Interpreting an Image

When I first looked at this ad, my eyes immediately went to the woman’s dress and skinny waist as it is dark and contrasted against a patterned, bright yellow and brown background. My eyes were then drawn to her elbow, up her arm to where she is pointing at the man; hands almost touching. Here my view can either go to the title because the man’s elbow guides the viewer to the right or my view goes left to their faces and I see how they view each other, clearly in love. Now that my eyes have reached top left and have nowhere to go, the bottom right corner, diagonally along the woman’s body, draws my attention to the table. The table is cluttered — but the mind is curious — and I come to pick out the empty and half full bottles and the half full glass of Pepsi and the teapot of flowers. Now that my eyes have taken in the imagery first, I then go to the text and I read it.

The text is placed within the negative space of the illustration formed by the couple’s bodies and clothing. The title is highlighted by the man’s arm and elbow pointing to it. His elbow separates the title from the text, but his elbow is slanting downward which brings your eye down to the paragraphs. While the text is far more copy than what is considered standard now, the paragraphs are short. The text immediately calls to attention the illustration with desirable adjectives such as “leanest” and “slimmest-waisted”. It makes the viewer envious of how “fit” this couple is. The text compares this couple’s health achievements through “wholesome, up-to-date” eating habits which includes “lighter, less filling foods”. This segues into highlighting Pepsi’s reduced calorie drink and how it fits into this healthier lifestyle. It also suggests that this couple no longer drinks tea and has replaced tea with Pepsi as the teapot is no longer for brewing, but now acts as a vase. The text, along with the illustration reinforcement, is comparative and persuasive, convincing the reader that they could achieve this look as well if they drink Pepsi, because Pepsi will not fill them up or have them gain weight. Pepsi is “the modern, the light refreshment”.

The ambience / mood of the ad is lighthearted, fun, and stylish. While the couple’s clothing is dark, the bright yellow of the jacket lining makes the ad pop and be exciting. It exudes optimism, happiness, and energetic movement to the viewer. The vertical stripes of the jacket lining also act to enhance the appearance of the woman’s slim figure. The white background gives breathing room for the illustration and the text so they both stand out without competing with a background. The white couple, white background, tan furniture, white table cloth, white teapot and matching tea cup and saucer, and fresh light pink flowers all give the illusion of cleanliness and lightness directly referencing their pure, clean new healthy lifestyle.

Seeing this ad, with the couple in the top fashions of the time with the ideal body fitness would have been envious to see when it was originally published. The reader would have wanted to be seen as thin, fashionable, and in a loving relationship. It would give the impression that the reader could have this fashionable lifestyle and be in a loving relationship by eating the “up-to-date” way of “lighter, less filling foods” which they could achieve without skipping on taste — with Pepsi. It is the equivalent of having your cake and eating it too.

The ideal look comprises women and men who are well put together and healthy-looking. They are dressed in their best, hair and makeup are perfect, coordinating top fashions, and are thin (trimmed and slimmed). The husband is caring and doting as he puts the jacket on his wife. The wife is adoring and happy as she is being taken care of by her husband. The relationship is one of caring and having the best. With the illustrated presentation of caring about each other, living a healthy lifestyle, and having the best, Pepsi is attaching itself to this concept of “betterment”so the viewer will buy Pepsi for their family. Pepsi is being marketed, most-likely to women who take on the household shopping, as the best drink especially if the viewer cares about their family's health and happiness.

The ad would have played a contrasting opinion to the large sugary drinks ban trying to be passed in New York City. The ban claims large sugary drinks are bad yet the ad highlights how Pepsi can fit into a new healthier lifestyle. If Pepsi has “reduced calories” and is “never too sweet” it gives the impression that this soft drink is healthier than others on the market. As a reader you would presume that this soft drink is not bad for you, especially since it states that it “goes right along with this sensible trend in diet”. It would cause opposition between what the reader thinks and what Bloomberg was trying to accomplish.

The sociological effect would be that the populace would be in favor of a “healthier” drink that they are familiar with rather than a complete ban of what they want. They would not see how a drink that “goes right along with this sensible trend in diet” could be bad for you. This would result in numerous negative opinions on the large sugary drinks ban that Bloomberg was trying to pass. It would in turn lead to negative views of Bloomberg himself because he is trying to remove something that the people believe in. Unfortunately, this kind of false advertisement effect is seen everywhere even today. More recently, how vaping is “healthier” than smoking. It makes people believe that something is perfectly fine to consume when in actuality it is still bad for you. The same theme is seen in this advertisement for Pepsi’s sugary drink; convincing the public of health benefits when the product achieves the opposite.

Classroom Use

This type of assignment can connect with any subject matter because it really gets students thinking about what they are seeing. Too often, images are quick digestions that you look at for two seconds and "swipe" through. It is really when you take the time to look at what the image is and what it is referring to that you start to get the full implications of the image. Depending on the grade level I would choose different kinds of images. For Elementary I would pick silly or weird images and children's ads — something that they would find amusing and that relates to them. Middle school I could start including advertisements that may not relate to them, and in High school I could use advertisements or images with historical context. I would not want to assign an advertisement or image with historical context beforehand as students really need to understand the social and political influences at the time of the advertisement or image to really understand the impact it had or still has today.

Students would have the reinforcement of analyzing content, making inferences, and sharing and explaining their thoughts and reasoning. They may learn new approaches to looking at different types of information as they may be only used to analyzing text. They will learn that information and digital literacy is not only about what is written, but what is presented whether it is text, image, video, or audio-based.

The biggest goal of the lesson would be to have students look at any information in the real-world and be able to analyze the content without thinking they are doing it. A measurable goal would be to have students analyze two advertisements from the past and now, have students analyze two images from the past and now, and have students analyze images or advertisements in context with what is around it (magazine spreads, article associations, etc.). The goal would be for students to see a pattern of bias, persuasion, and form their own personal inquiries about what they see.

ESL and special needs could work with a partner or the lesson in general could have students paired up in teams, have extended time to analyze, have speech to text enabled for them to write their analyses, use audio advertisements for students who may not see well, have a translator, and / or use examples that may have text translated into the language they are most comfortable with.

An informal assessment would be to have students either present or participate in a class discussion about the image or advertisement and what it is trying to say. A formal assessment would be to have students create slide or video presentations where they explain one or more images or advertisements — the context of them, the political context, the social context, and / or bias — that can be used as evidence of learning. This could be accomplished multiple times during the school year to show progression of understanding and to reinforce information, media, and digital literacy when it comes to visuals.

Sources

Massachusetts School Library Association. “Recommended Standards for PreK -Grade 12 Information Literacy Skills.” Https://Www.maschoolibraries.org/, Massachusetts School Library Association, Sept. 2009, www.maschoolibraries.org/uploads/5/7/2/2/57223027/msla_standards_revision_for_2nd_printing.pdf.

Peng, Leif. “Unknown562.Jpg.” Flickr, Unknown562.jpg | Look magazine Illustrator unknown February 1956, 21 Jan. 2007, www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/397689270/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.