Blog Post 3

Blog Post 3

Freedman and Jurafsky both illustrate the importance of food and advertising mostly in three categories- language, culture, and food. The advertisements for things such as potato chips are directly related to culture and various sub-audiences. The target of advertisements usually aim towards a customers traits (i.e. gender, lifestyle, location) and income level. Businesses target certain audiences to maximize profit and satisfaction amongst their customers.

The importance of advertising is to grab the attention of the reader. Since people are subjected to hundreds of advertisements every day it almost seems like what you say isn’t as important as grabbing the initial attention of the audience.

Freedman and Jurafsky both assert that language is one of the most important marketing tools for a business. Since language is closely tied to individuals’ social and economic standings, it becomes vital to properly market your products or services according to your target audience. For example lower income people prefer more traditional styles of food (including potato chips) and the upper class prefer more progressive, new, and interesting foods (including potato chips). They give two great examples for this:

            Inexpensive: “What gives our chips their exceptional great taste? It’s no

secret. It’s the way they’re made!”

            Expensive: “We use totally natural ingredients, hand-make every batch, and

test chips at every stage of preparation to ensure quality and taste.”

Throughout the article, Freedman and Jurasfsky illustrate the workings of advertising by focusing on one market item: potato chips. They prove that businesses target audiences mostly based on their socioeconomic standing.