Visual Argument

Everyone has ways of conveying their ideas or beliefs to others. In today’s society, many visual arguments are everywhere to try and convince consumers one way or another. Visual arguments may be among the most popular way of advertising because they are everywhere. You see billboards while you drive, see commercials when you watch television, and even see ads on the side of your computer screens when you surf the net. What may seem to some as a simple picture or video may be loaded with tons of different meanings made to persuade its audience in a certain way.

For my visual argument I chose the picture above. The cartoon character representing Mac with a “high tech” car, sporting a simple on/off switch looks over with a smug smile at a guy leaning on a not so new car with what looks like a very complicated and torn apart engine. The newer and more high tech car rests below a Mac logo, while the old more rugged car rests below a Windows logo.

The intended audience for this advertisement can include a lot of people. This ad could be persuading current Windows users that Macs are more efficient and easy than Windows so they should switch to Macs. It could also be aimed towards people who are shopping around for items and telling them that the right choice would be to choose Mac products over those “old age” Windows products. It is a memorable ad that makes you think and even if it is seen by people not shopping for products from these two companies, it is something that will come up in the mind of the consumer if ever they are torn between these two companies.

To make this argument clear, the illustrator makes the Mac representative very tidy and carefree with a smile on his face, resting his hand on his hips. His car in new and seems easy to start with a simple on/off switch. On the other side of the visual representation, the character looks stressed and confused while he hangs over his old car that looks disastrous and complicated. The illustrator even uses darker colors for the Windows side, while the Mac side looks brighter and even shinier.

When first looking at this visual argument, my eye is quickly drawn to the more complicated side of the ad. It instantly makes me wonder what the mess on the left is. The illustrator dies a good job in making you realize the antagonist in the picture, first making you see that Windows can be messy and time consuming. It makes you wonder if it is worthwhile. Then I glance at the less cluttered side and see that it is much simpler than the wreck that appears at the left. In my mind, this picture automatically shows the audience a problem that some may be able to relate to (old Windows), then instantly provides the audience with a solution to that problem (a new age Mac).

I think the creator of this visual argument does a great job in making their point clear. There is no confusion in which side the ad is being promoted and which side is being demoted. I am able to instantly distinguish the message, even when I quickly glance at it. The other minor, but important details, I can pick out if I look at it for a small amount of time. If this ad were to be in a magazine that I was reading, even if I were quickly flipping the pages, I would be able to quickly distinguish that this visual is saying that Macs are better than Windows products.

To me, the difference between a good visual argument and a not so good one would be the amount of time it takes the audience to decipher the main point. If they can look at it and almost instantly pick it out, the creator of the advertisement has done a good job in conveying its point. Because of our face pace of life in today’s world, people are constantly on the go and caught up in their busy lives, which leave them no time to sit and try to analyze a visual argument. If an ad can be something that the consumer will remember, the creator has done its job. I believe the visual argument I picked falls in the category of a good ad because it possesses the elements I think are necessary to capture its intended audience.