Analyzing an Image: IKEA Advertisement - Essay Example

The image’s emotional appeal makes it endearing to the audience as it tells about family and comfort. The combination of the image and text sends a very powerful message to the audience that transforms an audience into a buying customer.  This is done through the effective manipulation of the text, the use of pathos or emotional appeal, and the combination of the text and message that made the advertisement irresistible to its audience. The text that accompanied the ad “Life is theorizing where babies come from, and a memory foam mattress so you can sleep like one” was very deft in manipulating the viewers to be attached to the image. It basically pointed to the two cute babies who were supposed to be “theorizing” while it used the word “memory” to associate and trigger filial fond family “memory” from the audience.

The text itself does not really mean anything but when it was used as a caption to a family on a bed where two babies are playing and a mother sleeping, the text suddenly assumed some depth and meaning. Now IKEA is no longer just a bed and a mattress made of wood and fabric but a place where families are conceptualized and where memories are made through the effective use of the visual text that manipulated the viewer’s emotion into liking the image and eventually, buying the product being advertised.

The advertisement used pathos or emotional appeal heavily Instead of explaining in the advertisement the features of IKEA furniture which is the domain of the logos, the ad instead portrayed a family where children are playing on the bed while the mother is sleeping. This image alone is already very powerful and its emotional appeal was made more potent with the text that says “Life is theorizing where babies come from, and a memory foam mattress so you can sleep like one”. In effect, IKEA is attaching its products to families making it irresistible for the audience not to be touched by the message and image of the advertisement. The text and the image complemented each other to form a very powerful advertisement that delivers a compelling message of family, good memories, comfort, coziness, and cute babies.