For my the first part of my assignment, I have decided to stick with the livestock theme my blog currently has. So I will be analyzing an advertisement for Kirk Stierwalt’s Pro-Fit Show Supplies. For those of you who are not familiar with the livestock industry, certain equipment is required for raising animals; from hoof trimmers, and vaccinations that are needed for animal health to combs, stanchions (restraining devices), and adhesives (hair spray for livestock) that are needed to competitively exhibit livestock at a fairs or other types of shows. There are several retailers of this type of equipment, for the past twenty years the most popular has been Sullivan’s Supply (commonly reffered to as Sullivan's), to find out more info check out their website http://www.sullivansupply.com/ .The brand that has consistently come second to Sullivan’s in terms of use is Weaver Leather Livestock; in order to change their popularity ranking, Weaver recently launched a new line of products called Kirk Stierwalt’s Pro-Fit Show Supplies. The new strand of equipment is endorsed by Kirk Stierwalt; who is famous in the livestock show industry due to his experience as a professional cattle fitter and the numerous clinics he teaches across the United States that teach young adults how to fit like a pro.
Description:The campaign I will be discussing for my media blog project will be the ad for Stierwalt’s Pro Aerosols and Liquids. I found this ad on the Weaver website at ://pro-fitsupply.com/adhesives.html . At the top of the web page, it lists the name of the product line in yellow and black text, the background appears to be wood panelling such as what would be on the outside of a barn, except it is tinted a deep blue. The advertisement features a picture of Kirk Stierwalt using an aerosol adhesive on the tail of steer, next to the picture there is a dialogue bubble that states,
“This new line of adhesives provides novice, intermediate, and experienced fitters a great selection to choose from. With three degrees of adhesive strength, they also do a great job on stiff, fine, or unmanagable hair.. At my clinics, I tell everyone the two general rules that I live by when working with adhesives:
1)the stiffer the hair, the stronger the adhesive needs to be and
2)spray a little, comb a lot.” beneath that it has Kirk Steirwalt’s signature and then a list of
products and prices.
The products shown above are in Weaver's line of Kirk Stierwalt products
The subject of the ad is familiar to me, and others who are involved in the livestock show industry. I have seen adhesives in other advertisements, in barns, and even used them myself. The person in the picture (Kirk Stierwalt) is also familiar because I have seen him in several other advertisements, and attended one of his clinics. For the narrow audience this ad is directed at he is somewhat of a celebrity.
I originally saw this advertisement in my hard copy of the Pacific Showcase magazine, the website for the magazine is http://www.pacificshowcase.com/. It was a full page ad published in the August/September 2011 issue. It is part of a larger campaign of advertisements.
Analyze: The obvious technique that I see is the famous person testimonial. While the general public may not be familiar with Kirk Stierwalt, he is famous to agriculturalists. In a sense, the ad also plays into the hidden fear effect, from my experience with showing livestock I know that there is nothing more embarrassing than walking into the show ring with an animal that hasn’t been properly fit. The line that says “This line provides novice, intermediate, and experienced fitters with the proper adhesives,” uses the hidden fear effect because it insinuates that only Stierwalt’s line of products can be suitable for any level of expertise, since using a product that is too advanced for your level can be disastrous.
It incorporates the association principle because the name of the line itself is Pro-Fit which suggests that if you use the product you will be able to fit like a professional. Another way it uses the association principle is that Kirk Stierwalt has been extremely successful in showing cattle, so the ad implies that if you use his product you can also be a champion.
The campaign does effectively use the medium of the ad. The entire page is filled and catches your attention as you flip through the magazine.
Interpret: Many ads for livestock supplies simply show the products they are marketing and a catch phrase, i.e. a typical Sullivan’s ad features pictures of their products, and they’re slogan “like no other”. So the Weaver ad with star appeal, a picture of someone using the product, and tips for using the item is definitely unique.
The broad target audience is obviously anyone who shows livestock, specifically I believe it is focused on young cattle showmen. I believe this because the picture of Stierwalt also shows a young lady assist him in fitting the leg of the steer.
In a very subtle way, the advertisement does include a stereotype. Among stock showmen, ladies who show cattle are categorized as being high maintenance. The girl in the ad seems to play into this stereotype, her hair and make up have been perfectly done. I personally do not find this offensive because it is simply suggested.
Evaluate: The strength of this commercial was the uniqueness of it. The ad does what few other livestock companies do in their advertisement, it offers tips on how to fit better. I found the weakness of the ad to be that it doesn’t address that many people have trusted Sullivan’s products for years and therefore think that they are better. A more efficient picture would feature a leg of a cow fitted with Weaver’s that looks much better than the second picture of a leg of a cow fitted with Sullivan’s.
What makes it memorable is that it features Kirk Stierwalt giving advice on how to fit cattle which is highly coveted by showmen.
I think that it does grab the attention of magazine readers because it is different than most other livestock show supply ads. However, it doesn’t totally meet the needs of the target audience because livestock enthusiasts want the best products to fit their animals with, regardless of who endorses what brand. The ad doesn’t even claim to be better than it’s contemporaries.
Engage: While I don’t find the advertisement offensive, I would like to say that my experience with the Kirk Stierwalt Pro-Fit Show Supply line of aerosol adhesives prevents me from giving a glowing endorsement of the products. They do sufficiently keep hair in place, but I am still loyal to the Sullivan’s brand because their products seem to be of higher quality, and actually improve the quality of the hair.
Conclusions: I learned that even if a famous person or professional endorses a product it isn’t necessarily more effective or of higher quality. Since it took me a while to realize that there was a stereotype featured in the ad, I also learned that stereotypes can be very subtly placed in advertisements, perhaps so they are less offensive.
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