Rhetorical analysis of the men's underwear ad:vvvvvvvvvvv[go to beer ad]
four possible body paragraphs supporting our thesis.

Thesis (both are acceptable):
This Textron men's underwear ad is selling the idea of a return to childhood.
This ad suggests that buying Textron boxers will lead to a return to childhood.

1) The story of the ad makes the man seem childlike. The ad presents the "story" of a grown man who wants a pair of boxer shorts for Christmas—we know this because of the Christmas trees—and hopes his wife will buy them. The biggest image in the ad shows him waving a flag made of boxer shorts. This suggests he is trying to signal to her non-verbally, as if he is embarrassed to bring "boxers" up, which in turns suggest childlike behavior—not the behavior of a full grown man. In addition, the idea of "presents for Christmas" is an idea more associated with children than with grown, married men. The childlike "story" of the ad is further created through the copy in the bottom of the ad. The copy has a cutesy tone ("he is trying to engineer you into giving him....") and seems be addressing the wife. Bascially, the copy is informing her that her husband is trying to get her attention. Why would a grown man need someone else to tell his wife he needs boxers? The fact the wife would be the one buying him boxers to begin with seems to put her in somewhat of a mothering role, which makes the man seem "less" than a man, more like a child.

2) Many of the objects in the biggest image of the ad suggest childhood, and at least one suggests an affluent childhood. As mentioned, there are Christmas trees, suggestive of childhood. Also, there is a model train in the image: the man is in his pajamas, standing on clouds, straddling a model train. The model train is suggestive of a childhood toy. Although adults have this "train" hobby as well, the fact he is wearing an engineering hat suggest a kind of childhood glee, as through he is "pretending" to be the engineer of the train. The clouds in this image seem to represent a kind of dream state, as though the man "has his head in the clouds." The presence of both clouds and childhood objects, then, suggests he is dreaming, or daydreaming, about a return to childhood—and a comfortable childhood, since model trains were not cheap. In addition, the presence of a train suggests a trip, or journey—in this case, considering everything else in the scene, a journey back to childhood. In the same vein, one might also read the train image as suggesting an "end" to childhood— the tracks do in fact end. He is an adult, whose childhood has ended.

Note: this paragraph also makes a brief point about the "kind" of childhood this ad is selling. Think about this when you write your essay. A lot of ads sell sex, love & approval, the fantasy of an "ideal" or "normal" home life. In your essay, you might want explore what "kind" of sex/love/normal home life is being sold. Say, a home life in which the woman is perhaps submissive, in ecstasy at the thought of clean sheets? Sex that comes with respect and love?

3) The composition of the ad also suggests that a return to childhood is the dominating appeal here. There is an image of the man "at home," standing on a bear skin rug, which is more suggestive of masculinity than "childhood"—but this image is small, in the left hand corner. The dominating image in the ad is definitely the one on top in which the man is "dreaming" about childhood. Within this image, the composition is also of note. The eye is immediately drawn to the flag he is waving, a bold white statement in the middle of a cluttered picture. The color white often suggests innocence, and a common association with the image of a white flag is surrender. So perhaps this white flag suggests a surrender of "masculine" duties, and a return to an innocent childhood. In addition, this image is not a photo, but more like a "cartoon"—something thast appeals more to children than adults.

4) The “return to childhood” appeal is also apparent when one considers what does not appear in this ad. Contemporary men’s underwear ads usually associate underwear with the adult male body. Ads like this are often overtly sexual, associating underwear with nudity and sex, often portraying nearly nude men in underwear. In comparison, this ad almost seems to go overboard to disassociate “underwear” from sexuality, or even the adult male body. For instance, the man is never shown wearing boxers. In both images of the man, he is presented as fully clothed, head-to-toe, in pajamas. Also in both images, he is holding his boxers away from his body. In the top image, not only is the man holding his boxers away from his body, but the boxers are being used as a flag—further disassociating them from how they are actually used (as underwear). In fact, the word "underwear" doesn't even appear. Also, there is no woman represented in either picture. There is nothing to suggest adult marital relations. As mentioned earlier, the copy in the ad seems to be addressed to the wife, but the tone, as I suggested, is “cutesy” and seems more likely directed to a mother figure. So, with no hint of the male body or adult male/female relations, the idea of “boxers” has been completely removed from the arena of “sexuality,” and been placed in the arena of innocence and childhood.