An Analysis of Two Leaflets

An Analysis of Two Leaflets

The media is everywhere. In your homes, in schools, in the workplace.

It is very powerful in its influence. It can change peoples’ lives and

affect the way they think. The media is very versatile. It can be used

for several purposes, from explaining things to persuading you to give

money to charity or vote for a certain political party. In this essay

I will compare two different media texts. They are both persuasive

leaflets: the first trying to get you to chose to rent a McCarthy &

Stone retirement apartment, the second is advertising hiking holidays

in Ireland.

The former of these leaflets came through my letterbox, and is aimed

at retired pensioners. The latter, I got from a travel agency. It is

aimed at 18-30 year old trekkers. I don’t think one would find these

leaflets anywhere else because they are very specific in both their

aim and their target audience.

A company called McCarthy & Stone, who rent out retirement apartments

to the retired and elderly, made the first leaflet. Its purpose is a

persuasive advert. It has a green, black and white colour scheme, with

plain modern font and important information in bold. It is laid out on

an A5 sheet that isn’t folded or perforated. It has a picture, a map,

and where there is a piece of important information, it is boxed out

in red or green. It contains a quote from a customer, in which the

lady (Mrs. Griffiths) talks about how cheap it is to heat the

apartments:

“It’s very reassuring to know you can keep your home comfortable all

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...et would be very successful towards its target audience

(which is stated in the small print, and is “17 – 35 year olds”) but

wouldn’t get much interest for younger or older people because as they

are trekking holidays, people over this age group may be physically

unable to participate, and people under this age range may not be

interested in walking for six days, just for the sake of walking, with

no ‘prize’ or incentive. The informal style would appeal to the target

audience.

In this essay, I have compared two different leaflets, both

advertising. They both would, in theory, be very effective at

achieving their goals. I believe that the companies chose the leaflet

as their selected form of media because it can reach many people; they

are cheap to produce in mass and are effective at getting their

message across.