As we discussed in class, advertisers and marketing agencies use many strategies to hook us in. They work to make their ads memorable so that in the future we purchase their products, whether consciously or unconsciously. There are a number of reasons why it is important to study their methods. For this post I want you to address the following questions (make sure to use your textbook (the advertising chapter) as well as two other sources.)
1- Find one of the commercials from this year's Super Bowl and analyze it in a similar way that we did in class
a) Purely objectively: a brief summary of what the ad was about including the plot, the demographics of actors, the environment, the type of camera angles/shots, music, etc.
b) Describe what you believe the advertiser's intentions were.
c) Did you like the ad? Did they succeed in hooking you in?
d) If you could change the ad to be more Affective, what would you do?
2- WHY do you believe is it important to study advertisements?
If you need some inspiration for your writing, take a look at the following ad, it is a good opinion piece on the Dodge commercial.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kylesmith/2013/02/06/chrysler-and-the-most-acclaimed-super-bowl-ad-of-all-time-heres-the-rest-of-the-story/
If you need some inspiration for your writing, take a look at the following ad, it is a good opinion piece on the Dodge commercial.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kylesmith/2013/02/06/chrysler-and-the-most-acclaimed-super-bowl-ad-of-all-time-heres-the-rest-of-the-story/
The commercial I’m analyzing is for Taco Bell. This is the link to it for anyone who wants to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy4Ogxikuv4
ReplyDeletePart 1:
A) This commercial starts with an old man in a retirement home saying goodnight to a nurse. As soon as the nurse closes his door, he gets up and meets his friends outside (more elderly people). He gets in a car with them and they drive away as fun.’s ‘We Are Young’ begins to play in Spanish. The elderly folks proceed to take part in activities that can generally be described as ‘young & reckless’. They go pool hopping, set off firecrackers on someone’s doorstep, go to a night club full of young people, and one man flashes his nipples to people in a restaurant and then gets a tattoo. They end the night eating Taco Bell in the parking lot and when they get back to the retirement home the sun is coming up.
B) The advertisers here seemed like they intended to make Taco Bell look like the cool place to go after a long night out. You do not want to go to McDonald’s, a diner, or anywhere else that is opened all night, you want Taco Bell. The commercial makes it seem like the old people are really cool because of all the wild things they do all night. If you want to be cool like these old people, then you will eat Taco Bell too.
C) I definitely liked this ad, mostly because two of my favorite things are Taco Bell and grandmas. It hooked me in because I wanted to see the reason for all these elderlies partying. When I saw them eating at Taco Bell at the end I just thought ‘YES!’. The commercial is a sixty second story. Time magazine says: “The story of the law-breaking gray hairs’ night out was one of the more indelible narratives of this year’s Super Bowl commercials.” (http://business.time.com). If an ad tells a story, it is called ‘myth analysis’. “According to myth analysis, most ads are narratives with stories to tell…” (Media & Culture p. 340). The fact that the ad tells a story gives initiative for viewers to keep watching and eventually learn that Taco Bell marketing representatives are behind the humor that they just enjoyed.
D) For the commercial to be more affective, I think I would have chosen the original English version of ‘We Are Young’ instead of the Spanish version that was used. Obviously even an English speaker who does not know a word of Spanish can figure out what song it is, but I think the Super Bowl is more of an ‘all American’ tradition. Also, I don’t know if this is just me, but when I hear another language I tend to tune it out. The commercial may have caught the attention of more people if it was in English, perhaps Super Bowl watchers may have begun to (maybe drunkenly) sing along.
Part 2:
It is important to study advertisements because we need to be aware that ads are what motivate us to make many choices we think may be subconscious. “Their [advertisements’] central function is to create desires within the individual that previously did not exist.” (http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/smo9501.html). Advertisements are the reason why some people may choose a name brand over a less expensive store brand- even if the products seem to be identical. By studying advertisements, we can learn about the techniques that are used to persuade audiences. If we are familiar with these techniques, perhaps we may become less prone to buying or doing what an advertisement tells us. If we recognize an advertiser’s intention, then we allow ourselves to form our own opinions about products, rather than simply believing what an advertisement says.
1.
ReplyDeleteThe commercial I chose was one for Doritos brand of chips. In this commercial a man eating a bag of Doritos sees a man on the side of the street with a sign reading “goat for sale.” The goat is also eating a bag of Doritos and the first man buys him. The man and goat bond over their love of Doritos but then the man gets annoyed with the goat because it keeps eating all of his chips. He hides the rest of the bags of Doritos and but the goat gets angry and finds the man in his bedroom painting a sign that says “goat for sale.” The goat closes the door with its leg and the viewer is supposed to assume that the goat it going to beat the man up for taking his Doritos and trying to sell him.
The advertiser’s intentions were to show how good Doritos are. First the man and the goat get along because they both like Doritos, but then the man gets angry that the goat is eating them all and wants to get rid of him. Then the goat gets angry that it has no more Doritos and attacks the man. The music is pretty happy go lucky throughout the commercial until the goat discovers the Doritos are missing and then it gets ominous. The commercial is trying to say that Doritos are too good to share and should be coveted. The advertisers try to portray this message through a humorous story to grab the audience’s attention.
I liked this commercial and I thought it was one of the most entertaining Super Bowl ads. Instead of just saying that Doritos are good the advertisers tried to portray that message in a different and original way. The music and use of a goat grabs the audience’s attention and the humor aspect keeps their attention and causes them to remember the commercial and talk about it later on.
If I could change the ad I might make the actual Dorito itself more appealing. While the commercial is funny it’s easy to forget about the product being sold and just focus on the story line. The commercial does not make me want to eat Doritos it just makes me want to watch the commercial again.
2.
I believe it is important to study advertisements because advertisements are constantly bombarding us in our everyday lives. Ads take up more than half the space in most daily newspapers and consumer magazines, clutter websites and television, are sent to us in the mail, inserted in trade books and textbooks, fill the highways on billboards, and much more. It is difficult to find spaces in society that do not contain advertisements. Advertisers use a number of strategies in their ads in order to reel the consumer in. By learning about these strategies one can recognize the different techniques it is easier to recognize what one actual wants to buy and what they are being tricked into thinking they want to buy.
The Dodge Farmer has a voice over done by Paul Harvey in an old fashioned audio type that crackles. He is reading a poem or work of his own that was not originally intentioned for an ad. He first read it at the Future Farmers of America convention in 1978. Basically, it is an homage to farmers, what makes them so special and what it takes to be one. The images that flash on the screen are pictures of farming and farmers. One of birds in slow stop-motion photography over a barn, poetic images. There are shots of worn out skin on hands, father and son walking through a field of snow, the weather beaten of a middle age woman, all farmers. There are also shots with Dodge pickups in them, mostly black in color. The opening frame is a white sky background with Paul Harvey’s name on it. The first photograph is of a small country church, most likely Evangelical Christian. The advertiser’s intentions seem to have been in line with one of the conventional persuasive techniques used on advertising: advertising as myth (Media and Culture 340). It fits the characteristics. It incorporates myths in mini-story form. The myth in this case, that defines aspects of our culture, concerns rural life and farming. It is, in fact, a common topic among small farming and organic farming advocates. The commercial does not echo reality. To begin with, the reality of farming is seldom visited. I like the way realrural.org puts it: “Ever since Americans have had to define what “rural” means, they have done so simply by saying what it is not. In common usage, rural is any place not populous, not developed, not easily reached by an interstate. Our national authority on demographics, the U.S. Census Bureau, classifies it merely as a remainder: “‘Rural’ encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area.” That’s it.” What we do have as a myth for most American resembles the small family farm. It is neatly debunked often by advocates for small scale farming or for the families that still do things the old fashioned way such as Alan Guebert in View From the Levee. He discusses a recent article in Progressive Farmer about what modern farming really looks like: “Southwest Family Farms, a Kansas-based operation that “practices the art of modern-day agriculture at a high level….”A really high level. This fifth generation High Plains farm operates a “grain-production enterprise spanning 12,000 acres—4,000 irrigated and 8,000 dryland… [and] another 20,000 acres in a custom-farming business.” Just how big is 32,000 acres? It’s big; 50 square miles big” (“It Takes a Myth to Sell a Myth.” 07 Feb. 2013 ). The commercial did fail to Affect me for those kinds of reasons. There is a whole other side to the story that never gets told. Of course it may seem like just a commercial, but (from another article about the same commercial): ” it's the kind of cultural substrate in which our laws and prejudices grow” (Smith, Kyle “Chrysler, and The Most Acclaimed Super Bowl Ad Of All Time? Here's the Rest of the Story.”). In order for it to be more Affective, I would have to see an old-fashioned Virginia pig roast like the one that Joel Salatin describes in his book, You Can Make Money Farming. It was a community event, and it was small-scale and traditional. Perhaps, more importantly it is much more grounded in reality than the Dodge commercial. The conflict (from Media’s criteria for myth advertising) is resolved by the end as the viewer is swept away in emotion and nostalgia (especially for Paul Harvey who was even a friend of the FBI and PETA at the same time). And, that is one important reason to study advertising. How is it that a message can be so garbled, untrue and at the same time affective? And how can it still entice so many to buy such an expensive product? Or, more likely, it would entice them to buy.
ReplyDeleteOne commercial that stuck in my head throughout the entire Super Bowl was the M&M commercial. Each year I find myself always finding the M&M commercials to be comical and entertaining. This year the commercial begins with the famous red M&M signing and playing the piano to the song “I’d Do Anything for Love” by Meatloaf. After, it shows a shot of Naya Rivera pointing to the camera on a beach in a sensual way. The commercial goes into the M&M and Naya Rivera’s relationship. Every time the “M&M” sings “I would do anything for love” a new scene appears of what the M&M would do for love. The first shot shows the M&M struggling while holding all of her shopping bags. The next shot shows the M&M shaving her legs for her, next is the M&M wearing a wig to make Naya Rivera happy. Then the commercial goes into a spin off of the song. It repeats “but I won’t do that, or that, or that!” These scenes include anything that involves the M&M being eaten. At first it shows Naya Rivera licking the M&M, then being baked in the oven, then being placed into a piñata, then getting dolled up with whipped cream, then lastly being bitten into by all of the girls on the camera. During these scenes the M&M is screaming “I won’t do that” but, the last scene the M&M states “it hurts but I kind of like it” when it’s being bitten in to. The very last scene is just a shot of the words “chocolate’s better with M&M.” It’s funny because it plays off this famous song with a beautiful woman and an M&M that is alive. The advertiser’s intentions were to make the situation comical and give personality to the M&M. It wants to make them look desirable and delicious. I believe that this commercial succeeds because it is funny and makes the audience laugh. This was one of the first few commercials that were played during the Super Bowl and I remembered it throughout the entire game. I don’t think there is anything I would add to make this commercial more affective because I think it succeeded on its own.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to study advertisements because according to the Media and Culture textbook, “Americans come into contact with five thousand forms of advertising each day.” That means that we face 35,000 advertisements a week. We are bombarded by them therefore, if they are that popular and involved in our every day life, we should study them to understand them better. In addition, advertisements have been around since the 1700s (Media and Culture) thus proving how important they are if they have been around for so many years. Since “advertising is an ever growing field with new job advertising opportunities opening up all the time” (lrngo.com/library), we must take it seriously in order to create countless job opportunities. According to Sharon Owen’s article on “What Value is there in Studying Advertising” it states that advertising has two primary functions to fulfil; the first being economic function and the second being an ideological function. It discusses how advertising effects the economy and individual’s values and attitudes. If advertising is this influential on the economy and mind then it is an important concept to study and understand.
The ad that I am picking, that stuck out the most to me was the scientology commercial. I believe that this commercial was aimed at the college student. This could also be aimed at the younger generations. The shots that they included in this commercial were shots of young people in college settings. A lot of the shots were also of books like science books and math books. This commercial also intrigued me because I am always on a quest to seek knowledge and to be informed. The major point of the ad is to subscribe to their religion. The thing is as you investigate more into scientology it is not at all what it seems it is more of a cult than anything else. With that being said I do think it was a successful commercial because I think it could suck in the crowd that they were aiming at. Also when I think of scientology I think tom cruise I think they used him to make scientology better known. In the book this technique is called “famous-person testimonial, in which a product is endorsed by a well- known person”. Which if you think about it it’s not a bad strategy because if someone popular and famous likes it then it must be ok. Also I think that advertising is trying to do more than just sell you something it wants you to maybe change the way you think or even change your beliefs. “Not very long ago, advertising’s main goal was to make the sale, though there are many other goals. But that has changed dramatically with the growth of dotcom companies all over the internet. Today, the goal of much advertising is not to make the sale but to direct people to websites”. I think in the end of the scientology commercial they wanted you to dig deeper into scientology. I pulled this next quote because I thought it was interesting. “We don't even have to think for ourselves. All we have to do is sit on our comfy couch and be told how to live our lives”. I can see the point that this article was making because we are slammed with advertising every day. Advertising is a very important topic that you need to be informed about because you experience every day and even though you might not be the target of all advertising you are a target to some.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gmarketing.com/articles/36-the-new-power-of-advertising
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/22/power.of.advertising/index.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe ad I found most memorable would have to be the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial. It starts off with a man in his thirties raising a young foal at his farm to ultimately be a Budweiser Clydesdale with the song Landslide by Fleetwood Mac playing in the background. He seems to do everything for this foal, as if he is raising his own kid. He sleeps with him, walks him, and trains him until he gets old enough to be in the Budweiser Clydesdale show. The horse gets shipped off to work with them until three years later his owner finally goes to see his horse in the show, hoping for his horse to remember him. Disappointed that he couldn’t be reunited with his horse he gets ready to leave until his horse comes running after him to finally get to see his owner again. The commercial ends with a shot of the owner and his horse hugging.
ReplyDeleteBudweiser was definitely trying to pull at its audience’s heartstrings. They wanted the audience to feel sorry for the horse and owner that they have to be separated but then get a heartwarming feeling when the two get reunited. It wasn’t so much of an advertisement for a new product. It was more of just a reminder to people that Budweiser still exists. Budweiser wants the commercial to be memorable and play with the audience’s emotions, which I believe they did a good job with. USA Today thought so too, ranking it number one on their Superbowl commercial list. Sport’s Business Daily quotes USA Today saying “The A-B spot marks ‘a return to marketing glory after slipping out’ of the ad meter's top five last year” (Sports Business Daily) I think they did a very good job hooking the audience in because it is similar to a movie in commercial form. It has a beginning, middle, and end. It makes the audience want to keep watching to see what happens next because it has a story line. I think the ad was very affective but to make it more affective they could have made it a little less corny. The commercial was good until the part where the horse came running after his owner. It was a bit clichéd and I felt it didn’t quite fit into the commercial because the commercial seemed so genuine. Other than that the commercial was very affective and quite memorable because it hooked your emotions in. Budweiser knew which type of advertising would reel people in.
I believe it is important to study advertising. It is apart of our everyday lives. Whether you are a customer at a store or the producers of a product, you will experience advertising in some type of way. It is important to understand the way advertising works in order for us, as customers, to get what we believe to be the best deal. “If [a] product is not advertised, no customer will come to know what products are available and will not buy [a] product even if [that] product was for their benefit” (Importance of Advertising). Meaning, if advertising didn’t exist people would be buying unnecessarily expensive products because they wouldn’t know of the benefits of a better, less expensive product. Advertising is a growing industry and I don’t believe it will ever diminish. There are always new products coming out and there are always new ways to advertise. Advertising will always exist in some form or another. “ Many Americans tolerate advertising as a ‘necessary evil’ for maintaining the economy…” but realize at the same time that “without ads, many mass media would need to reinvent themselves” (Media and Culture 353). In other words, although advertising can be seen as “evil” most media could not survive without it, which is why it must always exist.
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/objectives-importance-of-advertising.htm
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2013/02/04/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/Ads-Positive.aspx
The best thing about watching the super bowl is the commercials that come along with it. The most memorable commercial during this year’s super bowl would have to be the Budweiser one featuring the horse. It starred an average guy that raised a horse since it was a foal. The man raised it to become a Budweiser Clydesdale horse. Unfortunately, the horse grew up and had to leave to be on the road and perform. Three years passed and there was a show in the city starring the horse the man raised. He decided to travel to the city to see the horse walk in the show. During the show the horse managed to see the owner from afar and he took off making its way up to the owner before he got into his car. The horse ended up running to the man in a cleared out pathway located in the street eventually making it to the owner. As the horse was running the man saw it coming from far and got out of his car. They both stopped and stared at each other for a second and eventually came in for a heartwarming hug. While all this happened a song called Landslide by Fleetwood Mac played in the background making this an even more touching commercial.
ReplyDeleteThe whole commercial advertised Budweiser and they did this primarily though emotion. The advertisers intentions were clearly focused around emotion in order to draw a connection between the ad and the viewer. “The most successful ads -- in the eyes of advertisers at least -- have broad emotional and cognitive appeal. They target aspiration, persuasion, and emotion” (The Atlantic). That is exactly what this ad did. Everybody already knows what Budweiser is but the focus wasn’t on making its product known but rather towards making a commercial memorable. I found the ad to be very attention grabbing and it had me interested from the moment it started. Claire Dorotik stated that, “There is no denying that the bond between a man and a horse evokes a powerful emotion for people, but Budweiser’s recent Superbowl Commercial really hit a home run” (Psych Central). I believe what really drew me in was the connection the commercial presented to me based on the bond the man and horse had with each other. A lot of people can relate to having that one special animal he/she feels inseparable to and I believe that’s where the ad exceeds in being an affective commercial.
I wouldn’t change a thing about this commercial because it had all the qualities needed in order for it to be a memorable one. The emotion, hook, and ability to relate to the situation made this one of my favorite ads for 2013 so far. Advertising is always going to be around therefore I believe it is important to study. “As individuals and as a society, we have developed an uneasy relationship with advertising. Favorite ads and commercial jingles remain part of our cultural world for a lifetime” (Media and Culture 353). Since this is something that cannot be avoided and that will constantly be present in society people need to study it because ultimately it has its advantages such as raising awareness, which literally means less ignorant people.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/10/thinking-vs-feeling-the-psychology-of-advertising/247466/
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/equine-therapy/2013/02/clydesdale-superbowl-commercial-first-place-in-usa-todayss-ad-meter/
1. a) The Super Bowl commercial I chose to analyze is for Doritos. It starts off with a little girl playing dress up and there’s girly music playing in the background. She sees her dad walk past the door (with a football in his hand) and asks him to join her. He denies her because “the guys” are outside waiting for him to play. The little girl then goes on to say “I got Doritos” and holds up the bag. This immediately changes her dad’s mind and he decides to join her. “The guys” then walk in to see him covered in makeup, wearing a crown and a frilly dress; but because he’s eating Doritos, they join the party. Once the mom (typically) comes home from the grocery store she stares shockingly at the bunch of men in dresses, one of which is her wedding dress. The end.
ReplyDeleteb) Here the advertisers are trying to show that Doritos are more desirable than maintaining a certain image. The dad could’ve just continued walking past his daughter’s room but the Doritos pulled him in. He didn’t even care that he was dressed up as a princess because he was eating Doritos. As long as Doritos were involved he would’ve done anything, which is why his friends joined him. This makes viewers think that they could enjoy doing anything, as long as Doritos are involved. On a deeper note, this commercial promotes laziness and eating rather than playing football and exercising. Most viewers will not realize this or may even overlook it because they are too focused on the comical aspect of the commercial.
c) Personally, I liked this advertisement. It was one of the funnier commercials shown during the Super Bowl. It wasn’t too serious; it was simple. It hooked me in, as well as millions of other people, because it applied to all ages. Buzz Bishop liked Doritos’ “Fashionista Daddy” commercial because they showed a more sensitive side to dads everywhere, as compared to other advertisements where “we’re often portrayed as meatheads who get lost and can’t do anything right.” (http://www.babble.com/kid/doritos-fashionista-daddy-is-the-best-super-bowl-2013-commerical/) This advertisement caught the attention of Bishop because it made dads look better, which in reality, has close to nothing to do with Doritos. This is known as the association principle, “a persuasive technique used in most consumer ads that associates a product with a positive cultural value or image even if it has little connection to the product.” (Media & Culture pg. 338)
d) I would definitely change the ending of this advertisement to make it more affective. In the actual commercial the mom stares at her husband and his friends in disbelief and then continues to yell at them. In order to show how amazing Doritos truly are the advertisers should’ve had the mom (forgetting how angry she was) drop her groceries and run for the Doritos. The very ending could show all of them happily eating Doritos, dressed up and dancing together. Or the ending could be a tea party with Doritos as the main course.
2. I believe it is important to study advertisements so we, as consumers, know why we buy the things we do. Ads surround us, no matter where we are and they, believe it or not, influence a great deal of the things we do. For example, most people would purchase a store brand cereal box over a name brand cereal because it hasn’t been advertised. Some may not trust it because of that fact; since people only buy what they know. The pictures associated with advertisements affect our reluctance to purchase the things we do, as well. According to Sharon Owen, “the advertising message can be communicated linguistically or visually.” (http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/smo9501.html) Continuing on the cereal box example, consumers would most likely buy Lucky Charms instead of a random store brand because of the character (Luck the leprechaun) associated with its name.
Many people only watch the Superbowl so they can see the commercials during the game. This is the time when company’s try and show the best commercial they can to advertise their product and entertain the audience. My favorite commercial this year had to have been the Doritos commercial. It started off with a little girl playing princess in her room, while her dad was walking by with a football. She asked him if he wanted to play princess with her but he said he was going out to play football and his friends were waiting for him. She then proceeded to pull out a bag of Doritos and say, “I got Doritos.” The dad’s face went still and the scene cut to his manly, bulky, muscly, friends walking up to the girl’s room and seeing their friend dancing around in a princess outfit and eating Doritos. The next scene is the man’s wife walking up to the girl’s room and seeing her husband, her daughter, and her husband’s four friends all dancing around in princess outfits and eating Doritos. The mom then asks one of the friends if he is wearing her wedding dress and, with Dorito chip crumbs smothered in his beard, he says, “Could be.” And the mom just walks aways.
ReplyDeleteI think the advertisers were trying to show the world that people will do anything for some Doritos, even if it involves a father putting on make up and a dress and dancing around. They did a good job focusing on the fact that people aren’t embarrassed at anything they do if the outcome is them eating Doritos. In the commercial, they make the Doritos a higher priority than playing football. And they show this in an amusing and appealing way to the audience
Doritos are already one of my favorite types of junk food, so this commercial only made me enjoy them more. I thought it was very funny. What isn’t funny about 5 full grown men dancing around in dresses and make up. Every year, Doritos seem to produce the funniest commercials, it’s like their reputation during the Superbowl.
If I could change a part of the commercial, it would just be the ending of it, when the mom was talking to the big bearded man. I think it would have been funny if she just stopped and stared at all of them and said, “Not again!” and just kept walking. It wouldn’t change the point they are making in the commercial about Doirtos being irresistible, I just think it would be another funny idea. I still think their ending was funny and affective.
Studying advertising is very important in order for companies to prosper in selling their products. “Whether we turn on the television, switch on the radio, open a magazine, or simply walk down the high street today, publicity in some form or other surrounds us.” (Sharon Owen). Owen is basically saying that advertising is everywhere, so you must study it thoroughly in order to appeal to the world. Companies depend on advertising to get their products popular and known world-wide. “By stimulating demand for new products, advertising helped manufacturers create new markets and recover product start up costs quickly. From farms to cities, advertising spread the word..” (Media and Culture, 326). When you advertise things, people begin to get interested in what you are promoting. How else are people supposed to hear about things, if they aren’t being advertised properly? This is why it is important to study advertising.
“Advertising is based on humanity’s desire to feel good about one self and to strive for a better world. To achieve this, successful advertisements must always be culturally aware of the context of the time.” (John Spencer) What spencer is saying here is that in order to be a good advertiser, one must be culturally aware of whats going on in the world.
http://www.lrngo.com/library/careerstechnical/advertising/107-why-study-advertising.html
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/smo9501.html
Many individuals watch the Super Bowl merely for the entertaining commercials that cost millions of dollars for just 30-second timeslots. I am not one of these individuals, as I am a huge football fan, but I am indeed a fan of super bowl commercials as well. Of the many enjoyable commercials during the 2013 super bowl, I found the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial to be my favorite and most memorable. The commercial begins with a man likely in his late twenty’s or early thirties raising a young Clydesdale. With Landslide by Fleetwood Mac as background music, the commercial shows the progression of the young horse through training exercises and the depiction of the love and complete dedication the owner has for his horse. The horse is then shown as an adult, with this being a very saddening time for the owner as it is time for the Clydesdale to be picked up by the Budweiser Corporation to become apart of the group of Clydesdale show horses. Three years later the horse owner finds that his former Clydesdale would be marching in a parade not too far away. The owner ventures to the parade and recognizes his former companion, but is disappointed as he wasn’t able to embrace his horse from behind the barriers. As the owner is about to head off in his truck, the Clydesdale shows that he did in fact recognize his owners presence and quickly gallops over to his truck. The owner being extremely happy, slows his companion to a halt and gives his “friend” an affectionate hug as the commercial comes to an end.
ReplyDeleteThe Clydesdale is a widley known and an established icon in representation of Budweiser. With the Clydesdale being firmly established, the company is able to move away from just advertising its beer, and instead can capture its audience’s attention in other ways. This years Clydesdale commercial is a prime example of Budweiser choosing an alternate route to advertising its product. This commercial comes directly at the hearts of viewers with a heartwarming story that is filled with a little suspense and is capped with a perfect ending. Budweiser did a impeccable job in hooking in viewers, firstly by depicting a baby horse which is more or less impossible to not pay attention to, and followed this up with heartwarming images and a story that kept you intrigued until it was over. Various media outlets scored it as either their favorite commercial or placed it in the top five. The Washington Post had it in their top five and agreed that it tugged at the “heartstrings” of viewers. In USA Today’s poll the Budweiser Ad earned the top spot, narrowly beating out Tide’s Miracle Stain ad. This commercial most definitely succeeded in hooking me in and earned the top spot in my book as well. I would not change the commercial whatsoever as it was perfectly constructed with a fine beginning and middle, complete with an ending that couldn’t be more perfect.
Continued.....
As a young adult and consumer in today’s generation I feel that it is extremely important to study advertising. Companies market their products with crafty techniques in order to acquire public attention and sales. Most individuals aren’t great consumers and are quick to purchase a product just based on a commercial or ad. A smart consumer knows advertising technique and realizes they must research more into a product before jumping the gun and buying the first thing that captures their attention. Marketers construct their advertisements to portray an almost dreamlike image. An article by Sharon Owen quotes (Vestergaard, Torben &Kim Schroder) in saying that “Advertisements are generally made up of alluring colors, vivid imagery, snappy catchphrases” which creates this dreamlike portrayal. “Mass advertising flourished in the world of mass media” (Media and Culture.353) With the constant flood of advertisements all around us and new products coming about daily, it is vital to be a smart consumer and understand advertising/marketing.
ReplyDeletehttp://admeter.usatoday.com/articles/view/the-results
Vestergaard, Torben & Kim Schroder (1985): The Language of Advertising. Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.
Link to the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceTBF1Hik5I
ReplyDeleteSuperbowl commercials touch on many different topics and have a variety of ways to advertise what they’re selling, but I believe that there are two very common techniques that advertisers use to leave a lasting impression. The two techniques that are commonly used are humor or making us feel emotional for a person or thing. The ad that I analyzed used the second technique. This commercial is entitled “Security Camera” by Coca-Cola. The beginning explains that they took footage from security cameras around the world, and then it continues to show random acts of kindness from diverse people in many different situations. At the end it shows two people buying drinks from a coca-cola machine and encourages the viewer to “look at the world differently”. All of the video shots were from a birds-eye view, a typical place for a security camera to be. The ad features people from all races and cultures, although it is difficult to see specific features of people because of the view or focus. A familiar song, “Give a Little Bit” plays in the background, matching the theme that we all should give to others, whether that just be pure happiness or actual assistance.
I believe the advertiser’s intentions were to make people feel hopeful and happy so that they will associate those feelings of joy with their product, Coca-Cola. Another feeling I believe that the advertisers were trying to convey is a sense of unity in the world through kindness, again making us feel like we belong with the good-hearted people of the world when we drink it. The book Media and Culture describes this approach of persuasion as, “the bandwagon effect, [which] points out in exaggerated claims that everyone is using a particular product...imply that consumers will be ‘left behind’ if they ignore these products” (Campbell 337).
I liked the ad and I believe that it was successful in bringing out some emotions. Also, I think that anything that may inspire myself or others to do something kind for no reason is a great thing, even if the underlying purpose is selling a product. The only thing that I would change, and could make the ad more affective, would be if the camera shots seemed more realistic. I’m not positive if the shots are authentic or not, but they seem to be too good of quality and too perfectly staged to be real. But then again, if they were real shots they may be poor quality, and not as exciting as staged ones. ...
I believe that it is important to study advertisements so that we can decipher underlying intentions of ads instead of blindly believing everything they are telling us. It’s important to understand why we consciously or unconsciously believe that one product is better than another and assess whether these thoughts are valid or not. It is also interesting to study human behavior and why certain techniques do or don’t work in advertising. According to the Encyclopedia of Journalism, “critics believe advertising promotes materialism and encourages consumers to buy products they do not need” (Richards). This is why we need to be aware of how advertising works, but we also must recognize that, ”it is merely a tool, a form of communication that can be used for good as well as bad purposes...advertising is an enormous industry that is frequently defended by noting its economic contribution to society” (Richards). It’s important to be aware of the positive as well as the negative effects of advertising.
DeleteAlso, advertising surrounds us and effects our every day life. It is almost impossible to live your life without seeing at least one advertisement every single day, most often many times everyday. The Encyclopedia of Business and Finance explains that, “advertising has evolved to take a variety of forms and to permeate nearly every aspect of modern society. The various delivery mechanisms for advertising include banners at sporting events, billboards, Internet Web sites, logos on clothing, magazines, newspapers, radio spots, and television commercials. Advertising has so permeated everyday life that individuals can expect to be exposed to more than 1,200 different messages each day” (Truell 19). We should be knowledgable in something that is extremely influential and basically unavoidable in our lives.
This ad was named the third most effective ad of Super Bowl 2013:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2013/02/07/most-and-least-effective-2013-super-bowl-ads/
Works Cited
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media and Culture. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Print.
Richards, Jef I., Terry Daugherty, and Kelty Logan. "Advertising." Encyclopedia of Journalism. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2009. 20-26. SAGE knowledge. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.
URL: http://knowledge.sagepub.com/view/journalism/n7.xml?rskey=iShDUq&row=4
Truell, Allen D., and Michael Milbier. "Advertising." Encyclopedia of Business and Finance. Ed. Burton S. Kaliski. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001. 19-24. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
URL: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=newpaltz&tabID=T003&searchId=R13&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=6&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3402700021&&docId=GALE|CX3402700021&docType=GALE
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ReplyDeleteJust a warning, I am a Marketing major so I could write about this subject all day and therefore trying to cram all of my thoughts into this post may make me seem like a scatter brain : )
ReplyDeleteThe commercial I have chosen from the Super Bowl is the Oreo “Whisper fight”. The commercial starts with two men sitting in a library and they begin to argue about which is better, the cookie or the crème all while whispering. They start flipping tables and then the argument is picked up by other people within the library and they begin to destroy the library, still whispering. The actors in the commercial were a mix of white and black men and women. There was no music within the ad because the ad was focused on the dialogue going on. The advertiser’s intentions were to spark the conversation of which is better, the cookie or the crème. Oreo is already known as America’s favorite cookie so with this, I don’t believe they felt it necessary to make an ad solely to push their brand but to engage the consumer. For me personally and I’m sure many other households, as soon as the commercial ended we were all talking about which we liked better and disagreeing with one another. At the end of the commercial, they prompt you to go to Instagram and “choose your side”. I felt that the ad was extremely affective, I do not even like Oreo's but I enjoyed the commercial and would have even considered buying them to give them a second chance. I would not change anything, the advertising team did a great executing this commercial.
I believe that it is important to study advertisements because of the influence that they have on their audiences. Advertisements are unavoidable for us, if you watch television, read the paper, listen to the radio or watched a movie; you have been exposed to advertising. In the United States we are exposed to hundreds and in some cases, thousands of advertisements per day. Because of this exposure, we make purchase decisions and in turn we make that advertisement a success. Another important reason to study advertising is because of the amount of research that goes into finding a products target market. There is so much time and money put into each ad that is trying to persuade you to buy a product or service. So, if the ad is effective and you do use this product or service, it is also important to understand why. Each advertising firm works to find the right demographic and even psychographics to narrow down their target market. “… A company like Proctor & Gamble, currently the world’s leading advertiser, displays its more than three hundred major brands- most of them household products like Crest toothpaste and Huggies diapers- on TV shows viewed primarily by women” (Media and Culture 332). This quote from the text helps to give an idea of the research behind advertisements and ad placement. Proctor & Gamble chooses to target women for products like toothepaste and diapers because studies have shown that women primarily make the purchase decisions in a household and to go even further they have done enough research to figure out what time slot on television they should place their ad. “When we see an ad that doesn’t appeal to us, it may be because the ad is not aimed at any of the groups we belong to. For example, a TV commercial for denture cream isn’t meant to appeal to youngsters” (Contemporary Advertising pg 17) Next time you see an advertisement that affects you, take a moment to think about how you are their target market and how they have successfully reached you. “But to get a full sense of what advertising really is today, we need to understand something about where is has come from, how and why it grew to be so pervasive, and what forces drive it” (Contemporary Advertising, pg 9-10).
Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication 8th edition
Arens, William F., Michael F. Weigold, and Christian Arens. Contemporary Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2011. Print.
1.a) This advertisement for Pistachios is trying to give us a big impact by using a famous song and dance. This song and dance is Gangam style created by Psy who is a famous Korean singer all over the world. His song is arranged in this commercial and people wearing costume of Pistachio are dancing behind him. At the beginning of the commercial, he comes out of the Pistachio and start to dance. This commercial is so funny and full of humor.
ReplyDeleteb) The advertiser’s intention is to leave us a big impact. I think when I see the package of Pistachio, we will remember the famous song and dance of Gangam style. There is no relation between this song and Pistachio. Therefore, the advertiser used the popularity and humor of this song. Also, I guess the advertiser likes this song and dance.
c) I love this advertisement. I know there is no relation between Pistachio and Gangam style, but this commercial is so funny and made me laugh. I think humor is very important to hook people because people like funny things. Now, I have a good image for Pistachio, and maybe I will buy one and remember the dance and song.
d) In this advertisement, people just danced and sang, so we can’t know how this food tastes like. So I will make dancers eat and comment about the taste, smell and texture. Furthermore, I would like to add information about what the strong point of this product and how this food is different from other products.
2.Studying advertisements is so important because you can know how your idea is controlled by advertisements. They are flooded around us. It seems wherever we go, such small advertisements will greet our eyes: the supermarket, the subways, the stop sighs, the walls of public buildings, the garbage cans. It’s no exaggeration that we live in the world of advertisement. Advertisements will affect your thoughts, so sometimes you cannot choose what you want to buy by yourselves. It is good to get some information from advertisements but just accepting advertisements is dangerous. some of the advertisements are illegal, spreading false information and planning to treat people who are eager to solve their problems.sometimes advertisements make people stop thinking by themselves. We should learn what advertisements intend to do and try to do. Then we need to think by ourselves and learn to choose the best answer from a lot of choices. Also, if we learn advertisements, we may use skills of advertisements to attrace people.
Works Cited
http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/23171.html
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-top-10-most-dangerous-ads/
http://wenku.baidu.com/view/b29097593b3567ec102d8ada.html
The commercial I chose to analyze was the Coca-Cola commercial with the different things security cameras catch. The commercial shows little 2 second clips of different acts the security cameras catch that aren’t for security reasons. For example: stealing kisses, a man and women are on a park bench and the guy spontaneously kisses her; music addicts, a shot of this guy dancing like crazy to a street band; honest pickpockets, shows a man picking up something a lady dropped and handing it to her. It was hard to tell the over all demographics of the characters although it was easy to tell a few of the shots were from different countries. I thought it was really cool that they compiled the security camera footage to make the commercial. The song used was Supertramp’s “Give a Little Bit” which sets the overall mood and message of the commercial.
ReplyDeleteI think the advertiser’s intentions were to show the little things in life that are over looked. I think they took the main purpose of security cameras, which are to catch any activity usually unlawful things, and focused on the things we wouldn’t be expecting to find in security footage. I think it’s a message to move on from all of the bad things and do a few things that make you happy and can help other people. The final text that comes across the screen says “Let’s look at the world a little differently” which I believe solidifies the advertisers message.
I really liked this ad because of the way it used security cameras. The fact that security cameras are always recording isn’t something you think of much and it was fun to see what they catch that aren’t robberies or something.
I think the only thing that could have made this commercial a little more effective was if it were a little longer. Other than that I thought it was great.
I believe its important to study advertisements because there can be a lot of information in such a short segment of TV. I think it’s important to see what the advertiser is trying to get across and what is effective and affective. I feel like advertisements try and get the individual’s internal dialogue going throughout the ad and if it’s effective they’ll want to support whatever the ad is saying
I chose the Budweiser, Clydesdales commercial “the Brotherhood”. Over the years these Budweiser commercials have become a long awaited must see during the annual Super Bowl. This year’s commercial focused on a horse trainer and his Clydesdale. From the start of the commercial the audience is already hooked from Fleetwood Mac’s ionic “Landslide” and the beautiful rustic landscape of the horse farm. The story behind the commercial is that a man is preparing a new pony to be a part of the Budweiser Clydesdales. The scenes show how the average horse trainer and this Clydesdale build this strong bond over three years until he has to send the horse away. The Clydesdales are shown coming to Chicago and the man decides that he will go and see his horse. Although a little corny, the horse recognizes his old trainer and the two characters share a moment in the street together. The advertisers did a great job at hinting Budweiser throughout the commercial even though there was never an actor seen drinking the product. Budweiser made sure to include their logo on the man’s hat, add a beer into one scene when the man is sitting down at a table and they made sure it was smack dab on the horse container and all the trucks. From a visual perspective of the commercial all the colors were very vivid and pleasing to the eye. The commercial heavily concentrated on the company’s signature colors red and white. This was a brilliant idea because not only is it tapping into the audience’s sense memory of the colors but the colors also have great meaning behind them. As a color red symbolizes power and drive while white symbolizes contemporary things and wholesomeness (oracle foundation 1). The main idea the audience is drawn to during this commercial is how powerful a relationship can be. I believe the advertisers intentions were to gain an audience and new clientele by creating a heartwarming commercial. Although Clydesdales have nothing to do with beer they have become an ionic aspect of the brand; this idea that known as the association principle which states that advertisers use a positive or cultural image to appease an audience although it does not directly relate with the product (Media and Culture 338). As a whole commercial I thought it was really good. I’m not really into sappy love stories but I thought this commercial was really cute and succeeded endorsing the brand without shoving it down the viewer’s throat. I think the advertisers did a great job hooking an audience. They had simple but yet very effective product placement. What I think hooked me personally the most was that the commercial had an actual storyline and I found that a nice change from the rest of the commercials. I really liked this commercial and I really wouldn’t do much to change it. The only thing I was not a fan of was the ending. The ending seemed very corny and too Hollywood. I like the concept of the man and the horse meeting again but I don’t think I would make the ending seem so dramatic like that.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is important to study advertising because it is such a huge part of our society today. Now a day’s everything is based upon the material items you possess and the way you present yourself (Owen 1). Advertising believe it or not shapes our culture and society in a big way. Advertising tells us what we should look like, how we should act and what we should buy. Advertisements can actually do a lot of damage too many individuals self esteem if they are not presented in the right manner. Many advertisements today are airbrushed and feature people of godly like qualities. By studying advertisements, people can see how these images and ideas that are created are what is ultimately hindering us from embracing what we own and how we choose to accept that.
ReplyDeleteWorks cited
"Color in Advertising : Colors." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media and Culture. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Print. Owen, Sharon.
"What Value Is There in Studying Advertising?" What Value Is There in Studying Advertising? N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.
A) One of the commercials that really stuck out to me was one done by Hyundai. The commercial begins with a undersized kid, around the age of 9-12 throwing a football to himself. The kid is minding his own business when a bigger and older kid decides to take the football and says “Come back when you have a team.” It’s also noted that the “bully” is surrounded by his buddies. The victim sets out to assemble his team as he gets in the Hyundai with his mom. He not only finds a team to come back with but the team consists of two body building kids, a kid found welding with his father, a kid who wrestles bears, and the last one who saves grown ups from fires. They come back and announce that they are ready to play and when asked, “Touch or...” they respond with “Tackle” before the bully can even finish his sentence. The commercial ends saying “Gather your team” and promotes the new 7 passenger Sante Fe model by Hyundai. The very last second shows the newly assembled squad smirking at the bully and his team. Wish we could’ve seen the actual game.
ReplyDeleteB) I believe they created this commercial to grasp the attention of the audience through a very controversial and unsettled topic of bullying throughout America. I believe that Hyundai wanted to prove a point about safety and that their new car is safely equipped. Also, since it is a 7 passenger car and the mom needed all 7 seats to assemble the team, it’s trying to prove that with that type of car, one can take on several unexpected tasks. They also use the slogan “New thinking, new possibilities.” Hyundai is a company that has been trying to revamp their image and compete with other stable companies like Toyota and Honda. They are trying to prove that they are ready to compete against the highly efficient companies, just like the undersized kid is ready to take a stand and compete against the bigger and older group of kids.
C) I certainly enjoyed this ad and it’s one of the reasons I chose it. I was hooked right away when the bully said “Come back with a team” cause I had a feeling Hyundai could’ve taken the commercial in the right direction exactly the way they did. I’m sure most of the country loved the idea that a topic like that was being tackled in the right manner, and I’m sure a lot of mothers and fathers shared the same smile the kids shared with us at the end of the commercial
D) I have a hard time trying to figure out how to make the commercial more affective because I felt they did a brilliant job. The only thing I can think of is possibly showing a few features of the car since that is what they’re trying to sell, but overall the commercial and the company received plenty of attention.
Continued...
2. Of course commercials are meant for entertainment but there’s always been a purpose. It is very crucial to understand the certain effects of a commercial because it is one thing to laugh, but its another to understand. Many companies try to deceive others into buying their products and through an effective commercial, they just might be able to accomplish that. Without studying advertisements, I wouldn’t have came to the conclusion that the Hyundai ad used the association principle. A principle that persuades the audience by associating their product with a positive cultural value or image that has little connection to the product (Campbell 338). The thing is advertising plays a huge role in todays world. It’s an important way to get bring together the company and its customers. As a consumer, they need to be aware of what the advertisement is trying to get across and they need to have a knowledge about the advertisement. It would be very foolish to just act without analyzing. Also, advertising can be informing to society. Some advertisements that deal with smoking, alcohol consumption, child labor, and diseases can turn out to be very effective and important for society. It is another story if one were a marketing major so that they could fully understand how to develop an advertisement to increase the sales of their product. Advertisements are everywhere, and it is important for viewers to fully understand so they aren’t taken advantage of in today’s society.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.managementstudyguide.com/objectives-importance-of-advertising.htm
http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/sites/default/files/advertising-promotional-communication-sample-study-guide.pdf
1A.) The commercial that stood out the most to me from Super Bowl XLVII was the Budweiser commercial which featured the Budweiser Clydesdale. The commercial features a man, a horse trainer, and a Clydesdale horse. The commercial begins on a farm and follows the man and the horse from the time the horse is a foal up until it is fully grown. Over the course of the commercial you can see the horses training with the man, and the strong bond that they develop with one another over time. When the horse is finally fully grown the Budweiser truck comes to take it away to be one of its signature Budweiser Clydesdales. After the horse has gone the man is shown missing the horse and three years later he finds that the Budweiser Clydesdales will be coming to Chicago. The man travels to Chicago to see his former horse in a parade, when he sees the horse it does not acknowledge him. He thinks the horse has forgotten him. Saddened, the man gets into his truck to go home, but just as he is pulling off he sees his former horse charging down the street towards him in his mirror. He leaves the car and runs to the horse. They stop and look at each other lovingly, and finally embrace. The few actors in the commercial, although only one is truly relevant, are all white males seemingly middle aged. The environment of the commercial goes from a farm to a city and the camera angles are mostly shot from the point of view of an onlooker or the man as he’s training the horse. The music in the commercial is a song called Landslide by Fleetwood Mack. The melody is happy and calm. The actual words are perfectly fitting of the commercial with lines like “I’ve been afraid of changes, cause I built my life around you..” and “But time makes you bolder, even children get older, I’m getting older too..”.
ReplyDeleteB.) I think advertisers intention were to strike an emotional nerve in everyone who watched it and do so by appealing to several different groups. The man is on a farm raising and training a horse and this reaches the farmer demographic. He is good looking and about seemingly middle aged and this would reach both middle aged women, since he is attractive, and men because he is around their age, very masculine, and its a beer commercial. He is relatable to them and beer is to men what wine is to women. It also reaches a demographic of animal lovers through its portrayal of the unbreakable bond the man shares with his horse. Most importantly though is the commercial ability to affect the humanistic part of everyone who views it. It is passionate, loving, heart warming and it has a happy ending. People love happy endings.
C.) The advertiser was extremely successful. I loved the ad and thought it was completely adorable and emotional. I was definitely hooked in and every time I’ve watched the commercial since the first time, I still feel the same way.
ReplyDeleteD.) I don’t think it’d be possible to make the commercial more affective without it being corny or rendering it completely ineffective. After watching it several times on YouTube and reading over a hundred comments from people, some “..shedding the most manly of tears” and others with “..tears streaming down my face”, I think it is perfect just the way it is (Budweiser Official YouTube Account 1).
2. I believe it is important to study advertising because whether we’d like to admit it or not it effects all of us all day every day. Advertising has two main functions, “..representing a wide range of consumer goods to the public” and also “plays in manipulating social values and attitudes” (Owens 10). We as consumers are subject to both forms and functions of advertising. People need to be aware of the range of goods however it is our job to not allow ourselves to be manipulated by the advertisements. We need to actually inform ourselves about the products with our own research and not just go by what the advertisements say. All positive effects will be highlighted while the negatives, if there are any, will sometimes not be mentioned at all. It is our job to separate what is real and true and what is not since “Many consumer advertisements work on a dream-like level..”(Owens 1). After all, their sole purpose is to sell as many products as they can to make as great a profit as possible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPG7PcI67dE
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/smo9501.html
The 2013 Budweiser Clydesdale commercial is always one of the most anticipated advertisements of the Super Bowl season. The commercial this year took a different approach, taking more of an emotional aspect towards their commercial. First thing we see is a establishing shot of the farm and the song “Landslide” by Fleedwood Mac. This song alone instantly sets up this tempo of an uplifting coming of age story. It then cuts to a one shot of the farmer and then one of the Clydesdale (mediaknowall.com). The song progresses as the Clydesdale is fed and nourished as you see it getting older. The farmer and the Clydesdale are becoming more and friendlier with each other, but the song lyrics about change infer that there is a strong change on the way. In the distance as the farmer is plowing with the Clydesdale a Budweiser truck appears in the distance. The driver and the farmer shake hands and the horse is put on the truck. As the truck drives away the lyrics “Children get older” comes on and the farmer is shown alone as “I'm getting older too” heard in the background (lyricsfreak.com). That part alone almost made me cry and the fact that I keep watching it, it’s painful every time. Anyway back to the point, the imagery shown of the horse leaving and the farmer alone sad shows just how strong their relationship was. The commercial than fades to show the farmer reading a newspaper there years later to see that the Budweiser Clydesdale is coming to town. The farmer drives into town to see the Clydesdale and waits at the front, the farmer thinks that the Clydesdale did not notice, but the Clydesdale took notice. As the farmer is about to leave the Clydesdale runs down the street to greet his old friend, and the commercial ends with me on the brisk of crying up a storm.
ReplyDeleteThe advertiser’s intention was to play off this emotional storytelling of a coming of age story about growing up and change. This advertisement was my favorite commercial of the Super Bowl. Its Budweiser, they have a tradition with the Clydesdale mascot and it has been successful. People like me were anticipating this commercial to come on. That being said, judging from the past the Clydesdale commercials always told a story of beating the odds. They were always fun, indirectly pushing the product and they have come to an understanding of what there consumers are expecting. The commercial this year was no different, as this hart warming tale showed how powerful an advertisement could be in a matter of minutes. What makes it appealing is that there is no controversy with it. The commercial is humorous, yet serious. The song was made for an advertisement like this. There is no dialogue and it is an overall good will commercial.
Advertisements have become one of the largest parts of what makes a person in Western society. We are defined by the brands we wear, the shoes we buy, and the headphones that we use. People judge based on how many named brands that you’re wearing more so than whom we are as human beings. Particularly shoes, especially sneakers have become a large and dynamic part of today’s culture. No matter what design you wear today, people have become walking advertisements for an image and million dollar corporations. You can’t live in a modern society without being exposed to advertisements. According to the text book, “ads take up more than half the space in most newspapers and consumer magazines” (321). With that being said, studying advertisements reflects what values our culture accepts and rejects. Super bowl ads that didn’t work show what we as Americans enjoy and despise. People can say that ads don’t affect their product choices, but it does. The “in” toy, clothing, sneaker, computer, car, etc have all gotten that way because of stronger advertisements that appealed to a large number of people. Consumers were able to connect with these ads and this reflects the popularity of a product. The study of advertisements is more than a civil reflection, but it involves a lot of money. Without the funding of advertisements for TV, radio, newspapers, and websites, these forms of media would have a difficult time of being around. The study of advertisements allows for a better understanding of what consumers feel are the morals of society.
ReplyDeleteMedia and Culture Textbook
http://www.mediaknowall.com/camangles.html
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/fleetwood+mac/landslide_20054185.html
This was another year of unbelievable Super Bowl commercials. With many that made me laugh, contemplate and come dangerously close to crying, one in particular really stuck to me. With an unforgettable opening shot, Paul Harvey, an American radio broadcaster for the ABC Radio Networks, begins his utterly poignant speech “So God Made a Farmer”, originally delivered for the FFA in 1978. The advertisement, which unexpectedly turns into a Dodge Ram sponsoring, continues to display aesthetic visuals in high-definition of labor being accomplished like no one other then a farmer can achieve. The point of this commercial is to homage farmers. It uses slideshow depictions of life in, what seems to be, the barren lands of Oklahoma. Pictures of dirty, exhausted and chipped hands appear, followed by large tractors, to the praying of a man with his hat near his heart. There are fields being cultivated and children’s exhibiting faces that display gratitude, innocence and love. Beautiful shots of unfamiliar landscape to those whom are city bound; gray bird-filled skies and the elegant, muscular body of a farm horse project the rural farmers reality, and the origin of what America is based on – hard work, diligence, and innovation. The commercial contained very little diversity, there are two females of different age ranges, and a single black guy – the rest of the shots consist of matured, white males whose faces contain years of sweat, determination and experience. This is one that sinks in deep; it pulls on the heartstrings by showing us what we used to be, what so many before us worked towards to bring us to present day. It entices you with American pride and produce, and honestly moved me in ways I can’t seem to depict in words. It, like so many others around me, captured me and it is a commercial I will not soon forget – but that’s the whole point of advertisements is it not? We cannot forget the significant ending to this heartwarming commercial, a thirty thousand plus dollar ram resting on farming field. The entirety of the message is completely flipped because of the simple fact that low-income farmers would have to give a foot and a leg in order to pay for a whopping vehicle such as Ram. “They’re interested in branding. The proper response to the commercial’s message is a wary cynicism. Because these days farming has little to do with God and even less to do with the can-do spirit of American individualism. In fact it’s a hugely capital-intensive business, meaning it requires massive investment to be competitive, meaning it’s a game of giants” (Smith, Kyle “Chrysler, and The Most Acclaimed Super Bowl Ad Of All Time? Here's the Rest of the Story).
ReplyDeleteThe importance of studying advertising revolves around the immensity of product, solutions etc. thrown at us in a given day. Commercials and infomercials and ads consist of half of what is shown on TV, and the same goes for Internet websites and daily newspapers. These gimmicks are implementing false ideas of reality, and, in a sense, urging us to try and better ourselves by fabricating an understanding of “magical” resolve. By understanding what is consistently and repetitively being visuals pushed towards us, we will contain an overall better understanding of what is necessary in our lives and what’s not. You are there target, and we must learn how to slowly but surely step outside of others objectives of persuasion.
ReplyDeleteThis is the link for the ad: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/04/the-14-best-super-bowl-2013-commercials-video.html
The commercial I choose for this assignment was the KIA Sorento. The commercial starts off when the son sitting in the back seat of the Sorento and he ask his father where do baby come from. The father starts explaining and they start to show how babies get ready for there journey down to earth. They show how the babies are of different species . The music in the commercial started out as slow and soft then as the started to get more into the commercial the picked up the beat of the music. In this commercial they used a lot of different angles they used eye level because when the camera is on the father he looks back and sees his son which shows a real-world angle. Also, bird eyes angle was used when the car was shown from above as it drove away. I believe that the commercial intentions was to get family men to buy the car because of the way that they plotted the commercial. Having a young child and a baby in the backseats of the car and his wife in the passenger seat. Many commercials have slogans which is "the phrase that attempts to sell a product by capturing its essence in words" (Media and Culture 327). This commercial's slogan is " it has an answer for everything". I liked the ad but it did not really caught my attention when it was on during the super bowl I had to take a second look in order to really notice it . If I could change the add I think I would have changed the way the father explained where babies come from. I believe that it important to study advertisements because most of the things that we read have advertisement and it is important to know how big corporations are trying to get us to buy there products. Advertisements have a huge impact on what we buy and don’t buy because we can buy a product for cheaper but because we saw the advertisement one day we might pick the band name product that was on television.
http://www.mediacollege.com/video/camera/angles/
Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication 8th edition
The commercial I have chosen is the 2013 Budweiser commercial. Personally I did not watch the super bowl. The only commercials I saw were the ones shown in class. The Budweiser commercial, in my opinion was the most moving. It starts off with a man raising a young horse that will one day become a Budweiser Clydesdale. He trains, feeds and ultimately bonds with the Clydesdale. The Clydesdale is then taken away from the farm and is sent to go train. Three years pass by since the man has seen his horse. The Clydesdale is put in the show. Hoping to get a glimpse of him the man goes. As the horse passes by, nothing happens. The man disappointed, gets in his truck to go home. Just then the horse runs to the man and they are reunited. They embrace each other whole hearteningly. Throughout the commercial the song Landslide by Fleetwood Mac is playing. The song just brings stronger emotions and feelings for it is a sentimental song that is relatable. Just the song alone brought a tear to my eye. It was smart to include an animal in the commercial, fore most people have a soft spot when it comes to those types of things. The commercial was shot wonderfully. It had just the right amount of heartwarming senses. The commercial was very vibrant.
ReplyDeleteObviously the advertiser’s intentions are to sell more beers, but they did it in a way that made is seem that alcohol can lead to heartwarming, family experiences. There was not one person in the commercial drinking an alcohol beverage. The message was more family oriented. It made it seem that Budweiser is a family company, that does more then provide alcohol. This ad was my favorite, they immediately hooked me in with the song and pulled on my heartstrings with the concept of almost a father and son. The young horse represented to me a young child. The parent raised him and of course it was then time to go into the real world. Just when he thought the horse wanted nothing to do with him, he surprised him, like most children do. Also the fact that they used a man instead of a female worked nicely because it brought more intensity. I would not change the ad at all. It was very affective. It was the top commercial of the Super Bowl (USA Today).
It is important to study advertisements because there is not a day that goes by in which we do not see them. They are all over the Internet, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. We are constantly forced to see them and have them shoved down our throat. Advertising isn’t going anywhere. It is a way of life, a way to get the consumer to buy. “ The growth of the industry has not diminished. Ads continue to fascinate” Without theses ads, media would need to reinvent) Media & Culture).
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/02/04/clydesdale-ad-wins-by-a-nose/1889693/
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.
DORITOS
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that this commercial grabbed my attention. A man was walking and eating Doritos and saw a goat for sale eating Doritos too. The man decided to buy this goat from another fellow who was sitting in a chair and his neck was broken. The man took the goat to his home to eat Doritos together. After that he showed the goat that he had a lot of Doritos bags inside his cabinet. Later, the man was working to build his project a ship made of wood and the goat ate 48 of Doritos until that time.. After that, the man was lying down on his bed and the goat still eating Doritos and reached 156 bags of Doritos!! The man found out that, this goat likes eat Doritos too much. Next day, the goat went to the cabinet to get some Doritos. However, the goat didn’t find any Doritos and it started to scream, break the man picture and break his wood ship project. The goat went to the man’s room and opened his door firmly and the man gasped. The goat saw a bunch of Doritos and the man was writing on a plate (Goat 4 Sale). At the end the goat closed the room’s door slightly with its hooves.
As I said this commercial hooked me. Even though I’m not interesting in watching commercials, but I enjoyed watching it. I love Doritos too, it’s my favorite. I found the commercial very funny and interesting to watch. I think it’s not that easy to tell a story in 30 seconds. I liked everything about it the actors, camera angles, sounds effect. However, if I could change this story. I might add something after the end. I’d put the man outside in sale yard with his goat and Doritos. The man should has broken bones too. That’s might be silly, but I like it this way.
Why we have to study advertisements? For me, I just want to know how the media peoples think about it. How they can control our brains with some pictures and clips. I want to know what the strategy they used to hook us. I’m one of bunch of people who doesn’t watch TV, just because it has a lot of commercials. And that’s why I think it’s very important to study advertisements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skyfAhlHj2E
Lately, I have been obsessed with Mad Men. Whenever I feel compelled to watch TV, I instantly go on to Netflix and watch an episode. Mad Men is a show about an advertisement company in New York during the 1950’s and 1960’s when cigarette ads were huge. I never was that critical over advertisement until now. It is interesting to me to watch the whole process they go through to create an ad on the show. A consumer must: be aware of the product, have knowledge about the product, like the product, prefer the product, and have strong convictions towards the product in order to purchase the product (Clow 165). This is what ads try to achieve usually by the tools of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. Advertising agencies also must research and determine the psychological factors or the values and lifestyles of the consumer in order to; reach out to a certain demographic that would be interested in the product and to expand those demographics (Campbell 330). Therefore, it is important for me to analyze ads to better understand why I am buying the product and if I actually need it. It is also important to understand the process of advertising so that if I ever need to advertise I can do so successfully. I may want to go into advertising one day so I like to pay attention to ads, specifically, commercials.
ReplyDeleteThe Budweiser Clydesdale commercial caught my attention during the 2013 Super Bowl. The commercial captures various scenes of a man raising a Clydesdale horse, since the horse’s birth. Sadly, the horse eventually has to leave the man to pull a chariot for Budweiser. The horse trainer is heartbroken. Years later, the man goes to see the horse at a parade. The horse recognizes the man and the two romantically run to each other at the end. Throughout the whole commercial, Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” plays, heightening the emotional tension. This commercial resonated with me even though I hate beer. “Landslide” reminds me of my mom. My mom raised me like the man raised the horse. My mom had to “set me free” so that I could go to college similar to how the man releases the horse to work for Budweiser. The scenario of the commercial is relatable to everyone. Everyone has had a friend that moved away or has been away from their family before or ..etc. so the feeling of despair in the commercial is familiar. The idea that they use a horse, instead of a person, adds a light comical tone to the commercial. Even though I dislike beer, I remember the commercial because I related to it and thought it was funny: two essential factors in advertising. I wouldn’t change the commercial because it did its job: I remember the commercial and am telling my friends about it.
Sources:
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.
Clow, Kenneth E.; Baack, Donald (2007). Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications 3rd edition. Pearson Education. pp. 165-171
ReplyDeleteThe advertisement I chose to analyze is a personal favorite of mine which is the E-Trade commercial for the Super Bowl of 2013. I chose this ad due to the fact it really touches the humor sense and E-Trade is now known for making entertaining commercials which people look forward to every year during the super bowl. E-Trade is known for using a “baby” with a grown up voice for their advertisements to add humor along with explaining to the audience the benefits of joining E-Trade. Their first advertisement which starred this humorous brat aired during the 2007 Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Since then they have aired similar comedy commercials and built up their reputation and drew audiences to the screen while watching Super Bowl commercials.
In my opinion, this advertisement did not disappoint expectations when it comes to humor. The setting of the commercial began in the baby’s bedroom, with the crib in the background and an enormous pile of money sitting next to him. The baby is at the computer and begins to explain the benefits of E-Trade which include no hidden fees and saving money on people’s 401K as opposed to leading competitors who have many hidden fees. The baby goes on to suggest ways of “blowing this fat stack of cash” which he includes activities such as clubbing, polo, running from the bulls, hanging out in outer space, and other activities that seem to be a part of a wealthy higher lifestyle. Also, all of these scenes include the baby, so it shows the baby in a club toasting with milk and in outer space which adds much comedy. Then the baby suggests if people don’t want to join in those activities they can just simply go to E-Trade and save the money.
I think the advertisers intentions were to clearly play the “cute” card in attracting their audience to invest with E-Trade. This advertisement can be directed to mostly people post-graduation from college due to the fact that they are just starting to get into the job market and get a salary and invest money into their 401K. They definitely used a somewhat extreme approach but I do think they succeeded in getting their point across to the audience which is that people can save money with E-Trade because they have no hidden fees. I personally loved the advertisement. I thought it was very funny and used a unique and original approach to grab the audience’s attention and get the point across. One thing that may make the advertisement more effective may be to add a few more benefits of switching to E-Trade. They used the example of it can save you money because of no hidden fees but if I were a potential investor I would like to hear more benefits I would receive if I were to use their company.
I think it is an extremely intelligent idea to study advertisements. According to the book “Advertisements are everywhere and in every media form. Ads take up more than half the space in most daily newspapers and consumer magazines. They are inserted into trade books and text books.” I could not agree more. I personally see and hear countless advertisements through a day and knowing how advertisements operate and manipulate people can help one to pick it apart better and know if their product is worth buying or not. According to smallbusiness.chron.com there are five popular ways of advertising which include, repetition, claims, association, bandwagon, and promotions. If one was conscience of these techniques, they can pick apart advertisements from say the Tobacco Industry, or car companies and use it for their full unaltered knowledge.
One commercial that stood out to me was the Tide super bowl commercial .A guy and his friend are watching the game, when the guy drops his chip on his shirt. The friend points out that the stain on his shirt looks like Joe Montana, and the guy gets so excited, he goes to the press and gets a lot of publicity. He ends up giving speeches, opening a park dedicated to the stain, and then displays the stained jersey in his home, where fans of the 49ers go to see it and get merchandise dedicated to the “miracle stain”. The ad ends with the man’s wife washing the prized shirt, claiming that it was dirty, but she makes it obvious that she is a Ravens fan. The ad then cuts to the Tide logo and the phrase “No stain is sacred”. There was a diverse group of actors in this ad, and a majority appeared to be adults.
ReplyDeleteI believe the advertiser’s intentions were to use the fun of the Super Bowl and show that even if a stain is remarkable or significant, it’s still a stain and can be easily washed out with Tide. I think they used the significance of the Super Bowl to their advantage by using a situation any football fan can relate to, especially if it’s in favor of their team.
I personally like the ad. It had a plot and a twist, and I thought it was cute and a perfect super bowl ad. Tide played for both types of fans, and didn’t only service fans of the San Francisco 49ers, but also the Baltimore Ravens, and I think that while it might have only been good for this year’s super bowl, it was still pretty memorable.
If I could make the ad be more affective, I’d probably make the wife’s presence more important. I probably would have made the ad more of a battle between the couple, but the direction Tide took with this plot was very affective in that the audience can relate to the situation of having something like a “miracle stain” and losing it to something simple, like laundry.
I think it’s important to study advertisements because their success usually reflects what interests society has at the moment. The brevity of advertisements allows people to focus when their interest is captured, and by identifying what the average person is going to be willing to sit through for thirty seconds or more, we can see what people are going to be willing to buy or gain more interest in. With companies using techniques like “the famous-person testimonial”, “the plain-folks pitch”, “the snob-appeal approach”, “the band-wagon effect”, “the hidden-fear appeal”, and “irritation advertising”, I think that studying advertisements is important because ads have a role in determining the direction a society will take based on what is being fed to them by the media(Media and Society 337). By studying advertisements we can become aware of these techniques and others, and the “affective conditioning” these ads subject us to(http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201008/what-does-advertising-do). I feel that while advertisements are viewed negatively a majority of the time, there are benefits to studying them and the effects on society, since ads allow us to see where general interests are held and what values we still hold as people caught in the web of the media.
A commercial from this year’s super bowl that really stuck out to me was the Budweiser commercial. In this commercial, a farmer was shown raising a Clydesdale horse on his farm from when it was born until it was recruited by Budweiser for their parade. Three years after the horse was recruited, the Budweiser parade came to Chicago and the farmer attended it in hopes of seeing his horse. During the parade, he was wondering if his horse would recognize him, but since the horse had blinders on, he didn’t see the farmer. However, after the parade, when the horse’s blinders were taken off, the horse spotted the farmer leaving and chased after him. As the farmer was getting in his truck, he saw the horse running towards him in his rear view mirror, got out of his truck and they both happily greeted each other. In the background, the extremely well known and touching song Landslide by Fleetwood Mac was playing which allowed to audience to sympathize with the farmer’s situation.
ReplyDeleteThe official name of this commercial is “Brotherhood”. I feel this commercial was clearly appropriately named because of the heartwarming mini-story it told. “Brotherhood” successfully connected with the audience's emotions throughout the whole commercial. I think an interpretation of the advertiser’s intentions for this commercial was to show that long lasting bonds and friendships can be built over Budweiser. I personally felt this commercial was definitely the most memorable one shown throughout the Super Bowl. An article in the Huffington Post stated that the three week old foal used in this commercial was appropriately named Hope several days of the commercial was aired because of the sense of optimism and hopefulness audiences felt after watching it. This is the reason why I enjoyed this commercial so much. The farmer’s acting in addition to listening to Landslide allowed me to empathize with the his character. In addition, I feel that Landslide was probably the most affective part of this commercial because the lyrics are so deep and meaningful and it’s the kind of song that gets stuck in your head for hours on end after listening to it. I felt “Brotherhood” was a very well advertised commercial even though it wasn’t necessarily advertising a new product of Budweiser. Instead, it grasped the audience’s attention instantly and synonymously advertised their beer through the Clydesdale horse and the Budweiser parade because Clydesdale horses are such a well know symbol of the company. This being said, I feel “Brotherhood” was a very affective commercial and I wouldn’t change any aspect of it.
Studying advertising is very important because of the fact that consumerism impacts our present day society so significantly. Successful advertising allows consumers to be well informed about products they are thinking about and intend to purchase. Advertisements are framed around economic and ideological functions. The ideological function is a fundamental construct of human life because it refers to the human way of thinking which allows advertisers play an essential role in determining the values and beliefs held in society. The economic function refers to the physical act of our consumerism society.
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/clydesdale-commercial-budweiser-name_n_2625562.html
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/smo9501.html
I actually found my ad on a “top 10 super bowl ads 2013” youtube list. The funny thing is that the one I liked the most was in the “honorable mention” category. This Samsung commercial is about Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd being called in by Samsung to brainstorm with an agent about advertising ideas. I enjoyed the ad because it amused me without doing something absurd or shocking.
ReplyDeleteIt consisted of Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd giving one another childish, snide insults while coming up with unoriginal ad ideas which are quickly dismissed by the advertising agent. I also enjoyed it because it openly spoofs a lot of advertising clichés. Something I noticed – along with several other youtube commenters – was the excessive number of “baby ads” this year. In fact many comments showed open distain for this kind of ad, and they seem to be the most hated type. So of course Paul Rudd’s first suggestion was to do one of those baby ads “that people love so much.” It was a less-than-subtle wink to the audience about the unoriginality of advertising, and it was funny.
I’ve often found that funny ads tend to sway me more than serious ones. This one relied more on writing than slapstick, so it stood out to me. It got my attention by showing Seth Rogen, and then it drew me into the comedy when I realized it was an ad about advertising.
Advertisements are something we often take for granted. I come from a family that always mutes the ads when they come on and makes no effort to pay attention to them if we can help it. If they’re a good advertisement, they can sucker in even people like us. I’ve also met people who know their ads, and can quote all the current most popular ones. Some people even look at me weird if I’m not familiar with the ad they’re talking about. So while ads serve the sole purpose of increasing the likelihood of sales, they’re also part of our pop culture in their composition. People enjoy them and feel connected to them, even if their intentions are rarely noble. The most fascinating thing about advertisements is all the different ways they can get you to look at the screen. There’s something for everyone in advertising. It’s a reflection of capitalism at its best and worst, and it’s a reflection of the times in terms of what appeals to people most. Many people are as nostalgic about old ads as they are about old movies.
I think my favorite ad in the past decade was the JG Wentworth one with the opera. There’s nothing truly original about it, but I always found it classy to use real opera singers to drill the phrase “877-CASH-NOW” into my mind. It’s the kind of phrase will stay with me until the day I die. I might even tell my kids about it. (If I have any.)
It’s that kind of attachment that sells. We should analyze ads because they explore the capabilities the visual medium. They explore what makes us enjoy things and what makes us remember things. Those are the same tools used in more serious films and media outlets.
1.
ReplyDeleteA) I chose to look at was the “Oreo Whisper Fight” commercial from the 2013 Super Bowl. The commercial begins with two men sitting at a table in a library eating Oreos arguing over which is better, the cookie or the cream. As they are doing this, the other people in the library, both men and women start arguing with other over whether the cookie or the cream is the best part of the Oreo, while whispering, causing damage to the library property. As they damage the library, a fire breaks out; the fire department comes in whispering “Fire!” The librarian calls the cops, who arrive driving through the wall of the building, whispering into their loudspeaker device for the people in the library to stop fighting.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kMWLYYcAYw)
B) I believe the advertisers intentions were to make the commercial memorable, as the commercial is very ironic. The common thought when we think of libraries is that they are silent places. When in a library, we understand that we are supposed to be quiet, and if we do talk, we are supposed to whisper. This commercial is ironic because while the people in the library are whispering, they are damaging the library and some people are physically fighting each other, yet are whispering. It goes even further when the fire department and police officers enter the library, as they whisper while trying to make peace and restore the library.
C) I liked the advertisement. When I watched it air during the Super Bowl, I laughed at it. What made me laugh was the irony of fighting in a library, in addition to the police whispering at the disorderly library patrons to stop fighting. The amount of chaos in the library did not mesh with the tone of voice that was used. Nabisco, Oreo’s maker, succeeded in hooking me in.
D) I would not change the commercial, as I truly think the ironic chaos was funny for all American audiences, as we know silence is expected in a library setting. The fact that the people in the library were willing to fight over which part of the Oreo they think is better, makes it seem like Oreos are something we are missing out on, if we have never had one, or if we haven’t had one in a while. In my eyes, the commercial was affective. When we find something funny or amusing, we are more likely to tell others about it, as we did in class, and it receives more attention and is more likely to become memorable.
2. I believe it is important to study advertisements. Advertising serves to get us interested in a particular product, activity, or a lifestyle, such as the depiction of a religious way of living. During the Super Bowl, as a relevant example, companies pay millions, if not billions, of dollars to air their commercials. This is largely due to the large audience watching the Super Bowl, where the commercials are sure to be seen by many Americans, and also due to the demography of the audience watching during this particular time (Media and Culture, 330). As with the Oreo commercial, the ending mentioned that viewers should “Choose your side on Instagram,” many products are advertising on social networking sites. Social networking sites allow for ordinary people to express their views on a product honestly, whether it’s in a positive or negative way. This testimonial off ordinary people can create a “band wagon effect,” which is, “an advertising strategy that incorporates exaggerated claims that everyone is using a particular product, so you should too” (Media and Culture, 337, G-1). The commercials in the Super Bowl, this year, had us talking, even the news networks have mentioned some of “their” favorites. To buy airtime seems to be worth it for the giant companies during this televised event. “CBS has essentially sold out its ad inventory for its coming broadcast of Super Bowl XLVII at prices averaging between $3.7 million and $3.8 million, according to ad buyers” (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/02/super-bowl-nbc-ad-smash.html). Studying why companies are so willing to spend this kind of money on a sixty seconds or less advertisement should make us think about why this happens, year after year. Studying advertisements can help us better understand our society’s ways of thinking about what the media is trying to regard as the next best thing we should desire, and this we should be wary about, as well as interested in.
ReplyDeleteThere was one commercial that although we studied in class really stood out to me. It was the Budweiser commercial with the horse and the farmer. I mean who doesn't like horses? With this said, the ad starts out with a baby horse, and a male farmer who throughout the years, as the horse becomes older and bigger create a bond unlike any other (as it seems). As soon as the owner realized the horse was getting stronger and running faster, he knew he needed to be somewhere else, and not on a farm. It sort of reminds me of a father or mother, they want you to go out and explore the world after college, and will not have you living with them, and to be reliant of their actions. The advertisers intentions, I believe was to exemplify beer being a friend. In my eyes, the relationship between the horse and the owner, is the way that people feel about beer, and how they are reliant on alcohol. I honestly LOVED the advertisement. I felt like although it didn't really have a clear plot, it was sentimental, and had me cued in the entire time. I love horses, so I was able to watch the whole thing in entirety. If I was to change the ad at all, it would just make the plot a bit clearer. I do not know how, but that was the one weak point in the ad that I was kind of saying to myself as I was watching it was "what is going on right now? How does this have to do with a horse?"
ReplyDeleteIt is important to study ads because ads can give you information about anything, and tell you a little bit about them to either intrigue you, or to manipulate you into believing something is the most amazing thing in the world, or it can help ensure safety. Advertising is used mainly for business reasons, but sometimes they are used to enforce laws as well. This is important to study because although I know I am someone that gets extremely angry with stupid useless ads, it is important to realize WHAT advertising is there for. "Advertising is a marketing tool that is becoming impossible to avoid in everyday life and can range from subtle word of mouth strategies to full blow million dollar media campaigns (Blurtit)." Not only is it important to study advertisements, but it is important to see what the purpose of advertising is. "The first and key factor of advertising is that it will draw an audience's attention to a product or service offered by a company (Blurtit)." It is also important to study the negatives and positives of advertising. Lets see, multiple people in this world really hate advertisements. Think about youtube, when you're trying to watch a video but before it is a stupid advertisement. Well, sometimes what people do not realize is that it is very positive as well. In cases of drinking ads, you see this : "Friends don't let friends drive drunk(Miranda Morley)." Although this is the case in many situations, advertisements can also just be a scam to get your money. "We carry over $680 billion dollars in revolving credit and over 1.7 trillion dollars in total debt. That comes out to about an $10,700 per household with only about half of individual credit card holders paying their balance in a full month (Adam Dachis)." I know actually a few families who have actually been scammed through advertisements. I have been before as well. My neighbor once spent money on a stupid product they found on tv, and as a result, they never received the product until a few weeks after they ordered it, and the product never even worked. All in all, the advertisement agency is important to look out for because there are many positives to it, but there are also negatives to it which we need to look out for because it can cause things such as debt. The ads during superbowl were extremely moving, some more than others, but mostly were very moving. Although the ad that I chose is not really clear in the plot structure, what made it so popular was the motivational, sentimental value it had. So, not all ads are that bad, but just watch out!
One commercial of the 2013 superbowl that stuck out to me was the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial. The commercial starts off showing a pony and its caretaker. The caretaker is a white male who clearly shares a special bond with this horse. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac is playing throughout the commercial, giving an emotional effect. The commercial shows the horse growing older, and how close the two of them become. The horse then grows older and becomes a Budweiser Clydesdale horse, forcing the man and horse to part ways. Then, shots of the man appearing lonely and nostalgic about the horse are shown. Three years later, the man sees the same horse at a parade with the horses in Chicago. As he is leaving, the horse recognizes the man through the crowd and starts running after his car, clearly missing and wanting more of the man’s companionship and company. I believe that the advertiser’s intentions were to emotionally touch viewers. This can be inferred by both the touching subject of a strong bond between the man and horse, paired with the background music. They also tried to incorporate Budweiser into the commercial as many ways as they could. Between the man’s hat, his beverage of choice, and the trucks driving by, Budweiser can Personally, I really liked the ad. The combination of being an emotional typical girl at times paired with my love for animals made tears form in my eyes by the end! They definitely succeeded in hooking me in and it stuck out in my mind as a superbowl commercial to remember. I think the more emotional side of it stuck out to women while the beer aspect of it stuck out to men, which I found very successful. Honestly, I cannot think of anything about this ad that I would change. I thought that it was not only affective with getting their product’s name out there and seen, but also affective in sticking in people’s hearts and minds. Corporate sponsors spend millions on just seconds for a commercial, especially during the superbowl. By 2010, 14 minutes of each hour of television were dedicated to commercials, and it would not surprise me if that number has risen since then. (Media & Culture, p. 321) It always seems like our favorite programs are annoyingly being interrupted by these ads, however it is important to study and understand these ads. Many people have claimed that advertisements have become a huge part of their lives. If you take a closer look, they really do influence our every day lives. They draw you in, and help you make decisions on what to buy, eat, wear, watch, and so on. Sometimes, ads are not appropriate or give off a harmful, wrong message. One reason that it is important to study and know advertisements is so that people are capable of knowing that sometimes what is put out in the media is just a way of persuasion, trying to sway people to do something. It is important to not always let advertisements get to us, and realize that companies and sponsors will often do or say inappropriate things to get their way. Advertisements have the power to make the viewer differentiate who they are, and who they could be or what they have, and what they could have. (http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/smo9501.html) Sometimes you must really ask yourself if you need something, or if the ad is just doing a great job at making you believe you do! Advertisers seem to be experts at manipulation, and through studying them you may be stronger in resisting such manipulation and see through it. Advertisements are surrounding us in every day life. Their effect on people has only grown, and will continue to grow. (http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/rwh9501.html)
ReplyDeleteNothing says “youth” like a 2am Taco Bell run-- especially when the retirement home’s bedtime is at 8. Using the association principle, a “persuasive technique. . .that associates a product with a positive cultural value,” Taco Bell’s Super Bowl commercial plays on the concept of youth, age, and living (Campbell 338).
ReplyDeleteThe first scene of the commercial throws you: an old man is tucked into his bed as a nurse wishes him a goodnight. I’ve had a grandfather in a nursing home type setting, as have many; the mood is glum and the atmosphere is more than a bit morbid. Brilliantly, as we all assume that this is going to be a heartstring puller, the old man escapes! He’s out the door and climbs into a car full of his equally old, but equally rambunctious friends. A Spanish version of F.U.N’s song, “We Are Young,” (very cleverly) plays in the background as the old man mischievously presses his nipple against the front window of a formal eatery, or an old woman emerges confidently from a club bathroom stall with a man half her age. Cars with hydraulics, jumping in pools, making out in corners, raging and raving: these old people know how to live (figuratively and literally). The night ends outside of Taco Bell: the old folk enjoying the food chain’s famed “fourth meal” while the cops drive by and look menacingly upon the old hooligans. The commercial ends with the men and women returning to their retirement home, with the tagline “Live Mas” in the last shot.
2am Taco Bell runs, and elderly people engaging in debaucherous shenanigans: both represent fun, a sense of eternal youthfulness, along with a bit of rebelliousness and thrill. Sure, a bit of fun is being poked at the elderly here -- but it is all in good fun. It is a play on the habits of the youth that do go to Taco Bell. The intention of the ad makers is clear: Eat Taco Bell because we know your lives and approve (partying and ending up at their restaurant). Eat Taco Bell because it’s cool (like getting a tattoo or setting off fireworks on someone’s porch). Eat Taco Bell because you’ll live not only longer, but “mas” (see: their commercial). It is funny, it is conceptually cohesive, and it is entertaining. This is a successful advertisement, and money well spent for a million dollar time slot during the Super Bowl.
However, it is important to realize that they are selling a lifestyle associated with their restaurant; nowhere in the commercial do they describe their food, or even tell us if it’s any good. More than most ads, however, Taco Bell maintains a connection between the culture surrounding their restaurant and their advertisement. But it still isn’t straight with us: why should we buy their food? Would just about anything taste good after the crazy night we just saw in the commercial? Further: do we care? Realizing that this ad, along with others, is selling an idea, not their product, is significant to analyzing the media as a whole. We must realize what we’re buying, and why we’re buying it, and the sometimes ludicrous answers for both.
Works Cited:
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.
Link to the Commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvxZcULxfKw
For some reason it wont let me post it in one post, so I'm posting it in two parts!
ReplyDelete1 The commercial I decided to look further into is the Budweiser (The Clydesdales: “Brotherhood”) commercial. The commercial begins with a scene of a barn building on a farm and it begins to tell a story of the relationship between the man on this farm and his friend, a Clydesdale horse. At first we see the farmer looking into the barn on the horse when it was a foal, with a soft, sweet song playing in the background. As the commercial continues, it goes from one scene to the next as it shows the relationship of the man and the horse as the horse grows. As the story continues, the man is on the farm with the horse when a Budweiser truck comes driving up the road. You see the farmer give the horse to the man driving the Budweiser truck. There is a sense of sorrow in the farmer as he waves goodbye to his horse. As the commercial continues, the man learns three years later (while reading the paper and drinking a bottle of Budweiser) that the Budweiser Clydesdale horses will be coming to his town for a parade, which he goes to see in hopes of seeing his old friend. As the parade passes, the farmer looks to his horse, but the horse does not appear to see him. Finally, when you think the story is over and the two will not be reunited, the horse realizes it was the farmer and the horse runs to him. They are happily reunited on the street, with the song still playing, and then the scene goes to the Budweiser logo. It appears to me that the company was trying to create a somewhat funny story for the viewers to become interested in. By catching the viewers’ attention with this cute yet funny tale of a man and his best friend, they will watch the commercial until the end and see the Budweiser logo at the end, along with the truck and the bottle in the actual story. I think they are trying to make the viewers laugh at the situation, while feeling sympathy when they are split up, and then joy when they are reunited. By keeping us engaged in the story, they are also able to get their advertisement across to us a few times. I thought this commercial succeeded in what it was meant to do. I may not necessarily want to go out and buy a pack of Budweiser now. However, I have thought about that commercial since I have seen it, and have told a few people about it because I thought that it was funny. By telling other people about the commercial, I’m spreading the Budweiser name, which is a big part of what the company is aiming to do.
Here is the 2nd part!
ReplyDelete2 Advertisements are, as a part of the media, a part of our everyday lives. Coming in contact with as many advertisements as we do, it is important to know more about them. “One does not have to be fully conscious of the technical jargon of the study of advertising, but an awareness of what kinds of meaning lie behind the alluring images prevents the individual from feeling that he or she is being deceived in some way or another (Owen, What Value is There in Studying Advertising?). In other words, you do not have to be an expert in advertising to comprehend what an advertisement is trying to say, both symbolically and literally. Being aware of what advertisements are doing/saying can help you to interpret the ones you are exposed to. “Being consciously aware of the meanings and connotations within an advertisement, helps to make us more aware of how we interpret them, how we think, and how we take an active role in forming 'meaning' in advertisements” (Ingham, The Value in Studying Advertisements). Not only is it important to be able to understand advertisements so that we can understand the intentions behind them, it is also important because it helps us to understand the ways that we, and even the way that others may interpret it. It can also help us understand why different people find different meanings in the same advertisements. “Favorite ads and commercial jingles remain part of our cultural world for a lifetime, but we detest irritating and repetitive commercials” (Media & Culture p. 353). In being able to understand things like the symbols in an advertisement, the intention behind it and why we interpret it the way that we do, it can be easier to understand things like why people become interested in some advertisements over others, and why some advertisements can become a cultural phenomenon while others are left in the dust.
-http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/smo9501.html
-http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/hzi9403.
A lot of times you see the same companies premier different commercials each year at the Super Bowl, I like to see each year which companies step out of the norm and drop a ton of money to get their thirty seconds of fame. So naturally it was interesting to me when the SodaStream (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE9U4mMqKP4) ad was aired.
ReplyDeleteA) The commercial begins with a woman and man sitting poolside around the Sodastream and the woman begins smiling in anticipation and then pushes the button down on the Sodastream making a fizzy noise and spinning the contents of the bottle in a whirl. Next flashes to a teenager who backs away from the product while as if he’s going to karate chop the button it. You can see his parents preparing a meal in the backround and then with a smile the kid moves forward and hits the button, the same fizzy sound is heard. Lastly, there’s a man standing over the machine looking straight into the camera. He’s an older man but good looking with a devilish look on his face. As the camera continues to move closer his look is almost taunting you, and then he pushes the “fizz” button. In between the segments of the people it would show a case of plastic soda bottles or a whole factory of plastic 2-liter soda bottles that would appear as the plastic just vanishes off of them, causing the liquid inside to beautifully cover any area within it’s reach. At the end of the commercial the fun sounding music continues and a voice chimes in for the first time the entire commercial and says, “With SodaStream you can save 2000 bottles a year, if you love the bubbles set them free.” Finally the commercial concludes with a snippets of each person in the video enjoying a glass of SodaStream made soda.
B) It was clear that the advertisers intentions here was that this is the cool, new, hip, way to drink soda, also put a dent in the amount of plastic consumers use. Without talking much about the product, flavors, or design it leaves the viewer to just visually see how it works and what exactly it does.
C) I liked the ad, it was actually one of my favorites. As I said earlier these are the kinds of ads the get my attention the fastest, just because it’s a product that I know has never had a commercial in the Super Bowl prior to this. What I am surprised about is how little it was spoken about. I was in 3 different classes talking about Super Bowl ads and it wasn’t mentioned once. So I guess it succeeded in hooking me in, just not many other people. According to the textbook the “association principle is persuasive technique used in most consumer ads that associates a product with a positive cultural value or image even if it has little connection to the product.” That can be seen in this ad. (Campbell 338) As I stated before the image of the product being cool and sleek used by good looking people who enjoy drinking soda and not harming the world by overuse of plastic.
D) I thought the ad was pretty standard, fun, and to the point. The only problem was that during the Super Bowl a completely normal ad like this could be seen as lacking extravagance. Perhaps a little more flair or a song that more people are familiar with. They also could have shown the people adding the flavor to the soda to emphasize that you can literally make any flavor of soda with a single push of a button and squeeze of a bottle.
Works Cited
Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE9U4mMqKP4