One of the advertising techniques that Old Navy uses on this advertisement is weasel words. The advertisement says that the sale on kids and babies will be "up to 50% off". This gives off the impression that they have said something specific and meaningful because it directly states a certain number, but in actuality they have communicated something that is very vague. The sale could be as little as 5% off for all we know. By using the phrase "up to", we cannot prove them wrong if they only discount a small percentage off the original price of a product. If we challenge the statement, Old Navy can void our argument because their discount is still in the right range. It also sounds nicer to us when we hear or read the words "up to" a certain percentage number.
Another advertising technique that Old Navy uses is exigency. The advertisement says that the sale "ends Wednesday", and it's telling us to "shop now". The marketing professionals use this to persuade us consumers to act on impulse instead of logic. It implies that unless we take action immediately or as soon as possible, the opportunity will be lost forever. It's the perfect chance and time to seize this deal and obtain the products that we think we need.
The color blue is also prominent in this advertisement. It's because it's pretty much Old Navy's trademark color. We see it in many of their advertisements. Even their Old Navy store logo has a blue background with white text.
I also noticed the thing about the ad saying "up to 50%" without actually specifying the price ranges. It is rather vague. I think a lot of us are really drawn in by the fact that they could be saving up to that much money when people really don't think about the fact that the discount percentages could vary. I don't really think that exigency is a very effective marketing technique from what I've experienced. The company advertises a deal for a certain amount of time but it doesn't necessarily persuade you to go and buy their products very much.
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