Hershey's Advertisement Analysis

Hershey’s and Quaker are two well established brands in the snack food world. The weight of their names carry a specific ethos; a persona that will influence the consumer to buy their product, as it is a name that the customer trusts. Two advertisements are analyzed, both found in a February 2007 edition of People magazine: Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate and Quaker True Delight print advertisements. The main connection between these two prints is rather apparent: they are both snack foods, and they contain dark chocolate. However, both prints, as they are introducing a new product line, paint a new image of their merchandise: this snack food is healthy, ergo this creation should be chosen over all other products. Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate utilizes a cause-and-effect strategy by outlining that consuming their dark chocolate will improve cardiovascular health, backed by the logic and ethos of a study performed by a well-known university. Quaker’s True Delights, however, emphasizes the fact that their product tastes fantastic and is low in calories, in addition to using their ethos of their brand. Ultimately, both products utilize their established persona to draw

the consumer, followed by logic that appeals to human health to hook the customer on the snack food, and finally close the deal with painting a portrait of how indulgent and wonderful their creations taste.
As most people reading magazines flip through the pages quickly, the most apparent words are “Pure Hershey’s,” a resounding example of how Hershey’s uses their brand to draw the customer. Hershey’s is well known for the great chocolate they produce, thus if this product is pure Hershey’s it must taste wonderful. Hershey’s utilizes a dark, elegant color scheme in their copy to draw the consumer. The combination of purple, beige, and dark chocolate brown appeals to the consumer through their need for prominence; the need for an elegant food past the standard chocolate bar. The headline reads: “The heart must have tastebuds,” an emotional headline that leads into their main point: our tasty chocolate is good for human cardiovascular health.
As mentioned earlier, Hershey’s uses a cause-and-effect strategy to hook the shopper onto their product. It is stated in the copy, “A recent study at Yale University’s Prevention Research Center shows that eating Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate improves blood pressure and blood vessel function.” The mention of Yale University immediately gives credibility to the product in the average consumer’s mind, therefore strengthening the claim about their chocolate; the claim that the chocolate is good for the heart. The key point of emphasis is stated in the bottom of the copy: “enjoy in moderation,” which is stressed in the fine print explaining the study. The fine print states that, “45 typical American adult men and women consumed 74 grams of Hershey’s Extra Dark chocolate. Two hours after consumption…participants showed a marked reduction in blood pressure and improvements in vascular function.” As stated before, moderation is the point of emphasis. If the chocolate is not consumed in moderation, adverse health effects may occur. While this point is not explicitly stated in the copy, it is implied by stating the shopper must enjoy the product in moderation.
Finally, Hershey’s utilizes a particular word choice to portray their dark chocolate as an indulgent, smooth snack food that will be loved.

“Indulge,” is used twice in the print, which paints a decadent image of the chocolate. “Deep, smooth richness,” is also utilized to describe the product, which almost lets the reader taste the chocolate. Lastly, Hershey’s claims that both the shopper and the shopper’s heart will love the chocolate, invoking a sense of unity between the rhetorical appeals made. This type of word choice is also found in the Quaker True Delights advertisement. “Luscious raspberries, rich dark chocolate, and whole almonds,” and “From first sight to last bite, you’ll be delighted…” is how the snack food is described, conjuring an image of a decadent, indulgent bar the consumer will

love.
Following the description of some of the ingredients in Quaker True Delights is a claim made about the healthiness of the product: “all at 140 calories.” In a day and age where the shopper is, or at least should be, concerned about their health, Quaker emphasizes that their product tastes astonishing with relatively low calories: a clear appeal to logic and reasoning in the sense that their product should be chosen since it has relatively low calories. No other claims are made regarding human health, however, which is where Hershey’s has an advantage over Quaker. Nevertheless, Quaker has a more visually appealing copy. They utilize images of real raspberries, almonds, walnuts, and dark chocolate held by a woman, drawing the consumer through an appeal to pathos of how those fresh foods taste. The color scheme is more light and upbeat than Hershey’s, incorporating a different sort of elegance into the copy: designs of flowers and freshness that Hershey’s does not have. This sort of imagery is more appealing to health minded consumers than chocolate bars alone. Finally, two examples shine of how Quaker uses their ethos. First, the logo is apparent in the copy which conjures trust in the product. Second, a free sample is offered at the bottom of the print: something only a well-established company can freely advertise to a large population.
Ultimately, Quaker True Delights has a more visually appealing copy, along with the fact that their snack is a relatively healthier choice than other products “all at 140 calories.” However, Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate actually makes claims about improving human cardiovascular health, utilizing a stronger logical appeal to health than Quaker. This logos is backed by the ethos of Yale University, a trustworthy institution of logic and reasoning. Both copies utilize different color schemes to draw the consumer; Hershey’s appeals to a sense of dark, indulgent elegance while Quaker incites images of freshness and color in their snack. Finally, the two prints utilize the established persona of the brand to sell a new product line through the use of their logo in order to found trust in the new line. Advertising a new line of snack food clearly requires a multi-faceted approach, which both Quaker and Hershey’s accomplish with their use of different rhetorical appeals to the consumer.