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Walt Whitman might not have been famous for his peanut cluster samplers or golden wicker boxes bearing the cursive lettering containing small delicate and delicious chocolates, his words have made far more of an impact. The ad draws attention to the lack of art and literature knowledge in the minds of young people today. Although the ad gives a brief overview of Whitman’s life, compositions, and accomplishments, it clearly points out the need for art in children’s lives in a humorous and even mocking way. The author of the ad combines historical evidence on the life of Walt Whitman with humor to advocate the need for true art and literature.

The ad begins with a concise statement in bold, “Kids don’t get enough art these days.” The use of this statement at the beginning not only intrigues the audience with its bold font but also sets up the argument. The statement is serious and blunt which works well with the next statement, “So it’s no wonder that some of them mistake America’s most revolutionary poet for a box of chocolates” (Ad). This statement, although not as terse, still interests the audience because it explains why the author of the ad believes children do not get enough art. The comparison between Walt Whitman, and Whitman’s Sampler Chocolate is humorous but serves another purpose. By pointing out the “America’s most revolutionary poet,” (Ad) is mistaken for a box of chocolate the ad is pointing out the severity of the lack of literature knowledge. This pairing of a serious short statement with a longer humorous statement successfully sets up the argument by balancing a frank fact with a humorous example.

The ad then tells more about “America’s most revolutionary poet,” (Ad) by including facts about his life and his early writings collected in his book of poems, Leaves of Grass. The ad elaborates on how Whitman was “revolutionary” with his sometimes inappropriate subject matter in his writings. Whitman continued to work on the Leaves of Grass and when it was published it was recognized as writing “ahead of his time” (Ad). This inclusion of history contributes to the argument by showcasing how famous and well known Whitman is for his writing. Then the ad can successfully show that not only do young people not recognize Walt Whitman for his poems, but that if they recognize the name Whitman at all, they contribute it to Whitman’s Chocolate. Again, the ad pairs history and fact, this time without the inclusion of humor, to emphasize the lack of art education.

The ad then returns to a more infomercial tone and makes Whitman’s works sound more like a beneficial medicine than literature. The ad is concluded with only humor to both counteract all the history previously mentioned, and to close out the written section of the argument in a humorous but effective way. By ending with the effects of children learning more art, “the more act kids get, the smarter they become in subjects like math and science,” (Ad) the ad accurately but humorously describes the effects of learning more about art.

The ad also includes graphical elements. The title, “Why some people think Walt Whitman makes chocolate candy,” (Ad) is in the same font as the Whitman’s Candy Sampler. This contributes to the argument because many, at first glance, will automatically associate the font of Walt Whitman to the candy before they recognize it as the name of an American poet. Below is a picture of Whitman with the caption, “Whitman satisfied his sweet tooth with rich, wave-like verse. Every kid should make poetry a part of his diet” (Ad). The caption, humorous, is paired with the historical picture of Whitman. On the bottom is a picture of a piece of chocolate with the caption, “Too much of Whitman’s art won’t give you a stomachache.” Finally, the ad includes a picture of the brain divided into the different subjects, “readin’, art, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.” These graphical elements contribute to the humorous side of the argument but all have their own argument which comes back to the statement that, “Kids don’t get enough art these days.”

The ad’s combination of humor, history, and fact successfully make the argument that children do not have enough art education. The use of Walt Whitman’s confusion with Whitman’s Candy Sampler successfully showcases this. All together the graphics, font choice, and words balance each other out and get the point across strongly, but still in a humorous and easy to understand way thus proving the ad’s effectiveness.