Post 3: Analysis of Freedman and Jurafsky

Advertising has become a science. With so many brands flooding the market individual companies have to increase their advertisement departments and abilities to compete for the consumers of their product. In the article Authenticity in America: Class Distinctions in Potato Chip Advertising written by Freedman and Jurafsky the correlation between many social constructs are compared with the advertising practices of twelve potato chip companies. Freedman and Jurafsky discuss the connection between language and advertising. This research judges six more expensive and six less expensive potato chip brands and quantitatively examines the language on each package. Their results found that the use of more and higher level language was present on the more expensive chip bags. They determined this by using the frequency of the words on the bags in “standard reference texts” and the Flesch-Kincaid readability test. These two examinations of the chip bag give the article logos and show the more expensive bags are targeting the upper-middle class due to the increased difficulty in reading level which is typically concurrent with the higher societal standing. The target audience was again exposed in the use of health talk on the chip bags. Concern with healthfulness of food is connected with the upper classes because their increased capital allows them to not worry about the 28 cents per ounce difference in price. These data added even more logos to the article.

Logos is necessary in an article like this due to the nature of the argument. This argument based on socially constructed stereotypes such as the rich care more about health and have a higher vocabulary than the lower class individuals’ needs data to back the statements made. Freedman and Jurafsky do a great job using the cultural aspects of variation in food consumption and language in conjunction with scientific data to prove that different brands attempt to attract various customers. This research could be extrapolated to other food products and using similar tests one would likely find these same results that more expensive products are aimed at enticing higher class individuals while the lower priced products will use lower level reading and fewer nutritional facts. I find the process of advertising fascinating and this specific article shows how important every word is important to appeal to just the right audience.