Wake Up!

Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake up. Folgers

For my second rhetorical analysis, I am choosing to analyze an advertisement found in New York City. Although I have never been to NYC to see this ad, I admire its creativity. Folgers has created an ad that I actually enjoy looking at. TV commercial advertisements can be creative in terms of dialogue and acting; but this kind of ad is something that is going to catch someone's eye as they are walking down the street because of its creativity and design.

Folgers is playing with the irony of telling the "city that never sleeps" to "wake up" with a warm cup of coffee. I say warm because the coffee is placed on a man hole that produces steam and that gives the advertisement a creative, realistic effect.

I can honestly say that I have never been easily persuaded by advertisements, but I feel as though I would crave a cup of coffee if I were to see this ad on the street while walking. I don't necessarily purchase Folgers as my coffee of choice, however, the idea is that after seeing this ad, people associate Folgers with their (mostly positive) feelings about this ad. That is the goal of advertising in general.

In my analysis I will highlight the rhetorical situation, as I have hinted above. The diction for this ad was meant for New Yorkers ("city that never sleeps"). Therefore, the choice of words in this ad would not make sense in London Ontario for example. The purpose is to make pedestrians crave a coffee and to think of Folgers. And the context is a 3D ad located in a busy area where a fast paced lifestyle exists.

The tone of this ad is also very causal and the viewer feels as though the ad is addressed to him personally. These kinds of advertisements are becoming quite popular in large cities and I think ad agencies with these creative ideas are headed in a futuristic direction. If only the steam coming out of the man hole could smell like coffee...