Advertisement Analysis
Your cat is a mighty tiger, and when you see a tiger you don’t expect it to prowl through the tall grass and attack a corn stalk, or pass up a grazing zebra to munch on some wheat. Iams portrays the same concept in this cat food advertisement. Targeted toward cat owners, it features a cat roaring and exclaiming that it is not a vegetarian. Cat owners are very open minded, and they love their cat, this advertisement is meant to advise these cat owners that the food they are buying for their cat is not nutritious enough. They need a better food for their cat, and it is the advertisers’ job to promote their product to the cat lovers. These advertisers use facts, comparisons, and appeal to support and elevate their claim that Iams is the best choice in cat food.
This Iams cat food advertisement features an orange tabby cat, making a face as if it were roaring. By this cat in large, bold font it says, “’Iam’ not a vegetarian,” (Family Circle). Below this picture, they placed a comparison measuring the levels of meat protein versus plant protein in the leading brands against Iams whom clearly has the best results by a landslide. They make this comparison to support their claim that Iams has a healthier formula for their cat food than other popular brands of cat food. In the fine print, it says to check the bag of food for corn gluten meal; this is the protein filler that they use in the food to make it less costly to produce. Corn gluten meal does not provide the proper amounts of nutrition needed for the cat’s health and survival. It goes on explaining that cats have teeth that were made for meat. The teeth being referred to are the cat’s canine teeth shown in the mouth of the roaring tabby. They then add their slogan; which is, “Not just food, Nutrition for life” (Family Circle). The cat is wearing a collar to further highlight the reality that this cat is not a wild beast, but a cute and loving house cat with carnivorous needs. The collar gives the cat a sense of dependency, it needs its owner to nourish and care for it, and give it the proper food it needs.
The audience that the advertisement is reaching is made up of cat owners of all types. By using this advertisement, they would reach the child as well as the adult cat owner population. They use the adorable cat as a visual appeal; the first reaction to this advertisement would be a long, drawn-out “awe”. This effect is used by the advertisers to catch the attention of their audience, and allow them to pause for a moment to read their advertisement. The children would want a cat like that, and they would ask their parents to get this food for their cat; while the adults would go straight to reading the rest of the advertisement. Cat owners are very stereotyped in the world today, the “cat ladies” are typically portrayed as either crazy, lonely, or desperate; while the men are seen as crazy, having sadistic thoughts, or a plan for world