Alcoa Aluminum Advertising

This ad was for the new aluminum HyTop cap installed on the Del Monte ketchup bottle. The Alcoa Aluminum Company endorsed this ad in 1953, at a time when women were viewed much differently than they are today. During this period in American culture, the primary role of the woman was that of a homemaker and a caregiver. The advertisement conveys the message that women of the 1950s were dainty, weak, and dependent on men to do many things. The advertisement uses emotional appeals and credibility through visual images and text to influence women of that period to purchase their product.

The Alcoa Aluminum Ad depicts a young, attractive woman that looks very put together and is dressed nicely. She has perfectly manicured, dainty hands that are

Even though the ad portrays women derogatorily, it was endorsed with the intentions of women being the primary audience for the product. This is because women were the grocery shoppers and buyers for the family. During this era, the stereotyping of women in advertisements was on the rise. Advertisements often modeled what women were supposed to look like and what they were expected to be capable of doing, or not doing. Most advertisements that included women involved something to do with either cooking or cleaning; this ad was no exception. It was the role of the woman as a homemaker to handle all of the cooking and cleaning in the household. With this in mind, Alcoa Aluminum most likely selected a product like Del Monte ketchup, a cooking product, to place their new

Pathos was greatly utilized simply through the way the woman in the ad looked, as well as her actions. The woman depicted in the ad was young and attractive; she dressed formally and looked very feminine with perfect hair, makeup, and nails. Advertisers did this to make the female-based audience think that if they purchased their product they would feel beautiful, even though the ad had nothing to do with beauty products. Though the primary target audience of the ad was women, the beautiful woman would most likely attract men if they were to see the ad. The woman in the ad sported a feminine hand gesture that emphasized her daintiness and a shocked face, which makes the audience believe that the women is astounded at how easily she can open the bottle. Though the advertisement was really degrading to women, women wanted to buy the ketchup bottle with the new cap because it made them feel as if they could become better or more useful if they easily opened the bottle without the assistance of a man, or other tools. Alcoa Aluminum also uses ethos in the visual by choosing to place their new bottle cap on Del Monte ketchup, an already popular brand. Using this well-known brand established credibility for the new HyTop twist bottle