Under Armour Advertisement (Ballet)

Product:  The product being advertised is the entire Under Armour collection.

Time Period:  The advertisement was probably published in the 2010’s.

Purpose:  The purpose of the advertisement is to convince the audience to purchase Under Armour products.

Target Audience: 

·         The target audience of the advertisement are people that are involved in ballet. This is due to how the advertisement shows a ballerina practicing in Under Armour clothing.

·         What assumptions do the advertisers make about the audience? 

o   An assumption that the advertisement made about gender identity would be that women are more likely to practice ballet. This is realistic as not that many men pursue the activity of ballet. This reinforces the stereotype that ballet is a girl’s sport as there are no male ballet performers in the advertisement.

o   The advertisement does not make any assumptions concerning class or race.

Type of Claim: 

·         Endorsement/Testimonial

The advertisement uses a testimonial as it shows a runner that is running in the shoes being advertised. This type of claim might not be as effective as a testimonial from a celebrity but this testimonial would sway some ballerinas to want to buy this product as they can image a person wearing the product already.

·         The Vague Claim

The advertisement uses a series of words, “Will Trumps Fate”. This series of words are not clear and are just colorful words that are essentially meaningless as its credibility cannot be verified.

·         Plain Folks

The advertisement uses the technique of plain folks as the advertisement uses an ordinary person to endorse its product. This use of an ordinary person in the advertisement is highly effective as it can lead some to believe that ordinary ballet performers practice in Under Armour clothing and not in other brand name products.

Persuasive Appeals: 

·         Pathos

Pathos is not used in the advertisement as there is no type of emotional appeal that is included in the ad.

·         Logos

The advertisement does not include logos as there are no statistics or facts in the ad.

·         Ethos

Ethos is used in the advertisement as it shows a ballerina practicing using Under Armour clothing. The ballerina is successfully persuading the target audience to purchase Under Armour products due to the credibility she displays by practicing with the brand’s clothing.

Possible Consequences: 

·         A long term consequence of the advertisement is the boost in Under Armour clothing sales as ballerinas consume more of the Under Armour product. A short term consequence are ballerinas purchasing Under Armour products in response to seeing the advertisement.

·         The advertisement does not create any unrealistic expectations as there is nothing that the advertisement is leading to.

·         The advertisement counters social change as it reinforces the idea that there are no male ballet performers. The advertisement only shows a female ballerina with no signs of a male performer, this can elude to the opinion that ballet is a women’s sport.

·         This advertisement isn’t responsible for the message in the ad as it is not clear that the message was purposeful.