Multimodal Analysis of the Arby’s Advertisement & The Use of Ads in ELT | Gender Studies

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Multimodal Discourse Analysis considers how texts draw on modes of communication such as pictures, film, video, images and sound in combination with words to make meaning. It considers how multimodal texts are designed and how semiotic tools such as color, framing, focus and positioning elements contribute to the making of meaning in the text. (Othman, 2017) Halliday offers three types of social meanings, or metafunctions in the use of language, which are ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction and textual metafunction. These metafunctions help us analyze different discourses such as commercial campaigns and advertisements. For instance; looking at the Arby’s ad, we observe that there are a pair of hands crossed in the center, covering up the product, which evokes us the way women hide their breasts. Around the hands, there is light brown shading, as though the product is under a spotlight.  The product is centrally placed on the page, on the brightest part of the ad, so that it becomes more eye-catching. At the bottom, there is a red text box saying, "We are about to reveal something you'll drool over." Arby's says they are about to reveal something, yet their customers will have to wait until the new menu items are released. This text is larger than the one underneath to stand out more. Analyzing the ideational metafunction of the text, we realize that the words are selected carefully so as to create different perceptions in people’s minds. They use the word “reveal” as though they will unveil a hidden, precious thing and they say their customers will “drool over”. It means that the product is "mouthwatering" and "exciting”, which are associated with the feeling of wanting and craving. It is implied from the text that this feeling of craving is not only for the hamburger but for a woman’s body parts as well. When we examine the interpersonal metafunction, we can conclude that Arby’s reduces the social distance between the viewers and themselves by using the 1^st person pronoun “we” in a declarative mood and they directly address to the viewer by using 2^nd person pronoun “you” as if they communicate with the audience. Lastly, the textual metafunction shows us the theme of the sentence, the subject (we) is unmarked. It highlights the brand itself to promote their product. Ads are persuasive texts created to convince their target audience to buy a certain product, the language used in them depends on the audience who are accepted as the target by the company. Here, it is obvious that this Arby’s ad is created for generally men because they would be interested in finding out what is behind those hands and they would consider the joy of eating this hamburger would be the same as the women’s sexual body parts. The campaign associates the viewers’ desire for the product along with sex appeal. The ad reinforces stereotypes about gender identity by depicting women as objects that are meant to be consumed by men. It objectifies women and makes them feel insignificant by comparing their bodies to fast-food products.

Sexist ads, just as this Arby’s one, can be utilized to raise awareness in the classroom. By using the ad given above, for instance, we can focus on topics such as women objectification and gender stereotypes/inequalities. The teacher shows the picture of this ad and explains that this ad was released to advertise the new roastburger menu of the Arby’s in 2009. Then, they ask students to work in pairs and answer triggering questions to draw their attention on how sexist the ad is and prepare them for the task by doing multimodal analysis. The role of the teacher here is eliciting students to realize the message and the purpose of the ad. Students discuss on all the questions, first, in pairs then with the whole class. “Do you think it is a good ad to promote a new menu? Why/not?”, “Would you be positively/negatively affected when you see this ad? Why/not?”,”Why do you think the burgers are hidden with hands?”, “Can you associate this picture with any gender? How?” After students answer the questions with their pairs, they have the whole-class discussion and create the link between the image and a woman’s body, they work on the text. Teacher highlights the words “reveal” and “drool over”. Then, they ask students to work on the text by asking “What is being revealed and drooled over?”. They highlight the pronouns of the sentence and ask whether the pronouns are selected on purpose. “What kind of a relationship is created between the viewer and the seller?” They discuss on the text and analyze it. Later, teacher asks “What type of advertisement strategies are used to get the viewers’ attention?”, “How are the picture and the text positioned on the page?”. Lastly, the teacher asks “Who is the target audience here? Men or women? Justify your opinions.” After they finish working on the Arby’s ad by getting their attention on the objectification of women and gender stereotypes/inequalities, the teacher asks pairs to recreate this advertisement poster with a different image and to adapt the text in a non-sexist way and write a blog post by pointing out the differences between the previous version and the one they created. They will have 20-25 minutes to recreate the poster and write a blog post. Then, they will present their ads to the classroom and share their posts on their blogs. By integrating technology in the learning process, students have real life tasks, thus, they will feel as a part of the world community and raise awareness in the society as well.

REFERENCES

Bhatia, V.K, Flowerdew, J. & R.H Jones. 2008. Advances in Discourse Studies. London & N.Y Sage Publication.

Othman, S.M. (2017). Multimodal Discourse Analysis. https://www.slideshare.net/samanothman3/multimodal-discourse-analysis-75944203

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