Take a few moments to think back to the ads you've seen recently. You've probably been seeing them your whole life. Before scrolling down to see the rest of this lesson, please spend 60 seconds brainstorming about some of the trends you might have noticed in TV commercials.
All done? Great! You might have said that all commercials are designed to sell you something, which is absolutely true! In general, the goal of an advertisement is to get you, the consumer, to give them, the producer/manufacturer/company, money in exchange for goods or services. There are a few other trends you should be aware of as well. Let's examine them below.
- Some commercials aim to capture your attention through humor. Take a look at this Geico commercial. Some people might find this funny. I know I smiled a bit. There are two other components of this company's advertising strategy, though. A, they have a memorable mascot. That little gecko is cute and he'll stick in your memory long after the commercial is over. And B, they have a short, catchy slogan. '15 minutes can save you 15 percent or more.' It's memorable, straightforward, and it talks about two things that most people like: saving time, and saving money. Some other companies use similar strategies. Consider the 'Mayhem' character in many Allstate commercials. Also consider this jingle: 'Like a good neighbor, Statefarm is there."
- Some commercials aim to impress viewers by subtlety implying that their lives will somehow be better and more fulfilling if they purchase the product in question. I've observed this trend in many of Coca-Cola's commercials. Take a look at this one. This commercial may be selling Cola, but that's not all it's trying to sell you. If it were just about selling you Coca-Cola, it would portray an actress or two opening a can and remarking on how refreshing and delicious it is. This particular commercial is selling a lifestyle as well. It's implying that drinking Cola will grant you access into the magical kingdom of the American Dream at the height of summer, complete with barbecues, fireworks, wild street parties, cannonballs into the lake, and ever-lasting friendship. The message is very subtle and subliminal, but it's still there.
- Still other commercials try to glorify their product by showing you the lives of people before they purchased the product and the lives of the same people after they purchased the product. Take this commercial for example. Before this family purchased the Perfect Pancake maker, they were living in a dull, grey, sepia world where breakfast was an inedible disaster. But wait! The Perfect Pancake maker can fix all of their troubles! Just pour in the batter, and in seconds, you'll have perfect golden brown pancakes. Your breakfast table will be laden will artfully presented stacks of pancakes and your children's lives will be immensely improved. Making breakfast will be a breeze from now on, right? No. Let's analyze what's wrong with this commercial.
- Unless you have the magic ability to snap your fingers and create whatever you want out of thin air, there is no way you can cook pancakes in the seconds it takes in the video. Even if you get pre-made pancakes out of the freezer, it'll still take you at least a minute to have them ready. And pancakes made from batter take a lot longer. This section is a bit of clever video editing, but don't be fooled by it.
- Not even diners give you picture-perfect pancakes. Companies like this hire people to make and shape 'perfect' pancakes, arrange them 'perfectly,' artfully garnish them, and even paint and glue them to glaze over any imperfections. And do we really need our pancakes to look perfect anyway? If they're as good as the commercial says they are, they'll be gone in a few minutes anyway.
- Have you ever watched your caregiver prepare breakfast? Chances are that they're tired and groggy and aren't going to be smiling like they just won ten thousand dollars at seven a.m. in the morning.
- In the interest of honesty, I must confess that I fell for a similar commercial a few years ago. Let's just say that real life is a lot stickier, messier, and frustrating than TV land.
Now that we know about some of the tricks commercials use to persuade us to buy their goods, let's talk about a few other things you should keep in mind while watching TV.
- Does it sound too good to be true? If so, than it probably is.
- Who do you think the intended audience for this commercial is? An ad for stuffed animals is going to have a different audience than an advertisement for car insurance. Consider the age, class, and gender of the commercial's target audience.
- Read the small print at the bottom of the screen. If a cure-all medication for indigestion has cancer and heart disease listed under possible side effects, it's probably not worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment