
For my rhetorical analysis I chose an advertisement for Crayola
crayons. Crayola was created by two cousins; Edward Binny and Harold Smith in
1903. The name comes from two French words; Crai (chalk) and oleaginous (oily).
In 1855 Edwards’s father gave him the business and while working, he experimented
with a few things and created the first dustless chalk. His invention was
awarded a gold medal, in 1902.
Before Crayola people had to use paint which Binny and
Smith created, with red oxide pigments. Although Crayola wasn't the first
crayon, they where affordable and easy to use especially for children. It
started off with 8 colors in a box for a nickel, today we have over 120 color
varieties. In the advertisement it shows the technology for its time. The ads
more dedicated towards schools and teachers, which lifted Crayola into the
success it has today. It states that they would give samples to teachers interested
in color work. That proves there confidence in there product, I'm sure that
caught many eyes. Between 1964- 1974
Binny and Smith Company go world wide, and stationed themselves in England, Canada,
and Mexico. Less than 10 years latter Crayola
pushes 100 million dollars in sales. Mass
production continues to increase, and by 1996 they hit there 100 billionth
crayon.
Crayola is considered by many to be the best crayon. I would
have to agree with this. It’s very smooth while brushing it against paper, and
leaves a lasting brightness. I’ve noticed other brands not having the same
color and texture. But that’s just my opinion. Crayola has much more to offer
besides just crayons today. Some of there best products are, markers, paints,
coloring pencils, oil pastels, clay, and many others. While it may seem
children are the biggest users of Crayola, there are others who use there
products to create professional art work.
An interesting choice of an ad! You use a lot of researched info here, though, rather than just observation and analysis of the ad itself. (We'll be talking about how to cite such researched info in more formal writing--for purposes of informal blog posts, though, please just include hyperlinks to sites you consulted).
ReplyDeleteThis is challenging to write about, though, because it's all text. That seems really surprising to me in an ad for something as visual as a crayon, which may affect how effective the ad is or isn't. It would be interesting to contrast this ad to a more recent one that used images and color.