"It's only weird if it doesn't work." That is the motto recently used for the Bud Light beer commercials. When I watch football with my brother and dad every Sunday, this commercial never fails to appear. This commercial is a favorite of ours, and every time I think of football, I always end up thinking about Bud Light beer, however briefly.
Many fans of different teams are all anxiously awaiting a game-changing field goal. As they do so, they are all fiddling with their good luck charms, performing lucky rituals, or turning the "Bud Light" label facing the television, which "It's only weird if it doesn't work". After all of these little ceremonies are completed, the wait is over, and a wave of euphoria washes over everyone as the deciding field goal is good!
There is no real talking until the very end of the commercial, when a hidden announcer says "The official beer of the NFL", which makes it sounds that much more desirable. Throughout the main course of the commercial, there is a catchy tune playing, with the words "Very Superstitious" repeating itself. This makes Bud Light seem like something you can believe in, and if you drink Bud Light and then face the label towards something, whatever you want to happen, will happen. The song also help people, whether they realize it or not, remember this commercial. I found myself singing this catchy tune while doing work.
The use of popular, well-known football teams, such as the 49'ers and the Colts was also effective in further endorsing this beer. Because Bud Light is sponsored by the NFL, National Football League, they can use these professional football teams, and make it seem like their wins were all because people faced the label of Bud Light towards the television.
This commercial could be using the need to achieve and the need to for affiliation to sell their product. The are targeting those with the need to achieve because in order for the football team to win, the viewers must turn the beer bottle. When the all the beer bottles are turned in the correct position, the teams gain some sort of ability that allows them to win the game. This identifies Bud Light with winning. They also target the need for affiliation in this commercial, because in every transition, there is a group of friends all testing their luck and drinking Bud Light together. When I saw this, I got a sense that when drinking Bud Light, you will always have friends around with you.
I have a soft spot when it comes to cute animals, so when I saw this cute little cat holding standing and doing the potty dance, I immediately liked this advertisement. There is a cat right in the middle of a fancy, royal-looking house. I didn't notice what they were advertising until a few minutes, because the writing for it was so small, and on the bottom.
As I said in the previous paragraph, what caught my initial attention was the giant cat standing in the middle of the room. The cat had sad, puppy-dog eyes, like it needed something. I found this to be very comedic, especially when I saw that the cat looked like it was dancing the potty dance, which I can easily relate to. Also, the elegant room was also interesting to look at. When I saw it, it made me think of a really nice house that some royal family would own, like the inside of the White House. The painting and furniture made it seems like the cat was very important, and that he needs his litter box to be clean for him to use it. The image drew me in, and was very effective at keeping me interested in what this product is that a fancy, high-class cat would use.
Also, the 'Odor Eliminating Carbon' used in this kitty litter makes it sounds superior to the other kitty litter competitors. This advertisement is conveying the fact that their product is above and beyond the other ones, containing these carbons that eliminate odors. This image helps to show that while this cat won't use normal kitty litter, this Fresh Step is what a rich, pampered cat like him would use.
The producers of this advertisement are targeting the need to nurture. By using a cute, innocent little cat, they are trying to get people to want to have their own cats feel good, and by using this litter, is what they will do. This is a very effective ploy, as even though I do not own a cat that lives with me, I still want to buy this kitty litter, in order to make this sad looking cat a happy kitty.
The other night, my family ran out of dressing for our salad, so I decided to search through the advertisements for something that would fill my needs. I flipped to a random page, and came upon this advertisement. The first thing that struck me was the intense page of green, checkered with little white circles, which caught my attention long enough for me to read the advertisement, and decipher it. The comic book-like art style of this advertisement did it's job of grabbing attention very well, because I wanted to know what this picturesque page was selling.
The first thing I read on that page was the big, yellow 'ZING!' when I usually hear the word zing, the word zing is connected with usually has a positive connotation. That's why, when I immediately read the 'ZING', I felt this dressing would be a good choice. After I read the entire advertisement, I realized that the producers of this advertisement used the word 'ZING' several times throughout. This was probably used to reinforce the positive feeling people develop towards this specific dressing. 'Zest' was also another word used multiple times, and when I think of zest, I think of a pleasing taste, which again could be what the producer wants the viewers to think. The line, "Want to make your chicken kickin'?", was also an attention-grabber, with a nice little rhyme to capture my attention. This quote, along with the image, kind of lost me because I use dressing solely for salads, and the use of it to marinate chicken confused me a little.
Also, the advertisement is vague in certain spots, such as "the bolder the better". This just states that the bolder the better, and not actually stating that their dressing is bolder than others. This maybe a misconception, as readers might think this Italian dressing is bolder and better than any other Italian dressings out there. Even if it is bolder, the producers are still being vague by not saying how much bolder, or why and how it is better.
The advertisement was very effective at catching the reader's attention, but there were many vague words that, when carefully read, could drastically change what people think about the product, in this case Italian dressing.
I was just flipping the channels, searching for an entertaining television show to watch, when something catches my eye. Strangely enough, it was not an action movie, but a simple commercial for a clothing store. There was a family, who were all happy and smiling at the gifts that they gave each other, and were dancing around. It seemed like a normal commercial to me, but then I sat down for a while, and broke it down, and when I was done, what seemed like a simple commercial at first soon became a big, brainwashing conspiracy.
The reasons this commercial caught my attention in the brief second I saw it before I flipped back to it was that there were many bright, sparkly colors, and there was a catchy tune playing, while showing these visuals. Throughout the whole commercial, there were several different Christmas trees in the background, each one of them in bright colors, and sparkly. This was definitely a good way to catch someone's attention, and draw their eyes to the products they were selling, which were hanging on the tree. Also, when I flipped back to the commercial, I started unconsciously humming the charming, audibly appealing tune that was being sung throughout the brief commercial. Only later did I realize that this was a song solely made for the advertising of this company. The short song got stuck in my head, and every time I started humming it under my breath, or just flat out serenading it to those who were unfortunate enough to be near me, I thought back to the commercial, and that it was for Kohls. I was amazed that they managed to control my mind like that in such a brief amount of time, and I wondered if that was the producer's goal.
First of all, the commercial used the major upcoming holiday, Christmas, as a sort of incentive for people to buy whatever they were selling. The clothes for example had many Christmas-themed clothing styles, from a group of friendly looking reindeer sewn on the front of the red sweater to flashy green and red scarves. The prices were also cranked down to an "all-time low" because of Christmas sales. This made me want to go buy some clothes, which were extremely cheap, and I would be nice and cozy with my nice new clothing, full of holiday spirit. When I asked my brother, he said that he would not buy these for himself, but would rather buy them and wrap them up nicely for a great, personal Christmas present.
Something else I realized was that all but one of the actors were white, the other being black. This got me wondering if the target audience was meant to be white, or they just unconsciously chose mainly white actors. I know in the past, whites were easily considered superior to all the other races, but in this "racially equal" country, different ethnicities should be treated the same. That is why I was surprised at this extremely obvious use of a single ethnicity. I feel they were trying to be racially diverse with by adding the African American woman, but subliminally, they are appealing to the group of people who would probably spend the most money and buy the most products from them, which would be whites. Additionally, there were four females in the commercial, and only two males. I feel this means their target audience is not only whites, but white females. The clothing in the commercial definitely seems more feminine based, and not something men would buy for themselves, but something again that would make a great gift to a friend or loved one.
The actors themselves were always smiling, and not once did they have any expression that was not negative. I think the producers of this commercial want the viewers to believe that when shopping or buying items from Kohls, they will be happy or surprised at the great deals, and never feel like they were getting ripped off, or that they did not have what the customers wanted. This could be a little bit misguiding, however. For example, at the end of the commercial, it says "Dream Gifts. Dream Sales. Dream Savings." When saying "Dream Sales" and Dream Savings", that could mean something completely different in someone else's mind. When I thought of "Dream Sales", I thought that most items would be around 60-70 percent off. However, when I asked my mom the same question, she said 40-50 percent off. That is a substantial difference, and the commercial is being vague by using the word "Dream", so they would not have to specify, maybe because the "Dream Sales" would not be what everyone else expected it to be. This to me is an obvious use of weasel words, as they are telling people that there are great deals, but not saying how great.
This commercial was very effective in catching my attention, and getting across what they were selling. It took me a while to eventually break this commercial down and see behind the true message it was sending to massive amounts of people. I was amazed that even though I take classes such as critical thinking, that inform you of these deceptions, I almost completely believed what they stated in the commercial. Then I thought of the majority of the audience, who probably did not take a critical thinking or psychology class, and was not surprised at the popularity of Kohls. Their commercials were very effective, and kind of brainwashed people into believing what Kohls wanted them to believe in.
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