Julianne Hanson

ENG 110
Reflection Paper

As soon as I knew we were analyzing an advertisement, Aerie was one of the first brands

that popped into my head. I knew they had a unique style to their ads and I wanted to discuss that

in my paper. From there I searched for the specific ad that I wanted. I chose the ad that I did

because of all the executional strategies I saw in it as well as all the text I could analyze. So my

thought process was from general to specific, but when I wrote my paper it turned from specific

to general. I began by describing the ad I chose and the specifics of my particular ad and then

connected it to Aerie Real and started talking about the whole campaign.

While I was writing this analysis I really wanted my readers to think about the

executional strategies of the ad as well as thinking of multiple sides of the Aerie Real Campaign.

I focused a lot on why the creators of the advertisement decided to make the choices they did

regarding the colors and placement as well as many other executional strategies of the ad. I

wanted my readers to start thinking about ads and how every choice of the creators is intentional

and meant to make the viewer feel a certain way. As well as being interesting to analyze, I

believe it is important that we understand advertisements because they are all around us and it is

beneficial to at least think about the effect they have on us and why. That way we can be more

prepared against the endless barrage of ads from day to day. The other focus of my analysis was

the Aerie Real campaign, which I tried to present fairly impartially. Many women idolize Aerie

for the work that they are doing, and I agree that it is amazing and has a great impact. However I

want people to realize that they are a company, and a company exists to make money. I believe it

is still fine to buy Aerie clothing and support the brand and the message, but I want people to

realize that Aerie is making a lot of money off this campaign as well. I tried not to portray this in

a negative light in my analysis, more as something to think about.

Julianne Hanson
ENG 110
Reflection Paper