience. They should look natural and genuine rather than posed.

Students can create their own images using their cell phones or graphic designer apps such as Canva .

This is our complete guide on writing an advertisement for students, and be sure to browse all our persuasive articles whilst you are here. Finally, we also have a complete unit of work on advertising for students and teachers that can be found here.

PERSUASIVE DEVICES TUTORIAL VIDEO

OTHER ARTICLES RELATED TO HOW TO WRITE AN ADVERTISEMENT

How to Write Perfect Persuasive Essays in 5 Simple Steps

Top 5 Persuasive Writing Techniques for Students

5 Top Persuasive Writing Lesson Plans for Students and Teachers

23 Persuasive writing Topics for High School students

Teaching Fact and Opinion

Get science-backed answers as you write with Paperpal's Research feature

How to Write an Essay Introduction (with Examples)   

The introduction of an essay plays a critical role in engaging the reader and providing contextual information about the topic. It sets the stage for the rest of the essay, establishes the tone and style, and motivates the reader to continue reading. 

Table of Contents

What is an essay introduction , what to include in an essay introduction, how to create an essay structure , step-by-step process for writing an essay introduction , how to write an introduction paragraph , how to write a hook for your essay , how to include background information , how to write a thesis statement .

• Argumentative Essay Introduction Example: 
• Expository Essay Introduction Example 

Literary Analysis Essay Introduction Example

Check and revise – checklist for essay introduction , key takeaways , frequently asked questions .

An introduction is the opening section of an essay, paper, or other written work. It introduces the topic and provides background information, context, and an overview of what the reader can expect from the rest of the work. 1 The key is to be concise and to the point, providing enough information to engage the reader without delving into excessive detail. 

The essay introduction is crucial as it sets the tone for the entire piece and provides the reader with a roadmap of what to expect. Here are key elements to include in your essay introduction: 

• Hook : Start with an attention-grabbing statement or question to engage the reader. This could be a surprising fact, a relevant quote, or a compelling anecdote. 
• Background information : Provide context and background information to help the reader understand the topic. This can include historical information, definitions of key terms, or an overview of the current state of affairs related to your topic. 
• Thesis statement : Clearly state your main argument or position on the topic. Your thesis should be concise and specific, providing a clear direction for your essay. 

Before we get into how to write an essay introduction, we need to know how it is structured. The structure of an essay is crucial for organizing your thoughts and presenting them clearly and logically. It is divided as follows: 2  

• Introduction:  The introduction should grab the reader’s attention with a hook, provide context, and include a thesis statement that presents the main argument or purpose of the essay.  
• Body:  The body should consist of focused paragraphs that support your thesis statement using evidence and analysis. Each paragraph should concentrate on a single central idea or argument and provide evidence, examples, or analysis to back it up.  
• Conclusion:  The conclusion should summarize the main points and restate the thesis differently. End with a final statement that leaves a lasting impression on the reader. Avoid new information or arguments. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to write an essay introduction: 

• Start with a Hook : Begin your introduction paragraph with an attention-grabbing statement, question, quote, or anecdote related to your topic. The hook should pique the reader’s interest and encourage them to continue reading. 
• Provide Background Information : This helps the reader understand the relevance and importance of the topic. 
• State Your Thesis Statement : The last sentence is the main argument or point of your essay. It should be clear, concise, and directly address the topic of your essay. 
• Preview the Main Points : This gives the reader an idea of what to expect and how you will support your thesis. 
• Keep it Concise and Clear : Avoid going into too much detail or including information not directly relevant to your topic. 
• Revise : Revise your introduction after you’ve written the rest of your essay to ensure it aligns with your final argument. 

Here’s an example of an essay introduction paragraph about the importance of education: 

Education is often viewed as a fundamental human right and a key social and economic development driver. As Nelson Mandela once famously said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” It is the key to unlocking a wide range of opportunities and benefits for individuals, societies, and nations. In today’s constantly evolving world, education has become even more critical. It has expanded beyond traditional classroom learning to include digital and remote learning, making education more accessible and convenient. This essay will delve into the importance of education in empowering individuals to achieve their dreams, improving societies by promoting social justice and equality, and driving economic growth by developing a skilled workforce and promoting innovation. 

This introduction paragraph example includes a hook (the quote by Nelson Mandela), provides some background information on education, and states the thesis statement (the importance of education). 

This is one of the key steps in how to write an essay introduction. Crafting a compelling hook is vital because it sets the tone for your entire essay and determines whether your readers will stay interested. A good hook draws the reader in and sets the stage for the rest of your essay.  

• Avoid Dry Fact : Instead of simply stating a bland fact, try to make it engaging and relevant to your topic. For example, if you’re writing about the benefits of exercise, you could start with a startling statistic like, “Did you know that regular exercise can increase your lifespan by up to seven years?” 
• Avoid Using a Dictionary Definition : While definitions can be informative, they’re not always the most captivating way to start an essay. Instead, try to use a quote, anecdote, or provocative question to pique the reader’s interest. For instance, if you’re writing about freedom, you could begin with a quote from a famous freedom fighter or philosopher. 
• Do Not Just State a Fact That the Reader Already Knows : This ties back to the first point—your hook should surprise or intrigue the reader. For Here’s an introduction paragraph example, if you’re writing about climate change, you could start with a thought-provoking statement like, “Despite overwhelming evidence, many people still refuse to believe in the reality of climate change.” 

Including background information in the introduction section of your essay is important to provide context and establish the relevance of your topic. When writing the background information, you can follow these steps: 

• Start with a General Statement:  Begin with a general statement about the topic and gradually narrow it down to your specific focus. For example, when discussing the impact of social media, you can begin by making a broad statement about social media and its widespread use in today’s society, as follows: “Social media has become an integral part of modern life, with billions of users worldwide.” 
• Define Key Terms : Define any key terms or concepts that may be unfamiliar to your readers but are essential for understanding your argument. 
• Provide Relevant Statistics:  Use statistics or facts to highlight the significance of the issue you’re discussing. For instance, “According to a report by Statista, the number of social media users is expected to reach 4.41 billion by 2025.” 
• Discuss the Evolution:  Mention previous research or studies that have been conducted on the topic, especially those that are relevant to your argument. Mention key milestones or developments that have shaped its current impact. You can also outline some of the major effects of social media. For example, you can briefly describe how social media has evolved, including positives such as increased connectivity and issues like cyberbullying and privacy concerns. 
• Transition to Your Thesis:  Use the background information to lead into your thesis statement, which should clearly state the main argument or purpose of your essay. For example, “Given its pervasive influence, it is crucial to examine the impact of social media on mental health.” 

A thesis statement is a concise summary of the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, or other type of academic writing. It appears near the end of the introduction. Here’s how to write a thesis statement: 

• Identify the topic:  Start by identifying the topic of your essay. For example, if your essay is about the importance of exercise for overall health, your topic is “exercise.” 
• State your position:  Next, state your position or claim about the topic. This is the main argument or point you want to make. For example, if you believe that regular exercise is crucial for maintaining good health, your position could be: “Regular exercise is essential for maintaining good health.” 
• Support your position:  Provide a brief overview of the reasons or evidence that support your position. These will be the main points of your essay. For example, if you’re writing an essay about the importance of exercise, you could mention the physical health benefits, mental health benefits, and the role of exercise in disease prevention. 
• Make it specific:  Ensure your thesis statement clearly states what you will discuss in your essay. For example, instead of saying, “Exercise is good for you,” you could say, “Regular exercise, including cardiovascular and strength training, can improve overall health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.” 

Examples of essay introduction 

Here are examples of essay introductions for different types of essays: 

Argumentative Essay Introduction Example:  

Topic: Should the voting age be lowered to 16? 

“The question of whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 has sparked nationwide debate. While some argue that 16-year-olds lack the requisite maturity and knowledge to make informed decisions, others argue that doing so would imbue young people with agency and give them a voice in shaping their future.” 

Expository Essay Introduction Example  

Topic: The benefits of regular exercise 

“In today’s fast-paced world, the importance of regular exercise cannot be overstated. From improving physical health to boosting mental well-being, the benefits of exercise are numerous and far-reaching. This essay will examine the various advantages of regular exercise and provide tips on incorporating it into your daily routine.” 

Text: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee 

“Harper Lee’s novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ is a timeless classic that explores themes of racism, injustice, and morality in the American South. Through the eyes of young Scout Finch, the reader is taken on a journey that challenges societal norms and forces characters to confront their prejudices. This essay will analyze the novel’s use of symbolism, character development, and narrative structure to uncover its deeper meaning and relevance to contemporary society.” 

• Engaging and Relevant First Sentence : The opening sentence captures the reader’s attention and relates directly to the topic. 
• Background Information : Enough background information is introduced to provide context for the thesis statement. 
• Definition of Important Terms : Key terms or concepts that might be unfamiliar to the audience or are central to the argument are defined. 
• Clear Thesis Statement : The thesis statement presents the main point or argument of the essay. 
• Relevance to Main Body : Everything in the introduction directly relates to and sets up the discussion in the main body of the essay. 

Writing a strong introduction is crucial for setting the tone and context of your essay. Here are the key takeaways for how to write essay introduction: 3  

• Hook the Reader : Start with an engaging hook to grab the reader’s attention. This could be a compelling question, a surprising fact, a relevant quote, or an anecdote. 
• Provide Background : Give a brief overview of the topic, setting the context and stage for the discussion. 
• Thesis Statement : State your thesis, which is the main argument or point of your essay. It should be concise, clear, and specific. 
• Preview the Structure : Outline the main points or arguments to help the reader understand the organization of your essay. 
• Keep it Concise : Avoid including unnecessary details or information not directly related to your thesis. 
• Revise and Edit : Revise your introduction to ensure clarity, coherence, and relevance. Check for grammar and spelling errors. 
• Seek Feedback : Get feedback from peers or instructors to improve your introduction further. 

The purpose of an essay introduction is to give an overview of the topic, context, and main ideas of the essay. It is meant to engage the reader, establish the tone for the rest of the essay, and introduce the thesis statement or central argument.  

An essay introduction typically ranges from 5-10% of the total word count. For example, in a 1,000-word essay, the introduction would be roughly 50-100 words. However, the length can vary depending on the complexity of the topic and the overall length of the essay.

An essay introduction is critical in engaging the reader and providing contextual information about the topic. To ensure its effectiveness, consider incorporating these key elements: a compelling hook, background information, a clear thesis statement, an outline of the essay’s scope, a smooth transition to the body, and optional signposting sentences.  

The process of writing an essay introduction is not necessarily straightforward, but there are several strategies that can be employed to achieve this end. When experiencing difficulty initiating the process, consider the following techniques: begin with an anecdote, a quotation, an image, a question, or a startling fact to pique the reader’s interest. It may also be helpful to consider the five W’s of journalism: who, what, when, where, why, and how.   For instance, an anecdotal opening could be structured as follows: “As I ascended the stage, momentarily blinded by the intense lights, I could sense the weight of a hundred eyes upon me, anticipating my next move. The topic of discussion was climate change, a subject I was passionate about, and it was my first public speaking event. Little did I know , that pivotal moment would not only alter my perspective but also chart my life’s course.” 

Crafting a compelling thesis statement for your introduction paragraph is crucial to grab your reader’s attention. To achieve this, avoid using overused phrases such as “In this paper, I will write about” or “I will focus on” as they lack originality. Instead, strive to engage your reader by substantiating your stance or proposition with a “so what” clause. While writing your thesis statement, aim to be precise, succinct, and clear in conveying your main argument.  

To create an effective essay introduction, ensure it is clear, engaging, relevant, and contains a concise thesis statement. It should transition smoothly into the essay and be long enough to cover necessary points but not become overwhelming. Seek feedback from peers or instructors to assess its effectiveness. 

References  

• Cui, L. (2022). Unit 6 Essay Introduction.  Building Academic Writing Skills . 
• West, H., Malcolm, G., Keywood, S., & Hill, J. (2019). Writing a successful essay.  Journal of Geography in Higher Education ,  43 (4), 609-617. 
• Beavers, M. E., Thoune, D. L., & McBeth, M. (2023). Bibliographic Essay: Reading, Researching, Teaching, and Writing with Hooks: A Queer Literacy Sponsorship. College English, 85(3), 230-242. 

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 21+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.  

Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$19 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.  

Experience the future of academic writing – Sign up to Paperpal and start writing for free!  

Related Reads:

• What is an Argumentative Essay? How to Write It (With Examples)
• How to Paraphrase Research Papers Effectively
• How to Cite Social Media Sources in Academic Writing? 
• How Long Should a Chapter Be?

Similarity Checks: The Author’s Guide to Plagiarism and Responsible Writing

Types of plagiarism and 6 tips to avoid it in your writing , you may also like, how to ace grant writing for research funding..., powerful academic phrases to improve your essay writing , how to write a high-quality conference paper, how paperpal’s research feature helps you develop and..., how paperpal is enhancing academic productivity and accelerating..., academic editing: how to self-edit academic text with..., 4 ways paperpal encourages responsible writing with ai, what are scholarly sources and where can you..., how to write a hypothesis types and examples , what is academic writing: tips for students.

• CustomEssayOrder.com
• Call Now! (USA) Login Order now
• CustomEssayOrder.com Call Now! (USA) Order now

Analysis Essay On An Advertisement (Writing Guide)

How to write good analysis essay on an advertisement.

Outline example

How to start, introduction example.

• How to write the thesis statement

Thesis example

How to write body paragraphs, example of body paragraphs.

• How to conclude

Conclusion example

• Revision tips

Advertising plays a major role in our society today; everywhere you go you will find products being advertised on television, online pages, billboards. Advertisement analysis is a common assignment students are required to undertake. Writing an analysis of an advertisement is more about writing a review of the advertisement using a specific format. There are several strategies to go about this type of assignment. So, below is a step-by-step approach to writing an analysis of an advertisement.

Introduction :

• What is the advertisement for
• Summary of the context of the advertisement
• Background information about the company
• The thesis statement
• The effect of the advertisement and the target audience

Body Paragraphs :

• Present evidence of the effectiveness of the ad on the target audience
• Give examples
• Show various components of the advertisement
• Explain some of the outstanding strategies used to persuade the target audience
• Describe the values and emotion the ad provokes in the readers
• Describe the visual strategies
• Describe the ethos, pathos, and logos
• Describe the textual strategies, including the diction and the tone.

Conclusion :

• Present the most important points justify why the advertisement is successful
• The present technique used that makes the product outstanding
• Review the intention of the advertisement
• Provide your opinion.

In the introduction, it is important to state what the analysis will focus on. The ideas to get to the point as early as possible. The essay writer should not assume that the readers are familiar with the product. That is why the first step is to analyze if the advertisement presents a brief history and a detailed description of what the product is about. A good advertisement needs to show how the product is superior to other products in the market.

For example, when a company produces a commercial the aim is to increase sales.

• Here are also points you should consider when writing your essay:
• Some people prefer to write the introduction after they have written the essay itself – you should try both ways to see which one works better for you.
• The introduction must always contain the thesis statement.
• Any information which is needed for the essay, but doesn’t necessarily fit into any of the body paragraphs, should go into the introduction.
• Don’t make any arguments in the introduction itself; save it for the body paragraphs.
• The introduction should summarise the main arguments you intend to make.

Now, you know the main rules of writing an introduction. Next, please find an example of the introduction.

Old Spice’s advertisement “How Your Man Could Smell Like” is an attractive phrase used to lure the audience to purchase the product. The advertisement meant to capture men’s attention through women. It presents an ideal image of how a man should smell. The advertisement used sexually themed strategy to grab the reader’s attention.

How to write a thesis statement

To write a thesis statement, make sure that you have done all the research you want to do, and that you know everything you want to when it comes to your essay. Try and boil down the ultimate point of the essay into a small amount of space – at the most two sentences. It should be clear enough that every part of your essay will be able to relate to it without much trouble.

The advertisement conveys a strong message about a strong personality where a man needs not only to be attractive but also to be confident by smelling like a real man. The advertisement uses emotional appeal to influence young women who value strong qualities in a man.

Any advertisement is meant for a specific audience, therefore, a good analysis should present the target audience. The body paragraphs should clearly present, which groups of people are being targeted, discusses how the intention presented work together to create a good impression. When writing an advertisement analysis essay, it is important to explain how popular and effective the advertisement is. Describe the rhetorical appeals, including pathos, ethos, and logo, these are concepts that provoke emotion among the target audience in an attempt to convince them to like the product.

Tips on body paragraph writing:

• Each paragraph should only deal with one argument, to keep from being cluttered.
• Each paragraph should have a topic sentence to introduce it, and a summary sentence at the end of both wind things up, and lead into the next sentence.
• Each paragraph should reference the thesis statement in some way.
• Each paragraph should fit into the essay in a way which makes it flow properly, leading readers through the essay to a similar conclusion.
• Each paragraph should contain just the right amount of research – not so much as to confuse the issue, but not so little that it seems like there is nothing to say.

Below is an example of the body paragraphs for advertising analysis.

1st paragraph

The commercial appeals to women more than men. This is important because it does not rely on the attractiveness of the model and the setting, but on sensational, emotional responses presenting how perfect men should translate into the reality the ideal image of who a man should be and what he should smell like to attract a wider audience.

2nd paragraph

The advertisement uses an attractive man who seems to be physically fit, giving the product an image that men are appealing to women’s tastes. The advertisement also presents the notion that a man’s’ emotional needs to smell like a real man to attract a woman. The advertisement uses a reliable strategy of sexuality. Sexually themed advertisements appeal to not only men and women but to a wider audience. Using such themes is the surest way to attract more people to use the product.

3rd paragraph

Normally, these advertisements focus on men who are physically attractive to try and sell their products, with the implication that the product will give an entire lifestyle, not simply a way to smell good. This is one way in which the advertisements appeal to people – making it seem as though they too can aspire to be as ‘cool’ as the man presents, simply by purchasing the aforementioned product.

How to write a conclusion

After review, the advertisement giving appropriate evidence to support the claim the next step of the analysis is to wrap up by reviewing the key points of the analysis. The conclusion of the analysis should be a brief summary justifying if the advertisement has achieved its objectives.

Tips to remember when writing your conclusion

• Remember to restate the thesis statement.
• Round up the arguments made in the essay – do not make any original arguments in the conclusion.
• The conclusion is your last chance to bring people round to your point of view, so make it count.
• Remember that you can bring in the history or additional information which is used in the introduction, to remind people of anything that might be useful.
• Your conclusion should mention every argument made in the essay.

Example of a conclusion is shown below.

The Old Spice ad is successful because it makes a good impression on people and makes the audience believe that smelling good can be attractive. The advertisement carefully uses sex appeal, making it attractive for both men and women. Mixing the right amount of humor makes it stand out because of its no offensive. Old Spice’s appeal to women makes men want to look and smells like a real man. The advertisement presents an ideal man as good looking, masculine and romantic. Any advertisement that arouses people’s emotions and people want to watch and remember their products can be termed as a successful advertisement.

Research paper revision

Revision is important since it gives you the opportunity to create the best essay you are capable of. Revision lets you check whether or not your essay flows correctly, whether it makes sense, as well as the smaller things like grammar and punctuation.

• Do two revisions – one for spelling and grammar, and one for structure.
• Check to make sure that the argument through the paper flows correctly.
• Try and come to revision with fresh eyes, since this will help you see problems more easily.
• If you can, ask someone else to read your essay, to point out any errors.
• Make sure to specifically check things like thesis statements, topic sentences, etc.

Need a custom essay?

1.How to write an analysis essay on an advertisement? To analyze an advertisement, one needs first to figure out the objectives behind the Ad film. Then, the analysis will deal with weighting the theme of the Ad and how well it conveyed the message. However, several other aspects are also mentioned in an ad analysis. Discuss the brand’s values and beliefs? Elaborate on the Ad appeal, emotional or rational? Discuss the storyline, the big idea, overall execution of the Ad film.

2.Who can write an analysis essay on an advertisement? Advertisement analysis is best written by field experts available on customessayorder.com. The platform provides wiring help to students who face difficulty in completing their college assignments. The writing company is good with deadlines, free revisions, professional proofreading, and guaranteed high-quality paper delivered on time written by native English speakers.

3.How to conclude an analysis essay on an advertisement? The conclusion simply summarizes the objectives the ad aimed at and how well it conveyed the message to the audience. Mention both the wins and losses. Also, give a sneak preview of how well the persuasion appeal worked for the brand in the ad.

4.What should an analysis essay on an advertisement include? Ad Analysis should identify the rhetorical appeals—logos, pathos, and ethos in the ad. Analyze the ad’s target demography. Moreover, several points to be included in an advertisement analysis are: · The big idea · Type of advertisement campaign – thematic or tactical · Persuasion appeal – emotional or rational · Core brand values · Subliminal message · Testimonial · Production value · budgets · Cast · Locations

How to Write Good Essays on Advertisement

Writing essays is a sincere opportunity for writers to expose their prowess. While in college, the greatest worry for communication students is how to write good essays on advertisement. If you are among those wondering how to write good advertisement analysis essays, we have your back.

Now, essay writing is a gradual process. Mastery of excellent writing skills come with practice. An essay writing website like Gradecrest.com has writers who are masters in essay typing. To become one, you must possess excellent essay writing techniques.

Reading about how to write good essays on advertisements can mold you into a Jedi essay writer. You actually don’t need an advertisement analysis essay example. Instead, knowing what to put where really matters.  With our skills, you can handle both complex and simple essays on TV advertisements.

These insights are from our best writers . Yes, the ones we task with writing rhetorical analysis essays on commercials.  We are sure that in the end, you will become the best essay writer there is in your class. Basically, it is all about ad analysis essays. From how to criticize an advertisement to handling argumentative advertisement essays, we have you.

Let us begin with the outline.

Example of an Advertising Analysis Essay Outline

Before writing an essay on an advertisement, it is always important to draft an outline. Here is a sample:

Introduction

• The name of the advertisement and its purpose. Include the authors and the brand.
• Summary of the context of the ad.
• Background information about the company in the advertisement.
• Your thesis statement.
• The impact of the ad on the intended audience.

Body Paragraph

• Evidence on the effectiveness of the advertisement on the target audience
• Use examples, where applicable.
• Describe the components of the advertisement
• Explore the strategies employed by the advertisers
• The impact of the ad on the audience
• Ethos, pathos, and logos of the ad.
• Textual and visual strategies in the advertisement.
• If it is a comparison, explore the differences and similarities.
• Reinvent the thesis of the essay on advertisement
• Address what makes the advertisement tick
• What was the intention of the ad?
• Reflect on the ad and give your opinion.

Common Topics for Essays on Advertising

• Analysis of Shampoo advertisement
• Pater Philippe advertisement analysis
• Old spice ad analysis essay
• Marketing ad analysis
• Sports marketing ad analysis
• Print ad analysis
• Critical evaluation of an ad
• Automotive ad analysis
• Pepsi advertisement analysis
• McDonalds ad analysis essay
• Victoria Secret ad analysis essay
• Analyzing the strategies used by Victoria Secret advertisements
• Dove ad analysis essay
• Pepsi Halloween Ad analysis
• Coca-Cola ad analysis essay
• Cover girl ad analysis essay
• Nike ad analysis essay
• Power of advertising in today’s world
• History of advertising essay
• Advertisement campaign analysis
• The evolution of advertisement

These are just but a few ad analysis topic ideas. The advertisement analysis essay prompt always has instructions. Sometimes, it is possible to come up with a list of argumentative advertisement analysis essay topics. Be sure to choose what fits the context and instructions.

Advertising Essay Introduction

When writing an introduction about advertising in essays, it is important to figure out what the ad is about. An essay writer always uses a hook and a good thesis statement to spice up their advertisement essay introduction.

Your introduction should also feature some history of the brand, the author of the ad, and where it was aired. Sometimes, it is good to go as deep as the media where it was first aired and at what time. Explore the audience of the advertisement as well, in the introduction.

Here is an example of an advertising essay introduction.

The old spice advertisement uses persuasion strategies such as emotional appeal and logical appeal to convince the audience to buy the product. The advertisement targets the attention of men through women. To grab the attention of the audience, it spices up the message and wraps it in a sexually themed strategy. As such, the old spice advert is one of its kind.

When writing the introduction ensure that you have a thesis statement. Besides, you should avoid deviating into matters, not in the essay.

Still, summarize the major arguments. The example above shows how to start an advertisement analysis essay.

Advertising Essay Conclusion

When writing an argumentative essay on advertising or just an advertisement analysis essay, how you write the conclusion matters.

If you do not get the paragraphs right, you will be asking how to add more to an ad analysis essay. Let us see how it is done.

When writing the essay conclusion, restate the thesis , not as it is in the introduction but in a reinvented format.

Sum up the arguments in the body paragraphs and use the words that denote a closing sentence. Your conclusion should make clear what your argument in the paper is. Reflect on how the advertisement was successful or how it failed.

Choosing Proper Words for the Essay

When writing, a good choice of words exposes your intelligence. As such, always ensure that your essay flows, is coherent, and is relevant to the topic.

Using language effectively can help build sound arguments and capture the main ideas in the ad.

We advise students to make it simple. If you must use a synonym, maybe to avoid plagiarism when paraphrasing, ensure it fits the context.

For logical flow, use some of the transition words and phrases.

Words such as moreover, besides, for example, furthermore, and however, to mention a few, should feature in often in your essay.

Quoting from other Sources

If there is one thing that makes writing sweet, it is using the right referencing skills. An essay is a chance for you to showcase your essay writing skills.

Thus, you should ensure that you are quoting opinions from other people or even copyrighted material to support ideas.

While using quotes from other people show the extent to which you did your research, be sure to use in-text citation and a reference list.

When writing about the history of the United States of America, you should borrow ideas from relevant materials written by authors on the same theme.

The same applies to when analyzing an advertisement about McDonald’s. You must find materials that talk about persuasive strategies in an advertisement, impacts of McDonald’s advertisements, and any relevant literature. if you master this, there is no need to worry about how to write good essays on advertisements.

Using Proper Vocabulary in an Essay on Advertisement

If there are one place writers err, it is the use of vocabulary. An essay written with the right vocabulary flows. It takes quite some patience and practice to master the use of vocabulary.

When you use rambling words in your essay, make sure you use lower cases to capture the attention of the readers.

You can also achieve modest clarity in your essay by using the right vocabulary. However, to avoid the trap of just throwing in words, always do proper research.

You can only express your ideas with clarity when you understand how the vocabularies fit.

The internet is fraught of learning avenues for one to master vocabulary. Use Online dictionaries such as Merriam Webster or Oxford Dictionary.

Also, you can use the thesaurus to master how to place and use vocabulary in your text.

Essay Tone and Good Grammar Equals Good Grades

A good essay writer maintains a good essay tone from start to finish. Talk about sentence structures; they count here.

A good tone makes it easy for readers. When writing advertising essays always arrange the points in a logical manner.

Avoid grammar errors at all cost when writing the essay. As soon as you are down, proofread the paper to correct any grammatical errors present.

Also, ensure that the punctuation use in your essay is excellent. Submit an essay on an advertisement that you are sure will bring great grades.

Get Help if you wish to

It takes time to develop good essay writing. With this article on how to write good essays on an advertisement, we explore every detail you need to know when writing ad analysis essays.

To recap, your introductory sentence has to present the concepts of the advertisement you are analyzing in the essay.

The body paragraphs should have the best sentence structures, exhibit good vocabulary use, be devoid of grammar errors, and develop the thesis in the introduction of your advertisement essay.

Your conclusion should summarize and restate the thesis statement.

Well, it is also possible that writing an advertising essay is not your thing! In this case, you need to hire essay writers to act on your paper. Gradecrest.com has the best essay writers to help with your essays. We can handle essays as urgent as the 3-hour deadline .

When you order from us, you get a paper that factors in all the parameters discussed in the article.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

Advertisement Analysis Essay: Example and Tips

Analysis of advertisement is usually written by students while taking a course of marketing. Advertisement is a big part of marketing and understanding of the rules of its use is essential for students.

Advertising is one of the most important and effective ways to promote products / services of the company. And although this tool is not always the main one, very often it is the most costly element of the marketing budget.

That is why the question of how to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising concerns many business executives and marketers. If you don’t think about it, the result could be wasted advertising money. What if advertising doesn’t work? How to increase the economic effect? The solution may be thorough preparation and planning of the advertising campaign before it starts and control in the process, and not just an attempt to evaluate the result after the campaign.

Advertising campaign analysis is an in-depth study of how advertising works with web analytics in order to increase the number of orders within a limited budget.

• 1 Writing introduction to advertisement analysis essay
• 2 Example of introduction of advertisement analysis essay
• 3 How to write main part of advertisement analysis essay
• 4 Main part of advertisement analysis essay example
• 5 How to write conclusion of advertisement analysis essay
• 6 Conclusion of advertisement analysis essay example

Writing introduction to advertisement analysis essay

In the intro part, prepare the reader to what he is about to learn from your essay. Point out the direction if your thoughts. Name the ad, about which you are going to talk in the essay. You can tell couple words about the company or product from the advertisement and point out your attitude.

Explain why you’ve chosen that advertisement. If you have taken it as an example of bad ad campaign, tell it. If as a good one – explain why. In any case, already in the introduction the reader should understand 3 main things:

• What advertisement you are going to talk about;
• Why you have chosen this particular ad;
• Is advertisement good or bad.

Example of introduction of advertisement analysis essay

The company was founded by Karl Friedrich Rapp in October 1913, initially as a manufacturer of aircraft engines, Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke. In 1916, the company signed a contract for the production of V12 engines for Austria-Hungary. In need of additional funding, Rapp gets the support of Camillo Castiglioni and Max Fritz, the company is being re-established as Bayerische Motoren Werke.

After Second World War in 1951, BMW produced its first post-war car, the 501. In 1955, the BMW Triebwerk GmbH division returned to life. The company focuses on the tradition of manufacturing aircraft engines. BMW in order to popularize its products with the middle class produces the first mass car in the postwar years BMW Isetta. The idea of ​​creating a miniature machine of the Italian company Iso, and the prototype of the body created by it was bought by the Germans. In 1959, Model 700 became the first big serial success for BMW cars. BMW company put up for sale.

How to write main part of advertisement analysis essay

Analysis itself is written in the main part of the essay. The effectiveness of advertising campaigns on the Internet can be assessed using statistical tools that are used in advertising systems like Google Adwords. However, the analytical capabilities of these tools are very limited. They allow you to make only indicative conclusions without taking into account the details and, most importantly, without taking into account what is happening on the site.

Imagine that in order to evaluate how magazine advertising works, you assigned an analyst to each magazine, who looks at how the reader looks through the pages; does he stop looking at your ad, and how much time he spends reading it. However, this analyst does not accompany the buyer if he went to your store. That is, he does not even know whether the buyer reached the store, what he was doing there, what goods he looked at, whether he had bought something. It turns out that advertising analytics is only half of the information that needs to be obtained. The same thing happens on the Internet. If you advertise, but do not analyze your advertising campaign using web analytics, you have only half the data.

Main part of advertisement analysis essay example

Bmw advertising campaign. The brand value is estimated at $ 26.3 billion. In the consumer perception rating, the concern ranked 5th in the overall standings and 1st among car brands. Officially, the industrial company BMW was registered on July 20, 1917. The source of production of the BMW Group can be called a factory in Munich. “Holds the road … Holds records”

Type of product: The company produces not only cars, but also, motorcycles, engines, and surprisingly, bicycles.

Distribution: Currently, BMW manufactures its vehicles at five factories in Germany and twenty-two subsidiaries located throughout the world. This is one of the few automotive companies that does not use robotic production. All assembly on the conveyor goes only manually.

Slogan: “happy to drive”;

Main competitor: Audi

Types and functions of advertising used in the advertising campaign of “BMW”

• By Territory: International
• By means of transmission: The advertising campaign was presented on television, in movies, in print, on the Internet and in outdoor advertising.
• By way of impact: emotional.

Stimulating – this ad creates a need for this product, encourages people to purchase it. So in the end, fully satisfies the need of the buyer.

Marketing – the goal is to stimulate sales of the product.

Place of this advertising campaign in society (social functions) and marketing system

Social functions:

• affects the formation of values ​​and lifestyle
• After viewing this advertisement, many drivers will want to buy such a car.
• Through this advertisement, the illusion is fixed that any person who purchases a BMW car will ride on the highest comfort and safety.

Place of the BMW advertising campaign in the 4P system

• Product. An advertising campaign aimed at selling cars, bicycles, motorcycles, engines.
• Price. The average price for a car is 40000 euro.
• Place. Promotion occurs around the world:.
• Promotion. The BMW advertising campaign was presented on television, in print, on the Internet and on outdoor advertising.

Example of inappropriate advertising

Inappropriate advertising can be unfair, unreliable, false, unethical and hidden. In my work, I will give an example of unfair advertising on the example of advertising “Audi – BMW”. The advertising campaign of auto giants has been going on for more than five years. It all started with a BMW sprint: auto giant “nicely” congratulated Audi on winning the “Machine of the Year 2006” competition in South Africa by signing “Winner of the 2006 Machine of the World” competition.

Plagiarism is the obvious, most often exact repetition of someone else’s advertising appeal (or the active link of the plot, script, slogan) to advertise their product often different from the original product group, sometimes in a different mass communication channel. This is a blatant borrowing of someone else’s advertising creation in violation of the copyright and related rights of primary developers.

How to write conclusion of advertisement analysis essay

The last part of the essay, conclusion, is likely to check your vocabulary rather than your knowledge or creativity. Here you do not need to present new information or give new arguments in favor of your point of view. In the conclusion, author of advertisement analysis essay needs to sum up the ideas and repeat the main ones in other words.

Make sure your ideas are understood by readers and are supported by convincing arguments. Read your essay again making sure that there are no mistakes and the logical flow of the essay goes in right direction.

Conclusion of advertisement analysis essay example

We can see that during the analysis of the advertising campaign, BMW managed to solve several important tasks set at the beginning. The types and functions of advertising used in this advertising campaign were identified. On a territorial basis, it covers the whole world, and uses many means of transmission, such as advertising on television, in movies, in print, on the Internet, and in outdoor advertising.

Some of the important functions that this advertising campaign performs: stimulating, marketing and informational. In addition to the basic functions, social is also presented, which contributes to the formation of certain standards of thinking and behavioral patterns in the consumer. By means of advertising, channels such as the Internet, advertising in points of sale, the press and television are used.

Most of the budget is allocated to television advertising, because the rollers need to be visualized. The target audience of the brand is men and women 19-50 years old. These are mainly people with higher education, leading a dynamic and active lifestyle. Among the marketing research to identify the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, specialized field-quality qualitative research was conducted: focus groups, and specialized field research using a telephone survey.

Home — Essay Samples — Business — Company — Analysis Of Old Spice’s Advertisement

Analysis of Old Spice's Advertisement

• Categories: Advertisement Company

About this sample

Words: 844 |

Published: Jun 20, 2019

Words: 844 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, targeting the female audience, the idealized man and sexual attraction.

• Rajeev, A. (2015). The Old Spice Advertising Campaign: Smell Like a Man. Journal of Advertising Research , 55(1), 107-113.
• Hairstylist Kristen. (2017, November 7). The Secret Behind Old Spice's Success: Sex and Humor. AdAge. https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/old-spice-fell-love-humor-when-its-ad-campaigns-rediscovered-sex/311111
• Solomon, M. R. (2019). Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being (12th ed.). Pearson.
• O'Barr, W. M. (2015). Advertising and Society: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
• Eisend, M. (2010). A meta-analysis of humor in advertising. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(5), 657-676.
• Schroeder, J. E. (2002). The audience and its landscape. In Visual Consumption (pp. 31-55). Routledge.
• Old Spice. (2010, February 4). The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified writer

• Expert in: Business

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1374 words

2 pages / 786 words

2 pages / 1098 words

3 pages / 1757 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Company

Retail positioning is a crucial aspect of the business world, and it can determine the success of a brand in the market. With the increasing competition in the retail industry, it is crucial for retailers to position themselves [...]

REI, also known as Recreational Equipment, Inc., is a well-established outdoor retail company that has been in operation for over 80 years. The company has built a strong reputation for providing quality outdoor gear, apparel, [...]

One of the most popular forms of advertising is television commercials, which have the potential to reach millions of viewers. In this essay, we will analyze a television commercial for Dr Pepper, a well-known beverage company, [...]

Cat Footwear, a division of Wolverine World Wide, Inc., is a global leader in high-performance work boots and lifestyle footwear. The brand has a rich history dating back to the 1990s and has since become synonymous with [...]

Expanding Channel Business: Foxconn’s aim is to fabricate its brand and attain the leading technology of its own. Foxconn has huge opportunity to expand its business as it has expertise in the technology sector. It can serve [...]

Airbnb is an online marketplace that enables people to list and rent rooms in their flat or home to travelers. Budget travelers choose Airbnb because it’s usually cheaper than a hotel and gives them an opportunity to know local [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Loading metrics

Open Access

Essays articulate a specific perspective on a topic of broad interest to scientists.

See all article types »

Integrating phylogenies into single-cell RNA sequencing analysis allows comparisons across species, genes, and cells

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

• Samuel H. Church, 
• Jasmine L. Mah, 
• Casey W. Dunn

Published: May 24, 2024

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002633
• Reader Comments

Comparisons of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data across species can reveal links between cellular gene expression and the evolution of cell functions, features, and phenotypes. These comparisons evoke evolutionary histories, as depicted by phylogenetic trees, that define relationships between species, genes, and cells. This Essay considers each of these in turn, laying out challenges and solutions derived from a phylogenetic comparative approach and relating these solutions to previously proposed methods for the pairwise alignment of cellular dimensional maps. This Essay contends that species trees, gene trees, cell phylogenies, and cell lineages can all be reconciled as descriptions of the same concept—the tree of cellular life. By integrating phylogenetic approaches into scRNA-seq analyses, challenges for building informed comparisons across species can be overcome, and hypotheses about gene and cell evolution can be robustly tested.

Citation: Church SH, Mah JL, Dunn CW (2024) Integrating phylogenies into single-cell RNA sequencing analysis allows comparisons across species, genes, and cells. PLoS Biol 22(5): e3002633. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002633

Copyright: © 2024 Church et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: SHC was funded in part by National Science Foundation, https://nsf.org , grant 2109502 and by the Yale Institute of Biospheric Studies, https://yibs.yale.edu . The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) generates high-dimensional gene expression data from thousands of cells from an organ, tissue, or body [ 1 ]. Single-cell expression data are increasingly common, with new animal cell atlases being released every year [ 2 – 6 ]. The next steps will be to compare such atlases across species [ 2 ], identifying the dimensions in which these results differ and associating these differences with other features of interest [ 7 ]. Because all cross-species comparisons are inherently evolutionary comparisons, such analyses present an opportunity to integrate approaches from the field of evolutionary biology, and especially phylogenetic biology [ 8 ]. Drawing concepts, models, and methods from these fields will help to overcome central challenges with comparative scRNA-seq analysis, especially in how to draw coherent comparisons over thousands of genes and cells across species. In addition, this synthesis of concepts will help avoid the unnecessary reinvention of analytical methods that have already been rigorously tested in evolutionary biology for other types of data, such as morphological and molecular data.

Comparative gene expression analysis has been used for decades to answer evolutionary questions such as how changes in gene expression are associated with the evolution of novel functions and phenotypes [ 9 ]. The introduction of scRNA-seq technology has led to a massive increase in the scale of these experiments [ 1 ], from working with a few genes or a few tissues, to assays that cover the entire transcriptome, across thousands of cells in a dissociation experiment. Comparative scRNA-seq analysis therefore enables evolutionary questions to be scaled up, for example: how has the genetic basis of differentiation evolved across cell populations and over time; what kinds of cells and gene expression patterns were likely present in the most recent common ancestor; what changes in cell transcriptomes are associated with the evolution of new ecologies, life-histories, or other features; how much variation in cellular gene expression do we observe over evolutionary time; which changes in gene expression are significant (i.e., larger or smaller than we expect by chance); which genes show patterns of correlated expression evolution; and can evolutionary screens detect novel interactions between genes?

In comparative scRNA-seq studies, the results of individual experiments are analyzed across species. These scRNA-seq experiments usually generate matrices of count data with measurements along 2 axes: cells and genes ( Fig 1 ). Comparative scRNA-seq analysis adds a third axis: species. At first glance, it might make sense to try and align scRNA-seq matrices across species, thereby creating a 3D tensor of cellular gene expression. But neither genes nor cells are expected to share a one-to-one correspondence across species. In the case of genes, gene duplication (leading to paralogous relationships) and gene loss are rampant [ 10 ]. In the case of cells, there is rarely justification for equating 2 individual cells across species; instead, populations of cells (“cell types”) are typically compared [ 11 ]. Therefore to align matrices, an appropriate system of grouping both dimensions must first be found. This is essentially a question of homology [ 12 ]: which genes and cell types are homologous, based on their relationship to predicted genes and cell types in the common ancestor.

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

scRNA-seq experiments generate count matrices, shown here with columns as cells and rows as genes. Higher expression counts for a given gene in a given cell are depicted with darker shading. In an idealized comparison, count matrices across species would be aligned to form a 3D tensor of expression across cells, genes, and species. In reality, there is no expectation of one-to-one correspondence or independence for any of the 3 axes. Instead, relationships between species, genes, and cells are described by their respective evolutionary histories, as depicted with phylogenies.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002633.g001

Questions about homology can be answered using phylogenies [ 12 ]. Species relationships are defined by their shared ancestry, as depicted using a phylogeny of speciation events ( Fig 2 ). Gene homology is also defined by shared ancestry, depicted using gene trees that contain nodes corresponding to either speciation and gene duplication events. Cell homology inference requires assessing the evolutionary relationships between cell types [ 12 , 13 ], defined here as populations of cells related via the process of cellular differentiation and distinguishable from one another (e.g., by using molecular markers) [ 14 ]. Relationships between cell types can be represented with cell phylogenies that, like gene trees, contain both speciation and duplication nodes [ 13 ]. As with genes, the evolutionary relationships between cell types may be complex, as differentiation trajectories drift, split, or are lost over evolutionary time [ 7 , 13 , 15 ].

Species phylogenies contain speciation events as nodes in a bifurcating tree. Gene phylogenies contain both gene duplication events (black hexagons) and speciation events (unmarked) at nodes. Cell phylogenies also include both speciation and duplication events; here, duplication events represent a split in the program of cellular development that leads to differentiated cell types [ 13 ]. Branches from the species phylogeny (numbered branches) can be found within gene and cell phylogenies. Note that gene families are strictly defined by ancestry, but cell types have historically been defined by form, function, or patterns of gene expression [ 15 ]. This means that groups of cells identified as the same “type” across species may reflect paraphyletic groups [ 11 ], as depicted in the second cell type in this tree.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002633.g002

In this Essay, we illustrate a tree-based framework for comparing scRNA-seq data and contrast this framework with existing methods. We describe how we can use trees to identify homologous and comparable groups of genes and cells, based on their predicted relationship to genes and cells present in the common ancestor. We advocate for mapping data to branches of phylogenetic trees to test hypotheses about the evolution of cellular gene expression, describing the kinds of data that can be compared and the types of questions that each comparison has the potential to address. Finally, we reconcile species phylogenies, gene phylogenies, cell phylogenies, and cell lineages as different representations of the same concept—the tree of cellular life.

Comparisons across species

Shared ancestry between species will impact the results of all cross-species analyses and should therefore influence expectations and interpretations [ 16 ]. For scRNA-seq data, this has several implications. First, species are expected to be different from one another, given that they have continued evolving since diverging from their common ancestor. Therefore, by default, many differences in cellular gene expression are expected across the thousands of measurements in an scRNA-seq dataset. Second, the degree of difference is expected to correlate with time since the last common ancestor. The null expectation is that closely related species will have more cell types in common, and that those cells will have more similar patterns of gene expression than more distantly related species. The structure of this similarity can be approximated with a species phylogeny calibrated to time.

Methods for the evolutionary comparison of scRNA-seq data have already been proposed in packages such as SAMap [ 7 ]. These packages have overcome significant challenges, such as how to account for non-orthologous genes (see the section Comparisons across genes). However, up to now these methods have relied on pairwise comparisons of species, rather than phylogenetic relationships. The problems with pairwise comparisons have been well-described elsewhere [ 17 ]; briefly, they result in pseudo-replication of evolutionary events. This pseudo-replication is of increasing concern as comparisons are drawn across a greater number of taxa and across more closely related species. By contrast, an evolutionary comparative approach maps evolutionary changes to branches in the phylogeny [ 8 , 10 ]. With this approach, data are assigned to the tips of a tree, and ancestral states are reconstructed using an evolutionary model. Evolutionary changes are then calculated as differences between ancestral and descendant states, and the distribution of evolutionary changes along branches are analyzed and compared [ 18 ].

Shifting toward a phylogenetic approach to comparative scRNA-seq analysis unlocks new avenues of discovery, including tests of coevolution of cellular gene expression and other features of interest [ 9 ], as well as evolutionary screens for signatures of correlated gene and cell modules [ 19 ]. In phylogenetic analyses, statistical power depends on the number of independent evolutionary events rather than on the absolute number of taxa [ 8 ]. Therefore, the choice of which species to compare is critical, especially when comparisons can be constructed to capture potential convergence.

One consideration when comparing species is the degree to which the history of scientific study has favored certain organisms (e.g., model organisms) [ 20 ]. This is especially relevant to single-cell comparisons, as more information about cell and gene function is available for some species (e.g., mice and humans) than for others. This creates a risk of bias toward observing described biological phenomena, while missing the hidden biology in less well-studied organisms [ 20 ]. Consider the identification of “novel” cell types based on the absence of canonical marker genes: because most canonical marker genes were originally described in well-studied species, cell type definitions that rely on these will necessarily be less useful in the context of other species [ 2 ].

Technologies such as scRNA-seq have great potential to democratize the types of data collected [ 2 ]. For example, scRNA-seq allows all genes and thousands of cells to be assayed, rather than a curated list of candidates. To leverage this to full effect, researchers need to acknowledge the filtering steps in their analyses, including how orthologous gene sequences are identified and how cell types are labeled.

Comparisons across genes

Due to gene duplication and loss, there is usually not a one-to-one correspondence between genes across species [ 21 ]. Instead, evolutionary histories of genes are depicted using gene trees ( Fig 2 ). Pairs of tips in gene trees may be labeled as “orthologs” or “paralogs,” based on whether they descend from a node corresponding to a speciation or gene duplication event [ 22 ]. Gene duplication happens both at the individual gene level and in bulk, via whole or partial genome duplication [ 21 ]. Gene loss means that comparative scRNA-seq matrices may be sparse, not only due to a failure to detect a gene, but also because genes in one species often do not exist in another.

The authors of many cross-species comparisons have confronted the challenge of finding equivalent genes across species [ 23 ], and often start by restricting analyses to sets of one-to-one orthologs [ 24 ]. However, there are several problems with this approach [ 22 ]: one-to-one orthologs are only well-described for a small set of very well-annotated genomes [ 23 ]; the number of one-to-one orthologs decreases rapidly as species are added to the comparison, and as comparisons are made across deeper evolutionary distances [ 7 ]; and the subset of genes that can be described by one-to-one orthologs is not randomly drawn from across the genome, they are enriched for indispensable genes under single-copy control [ 25 ]. New tools like SAMap are expanding the analytical approach beyond one-to-one orthologs to the set of all homologs across species [ 7 ]. Homolog groups are identified with a clustering algorithm, by which genes are separated into groups with strong sequence or expression similarity. These may include more than 1 representative gene per species. Gene trees can then be inferred for these gene families, and duplication events mapped to individual nodes in the gene tree.

But how can cellular expression measures be compared across groups of homologous genes? One option is to use summary statistics, such as the sum or average expression per species for genes within a homology group [ 26 ]. However, these statistics might obscure or average over real biological variation in expression that arose subsequent to a duplication event (among paralogs) [ 19 ]. An alternative approach is to connect genes via a similarity matrix, and then make all-by-all comparisons that are weighted on the basis of putative homology [ 7 ]. A third approach is to reconstruct changes in cellular expression along gene trees, rather than along the species tree [ 10 , 27 ]. Here, evolutionary changes are associated with branches descending from either speciation or duplication events. Such an approach has been demonstrated for bulk RNA sequencing, in which gene trees were inferred from gene sequence data and cellular expression data were assigned to tips of a gene tree. In this approach, ancestral states and evolutionary changes are calculated and equivalent branches between trees are identified using “species branch filtering” [ 27 ]. Branches between speciation events can be unambiguously equated across trees based on the composition of their descendant tips (see numbered branches in Fig 2 ) and changes across equivalent branches of a cell tree analyzed (e.g., to identify significant changes, signatures of correlation).

Mapping cellular gene expression data to branches of a gene tree sidesteps the problem of finding sets of orthologs by incorporating the history of gene duplication and loss into the analytical framework. One technical limitation is that the ability to accurately reconstruct gene trees depends on the phylogenetic signal of gene sequences, which in turn depends on the length of the gene, the mutation rate, and the evolutionary distance in question [ 28 ]. These dynamics are such that, for some genes, it may not be possible to robustly reconstruct the topology, although targeted taxon sampling can improve gene tree inference across a wider range of histories.

Comparisons across cells

As with genes, there is usually not an expectation of a one-to-one correspondence between cells across species. Individual cells can rarely be equated, with notable exceptions such as the zygote or the cells of certain eutelic species (which have a fixed number of cells). Instead, the homology of groups of cells (cell types) are usually considered, with the hypothesis being that the cell developmental programs that give rise to these groups are derived from a program present in the shared ancestor [ 11 ].

Similarly, a one-to-one correspondence between cell types across species is also not expected, as cell types may be gained or lost over evolutionary time. The relationships between cell types across species can be described using phylogenetic trees. These cell phylogenies are distinct from cell lineages (the bifurcating trees that describe cellular divisions within an individual developmental history). Nodes in cell lineages represent cell divisions, whereas nodes in cell phylogenies represent either speciation events or splits in differentiation programs that lead to novel cell types ( Fig 2 ). The evolutionary histories of cell types may not follow a strict bifurcating pattern of evolution, as elements of differentiation programs are mixed and combined. However, evidence from inference on sequence data shows that the majority of relationships between cell types can be represented as trees [ 15 ].

The term “cell type” has been used for several distinct concepts [ 15 ], including cells that are defined and distinguished by their position in a tissue, their form, function, or in the case of scRNA-seq data, their relative expression profiles, which fall into distinct clusters [ 14 ]. Homology of structures across species is often inferred using many of the same criteria: position, form, function, and gene expression patterns [ 29 ]. The fact that the same principles are used for inferring cell types and cell homologies presents both an opportunity and obstacles for comparative scRNA-seq analysis. The same methods that are used for identifying clusters of cells within species can potentially be leveraged to identify clusters of cells across species. This could be done simultaneously, inferring a joint cell atlas in a shared expression space [ 7 ], or it could be done individually for each species and subsequently merged [ 2 , 23 ]. In either case, this inference requires contending with the evolutionary histories between genes and species, described above.

One obstacle is that, because cell types are not typically defined according to evolutionary relationships [ 15 ], cells labeled as the same type across species may constitute paraphyletic groups [ 11 ]. A solution to this problem is to use methods for reconstructing evolutionary relationships to infer the cell tree [ 15 , 30 ] ( Fig 2 ). This method is distinct from an approach in which cell types are organized into a taxonomy on the basis of morphological or functional similarity [ 14 ]; instead, this approach uses an evolutionary model to infer the evolutionary history, including potential duplication and loss. It has the additional advantage of generating a tree, comparable to a species or gene tree, onto which cellular characters can be mapped and their evolution described [ 15 ]. Methods for inferring cell trees from expression data have been described in detail elsewhere [ 31 – 33 ]. Using this approach, cell trees are inferred (e.g., using expression of orthologous genes as characters in an evolutionary model) and gene expression data are assigned to the tips of the cell tree. Ancestral states and evolutionary changes are then calculated and changes along branches are analyzed (e.g., to identify changes in gene expression associated with the evolution of novel cell types).

As with genes, the ability to infer cell trees depends on the phylogenetic signal of cellular traits such as cellular gene expression profiles. Although the phylogenetic signal of expression data has been demonstrated in various contexts [ 32 – 35 ], certain cell types, such as cancer cells that follow a distinct mode of evolution, may exhibit less tree-like structures [ 34 ]. Species-specific effects and signals from correlated evolution may also obscure cell phylogenetic signals. Given the low-rank nature of cell gene expression, dimensional reduction techniques such as principal component analysis have been employed to extract and clarify phylogenetic signals [ 33 ]. Other complexities, such as naturally occurring instances of cellular reprogramming or transdifferentiation could also potentially obscure phylogenetic signals, although cellular identity is thought to be stable under most circumstances [ 36 ].

Another obstacle to comparing single-cell datasets are reported batch effects [ 26 ] across experiments, which may need to be accounted for via integration [ 23 ]. When considering these effects, it is critical to remember that the null expectation is that species are different from one another. Naive batch integration practices have no method for distinguishing technical effects from the real biological differences that are the target of study in comparative scRNA-seq analysis [ 23 ]. Other approaches (e.g., LIGER [ 37 ] or Seurat [ 38 ]) are reportedly able to distinguish and characterize species-specific differences [ 23 ]. Given that null hypotheses are still being developed [ 16 ] for how much variation in expression is expected to be observed across species [ 19 ], we hold that cross-species integration should be treated with caution until elucidation of the approach can robustly target and strictly remove technical batch effects.

A final obstacle is that cell identities and homologies may be more complex than can accurately be captured by categorization into discrete clusters or cell types, particularly when considering multiple cell states along a differentiation trajectory [ 14 , 15 ]. Single-cell experiments that include both progenitor and differentiated cells can reveal the limits of clustering algorithms [ 39 ]. In these experiments, there may or may not be obvious boundaries for distinguishing cell states. In cases where boundaries are arbitrary, the number of clusters, and therefore the abundance of cells within a cluster will depend on technical and not biological inputs, such as the resolution parameter that the user predetermines for the clustering algorithm. A solution here is to define homology for the differentiation trajectory, rather than for individual clusters of cells [ 26 ]. This can be accomplished by defining anchor points where trajectories overlap in the expression of homologous genes while allowing for trajectories to have drifted or split over evolutionary time, such that sections of the trajectories no longer overlap [ 15 ]. Cellular homologies within a trajectory may be more difficult to infer, as this requires contending with potential heterochronic changes to differentiation (e.g., as cell differentiation evolves, genes may be expressed relatively earlier or later in the process) [ 26 ].

Constructing comparisons of scRNA-seq data

Single-cell comparisons potentially draw on a broad range of phylogenetic comparative methods for different data types, including binary, discrete, continuous, and categorical data [ 40 ] ( Fig 3 ). The primary data structure of scRNA-seq is a matrix of integers, representing counts of transcripts or unique molecular identifiers for a given gene within a given cell [ 41 ]. In a typical scRNA-seq analysis, this count matrix is passed through a pipeline of normalization, transformation, dimensional reduction, and clustering [ 42 , 43 ]. The decisions of when during this pipeline to draw a comparison determines the data type, questions that can be addressed, and caveats that must be considered.

Several types of scRNA-seq data could potentially be mapped onto a phylogeny. Nine types of data are shown, along with example questions that can be addressed and caveats to be considered.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002633.g003

Gene expression data

Unlike bulk RNA sequencing, where counts are typically distributed across a few to dozens of samples, scRNA-seq counts are distributed across thousands of cells. The result is that scRNA-seq count matrices are often shallow and sparse [ 44 ]. The vast majority of counts (often >95%) in standard scRNA-seq datasets are either 0, 1, or 2 [ 41 ]. These count values, representing the number of unique molecular identifiers that encode unique transcripts in cells, are discrete, low integer numbers, and not continuous measurements. The high dimensionality and sparse nature of single-cell data therefore present a unique challenge when considering cross-species comparisons [ 2 ].

In a standard scRNA-seq approach, expression values are analyzed after depth normalization and other transformations. With depth normalization, counts are converted from discrete, absolute measures to continuous, relative ones (although currently available instruments do not actually quantify relative expression). There is a growing concern that this, and other transformations, are inappropriate for the sparse and shallow sequencing data produced by scRNA-seq [ 45 , 46 ]. Further transformations of the data, such as log transformation or variance rescaling, introduce additional distortions that may obscure real biological differences between species.

Alternatively, counts can be compared across species directly, without normalization or transformation [ 41 ]. There are 2 potential drawbacks to this approach. First, count values are influenced by stochasticity due to the shallow nature of sequencing, resulting in uncertainty around integer values. Second, cells are not sequenced to a standard depth. Comparing raw counts does not take this heterogeneity into account, although this can be accomplished using a restricted algebra to analyze counts [ 41 ]. Another option is to transform count values to a binary or categorical trait [ 47 ]; for example, binning counts into “on” and “off” based on a threshold value and then modeling the evolution of these states on a tree. Analyzing expression as a binary or categorical trait eliminates some of the quantitative power of scRNA-seq, but still allows interesting questions about the evolution of expression dynamics within and across cell types to be addressed.

Models of expression

A promising avenue for scRNA-seq data is using generalized linear models to analyze expression [ 46 , 48 , 49 ]. These models describe expression as a continuous trait and incorporate the sampling process using a Poisson or other distribution, avoiding normalization and transformation, and returning fitted estimates of relative expression. These estimates can be compared using models that describe continuous trait evolution. One feature of generalized linear models is that they can report uncertainty values for estimates of relative expression, which can then be passed along to phylogenetic methods to assess confidence in the evolutionary conclusions drawn.

Cell diversity

In a standard scRNA-seq approach, cells are analyzed in a reduced dimensional space and clustered by patterns of gene expression [ 43 ]. There are several types of cellular data that can be compared. The evolution of the presence or absence of cell types can be modeled as a binary trait. When cell type labels are unambiguously assigned, this approach can answer questions about when cell types evolved and are lost. Such a comparison is hampered; however, when cells do not fall into discrete categories [ 14 ] or when equivalent cell types cannot be identified across species due to substantial divergence in gene expression patterns. An alternative is to model the evolution of cell differentiation pathways as a binary trait on a tree to ask when pathways, rather than cell types, evolved and have been lost. As with other comparative methods, this approach must contend with complex evolutionary histories, including the potential for convergence as pathways independently evolve to generate cell types with similar functions and expression profiles.

Similarly, the abundance of cells of a given type might be compared across species (for example, to ask how dynamics of cell proliferation have evolved). However, the number of cells within a cluster can be influenced by technical features of the experiment such as the total number of clusters identified (often influenced by user-supplied parameters), as well as where cluster boundaries are defined. An alternative is to compare relative cell abundance values, which may account for experimental factors but is still unreliable as it is susceptible to bias from technical aspects of how cells are dissociated and how clusters are determined.

Cellular manifolds

One area for further development are methods that can model the evolution of the entire cellular expression manifold—the space that defines cell-to-cell similarity and cellular differentiation—on an evolutionary tree. Practically, this might be accomplished by parameterizing the manifold, for example, by calculating measures of manifold shape and structure such as distances between cells in a reduced dimensional space. The evolution of such parameters could be studied by analyzing them as characters on a phylogenetic tree.

Alternatively, we can envision a method in which entire ancestral landscapes of cellular gene expression are reconstructed, and then the way this landscape has been reshaped over evolutionary time is described. Such an approach would require an expansion of existing phylogenetic comparative models to ones that can incorporate many thousands of dimensions. It would also likely require dense taxonomic sampling to build robust reconstructions.

Future directions and conclusion

Comparative scRNA-seq analysis spans the fields of evolutionary, developmental, and cellular biology. Trees depicting relationships across time are the common denominator of these fields. Taking a step back reveals that many of the trees that are typically encountered, such as species phylogenies, gene phylogenies, cell phylogenies, and cell fate maps, can be reconciled as part of a larger whole ( Fig 4 ). Because all cellular life is related via an unbroken chain of cellular divisions, species phylogenies and cell fate maps are 2 representations of the same larger phenomenon, visualized at vastly different scales. Gene trees and cell trees (i.e., cell phylogenies) depict the evolution of specific characters (genes and cells) across populations within a species tree. These characters may have discordant evolutionary histories with each other, and with the overall species phylogeny, due to patterns of gene and cell duplication, loss, and incomplete sorting across populations.

All cellular life is related by an unbroken chain of cell divisions. Species phylogenies describe the relationship between populations. Populations are themselves a description of the genealogical relationships between individuals. Peering even closer reveals that each individual consists of a lineage of cells, connected to other individuals via reproductive cells. Therefore, species trees, genealogies, and cell lineages are all descriptions of the same concept—the tree of life—but at different scales. Gene trees and cell trees (i.e., cellular phylogenies) describe the evolutionary histories of specific characters within the tree of life. These trees may be discordant with species trees due to duplication, loss, and incomplete sorting in populations.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002633.g004

The synthesis of species, gene, and cell trees makes 2 points clear. First, phylogenetic trees are essential for testing hypotheses about cellular gene expression evolution. Mapping single-cell data to trees, whether gene trees, cell trees, or species trees, allows for statistical tests of coevolution, diversification, and convergence. The choice of which trees to use for mapping data will be determined by the questions that need to be answered. For example, mapping cellular expression data to gene trees would allow whether expression evolves differently following gene duplication events (i.e., the ortholog conjecture [ 50 ]) to be tested. Second, because the fields of evolutionary, developmental, and cellular biology study the same phenomena at different scales, there is a potential benefit from sharing methods. In the case of scRNA-seq, building evolutionary context around data can prove essential for understanding the fundamental biology, including how to interpret cell types and cellular differentiation trajectories, and how to reconcile gene relationships. An evolutionary perspective is also critical for building robust null expectations of how much variation might be expected to be observed across species [ 16 ], which will allow the significance of results to be interpreted as new species atlases come to light. Methods that infer and incorporate trees are essential not only for evolutionary biology, but also for developmental and cellular biology as well. As single-cell data become increasingly available, rather than reinvent methods for building cell trees or comparing across cellular network diagrams, we can draw approaches from the extensive and robust fields of phylogenetic inference and phylogenetic comparative methods. These approaches include Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood inference of trees, evolutionary models, ancestral state reconstruction, character state matrices, and phylogenetic hypothesis testing, among many others [ 51 – 53 ].

Biology has benefited in the past from the synthesis of disparate fields of study, including the modern synthesis of Darwinian evolution and mendelian genetics [ 54 ], and the synthesis of evolution and development in the field of evo-devo [ 55 ]. With the advent and commercialization of technologies like scRNA-seq, there is a broadened opportunity for new syntheses [ 56 ]. Rich and complex datasets are increasingly available from understudied branches on the tree of life, and comparisons between species will invariably invoke evolutionary questions. By integrating phylogenetic thinking across fields, we can start to answer these questions and raise new ones.

Acknowledgments

We thank Daniel Stadtmauer, Namrata Ahuja, Seth Donoughe, and other members of the Dunn lab for helpful conversation and comments on an initial version of the manuscript.

• View Article
• PubMed/NCBI
• Google Scholar
• 12. Wagner GP. Homology, genes, and evolutionary innovation. Princeton University Press; 2014.
• 51. Swofford D, Olsen G, Waddell P, Hillis D. Phylogenetic inference. In: Molecular Systematics. p. 407–514. Sinauer; 1996.
• 54. Evolution Huxley J. The modern synthesis. George Alien & Unwin Ltd.; 1942.