OUGD401 Comparative Analysis (Study Task One)

‘The Uncle Sam Range’ was designed by Schumacher and Ettlinger in New York in 1876. This specific date is key to the advertisement as it celebrates 100 years of independence in the USA. The aim of the advert is to sell a cooker, which means that it is targeted at men as in 1870 the male would have definitely been the breadwinner. Similarly, the poster created by Savile Lumley in 1915 is also targeted at men, specifically middle class men that have yet to take part in the war. 

Both of the posters are incredibly patriotic and use glory and wealth to try to manipulate the audience to conform. For example, in ‘The Uncle Sam Range’, the main colours used in the poster are red, white and blue, which are the colours of the USA flag. Also it’s key that Uncle Sam is the host, as he represents a humanised USA. The poster by Lumley also uses patriotism, such as the soldiers that the son is playing with have the British uniform. The designer of the poster was also clearly a patriot as he refers to World War I as ‘The Great War’, which is important as the war had yet to end at the date it was published. This shows that he is insistent that Britain will win the War. The technique used in both of these posters is called propaganda.

‘The Uncle Sam Range’ uses goals and aspirations to try to sell the cooker. For example, in the poster can be seen a black man cooking. The black man represents slaves and wealth, which makes the audience feel that if they buy the cooker, they will become incredibly wealthy. The poster is very status-focused, which is also important as in 1876 there was a true belief in the American Dream, something that this poster has tried to manipulate and exploit to sell the cooker. This poster uses hopes, which is very different to the poster by Lumley. Instead of trying to make the audience feel inspired, Lumley makes the audience feel ashamed and guilty. This is because the aim of the poster was to get more men to join up to the war. The type on the poster is key to this, as it reads “Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?”, which engages the audience as the word “you” is an interrogative. 

The poster is intelligent as it makes the audience think ahead and wonder if their children will idolise them if they do not participate in the war. The little girls face on the photo appears to be in shock, meaning she has learnt that her father was a coward, contrasted with the look of disappointment and guilt in the fathers face. It is also key that the father is looking straight ahead, towards the audience, as it is a direct address and will make the viewer feel more shame and guilt, therefore he may consider signing up for the war.