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THE ADVERT

WHAT IS PRESENT IN THE ADVERT?

-

A young boy holding a plastic nerf gun

Grass and flowers

The NERF logo

A slogan

A house in the background

Black hair

Stripy clothing

The boy is aiming the gun at something

WHAT IS ABSENT FROM THE ADVERT?

-

You cannot see what the boy is aiming his gun

at

There is no bullets in the advert, the gun might

not be loaded

There are no other people in the advert

No adult in the advert, the child might not be

supervised

You cant see where the boy is, you can only tell
that hes lying on grass (is he at home etc.)

WHAT IS POLYSEMY IN THE ADVERT?

(MANY POSSIBLE MEANINGS)
There are many different things in the advert that could be interpreted in many different
ways, to start off with the boy holding the gun could be interpreted in many different
ways, some people would see it as the boy is just playing harmlessly with a toy gun,
others would see that the boy playing with a gun could be a danger, the way the boy is
lying on the floor makes it seem as if the boy is taking the fact that he is holding a gun
very seriously and that he could be a danger to himself; because he is lying on the floor
the exact same way that someone in the army would.
Another thing in the advert that could be interpreted in many different ways, making it
polysemic is the slogan make the mailman pray for dogs, some people would say that
this slogan implies that the gun is dangerous and could hurt if you're shot by it because
the mailman would rather have the possibility of being bitten by a dog which is painful
rather than being shot by the gun. The slogan could also be interpreted as dogs are made
out to be weak, theyre undermined because a plastic toy gun is deemed as more
powerful.
Something else from the advert that could be interpreted to have more than one
meaning is the fact that there is a boy holding the gun, this is stereotypical because it is
making the boy look powerful with the gun in his hand, the other thing that could be
interpreted from the fact that a boy is holding the fun is that it undermines females, the
feminists would go against the fact that it is not a female holding the gun because
females are not given the chance to look powerful in the advert.

ANCHORAGE WHAT HAS BEEN USED

TO FIX THE MEANING?
The thing in the advert that anchors the
meaning is the fact that theyre is a boy holding
the gun, the fact that the stereotype is males
are strong and powerful helps support the fact
that the gun is powerful in the advert. The
creators of the advert want the gun to look
powerful so it appeals to people to buy it, but it
is made from plastic so that it looks safe for
kids to use and play with.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF THE ADVERT?

The message that I receive from the advert is
that NERF guns are strong, powerful and
intimidating because the slogan is saying that
the gun is more terrifying than dogs to the
mailman, the advert is also saying that the gun
is possibly dangerous because the slogan
indicates that the mailman would rather be
bitten by a dog rather than be shot by the
NERF gun