Since it is that time of year, Holiday time of course, I am going to discuss holiday commercials. First I found it very interesting that in all of the holiday commercials there is a Christmas theme, but the actual word “Christmas” is never used! I just think it is interesting. All holiday celebrations should be given equal attention, but I cannot recall one commercial related to Hanukah or Kwanzaa. Oh and another interesting point “Christmas” is used to promote horror movies. So anyway this time of year is the best for companies to advertise. I posted two cell phone commercials since the holiday season is time for large purchases. While watching television and when I see the abundance of holiday advertisements I find it hard to distinguish them from each other. In all of the commercials the basic Christmas themes are present like snow, gifts, families and treats. I also like the commercials that are sort of parodies of the Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer” ; actually there are about 3 different companies using that theme.

Keeping with the theme of drug company rhetoric I decided this week I would discuss the commercials for Lipitor and Vytorin; both drugs are used for people with high cholesterol. As you can see for the Lipitor commercial the man in the ad makes a point to mention that he is a doctor and uses Lipitor. So right off the bat the viewer will think, “Well, if a doctor uses this drug then it must work”. Since the beginning of time the doctor has always been someone we can all trust, and the advertisers are feeding off of this concept.

Next is the drug Vytorin, and Vytorin uses a more understandable approach. If you watch both of the Vytorin ads you will see there is a difference. The first one aired prior to the other, and you can tell that the second is a little more creative. Both commercials have the same idea but just updated. When I first saw these ads I actually thought the commercials were really cool and I wanted to see what they would come up with next. One downfall, in my opinion, is that a viewer might just be interest in how much food can take on human characteristics and not that the drug is actually intended for lowering cholesterol. One thing that stuck out was the repetition of “comes from two sources”, so people know that cholesterol comes from both a persons genes and from food.

To compare the two the Lipitor commercial is serious, clam, and has an older gentleman explaining the drug. In the Vytorin commercial the facts are explained in terms someone who doesn’t know much about medicine would understand. The Vytorin ads are also very colorful and use a voice over rather than an actual person telling the viewer about the pill. Both drugs are used for the same reasons but their different advertisement styles will untimely sway a consumer on whether they appreciate a serious doctor or a silly take on cholesterol medicine.

This week, I took Sarah’s advice, I am going to discuss the ads I chose for my campaign proposal. For said campaign proposal I chose the advertisements for Diesel brand perfume/cologne (the name of fragrance is Fuel for Life). The ads are both in television and in print, and the same models appear in all of the ads. The models are dressed in very little clothing, almost all of the models have dark features, and are all foreign. I chose this ad campaign because first of all I like the perfume and also because I felt that the ads consist of most if not all of the elements we have discussed thus far in class. I’m going to assume that for our final assignment we will have to go deeper into discussion, so I will only touch on a few key topics. The topics I want to touch on are from “The Six Tugs-of-war” and “Wernicke and Broca”.

Starting with “The Six tugs-of-war”

 Style vs. Substance

The ads for Diesel are Chic, dark, and sexy. The viewer would not actually know that the ads are for a fragrance. In the print ad with the female models the perfume bottle is off to the side. If you are not paying attention you might not even see the product. In the print ad with the male models the men are holding the bottle, but they are shirtless and the viewer cannot focus on the product. It seems as though the models are what is being sold, and they are actually trying to sell you a bottle of perfume/ cologne.

 Sight vs. Sound

Trying to determine which is more essential is somewhat difficult since both elements are incredibly important. The images of these ads are provocative, seductive, and even dangerous. The music in the background is also very sexy. In this campaign the “sight and sound” are equally important, for the commercials, and could not be as powerful without each other.  

For the print ads, of course there is no sound and if you’ve already seen the television advertisements, you can hear the sexy beat from the ad. While discussing sound the concept of echoic intrusiveness  and Wernicke and Broca returns. The sound of the music penetrates the mind of the viewer evoking the sexy images from the ads. Also the advertisers are clever to choose foreign spokes models. Their accents are attractive to a lot of people and will drive those people, so these ads are perfect containing all significant elements of advertising and as we all know Sex Sells!!

Last week in class we discussed the power of sound in ads and echoic intrusiveness, so for my ad journal I wanted to write about some ads that are great examples of the use of sound. Specifically I choose advertisements that used popular music to sell a product.  I chose four different commercials to discuss. The ads are for: Gap Skinny Black Pants, Gap Kaki pants, Tide Pure Essentials, and MasterCard.

 Gap 

• First is a commercial for The Gap; note that the ad is a few years old. The commercial includes a scene from the movie “Funny Face” starring Audrey Hepburn, and she is dancing to the song “Back in Black” by AC/DC. This ad is fantastic because there is a mix of classic film and a popular rock song (a classic in its own right).

• Next is another Gap commercial which features the music of Dwight Yoakam and some cowboys and cowgirls in kakis; the song originally made famous by Queen.

 Tide 

• Following that is the newest Tide commercial with a little boy carrying his blanket around with the “Charlie Brown” theme song. Much like Linus of the Peanuts gang.

 MasterCard 

• Lastly is the commercial for MasterCard with musician and actress Penelope Fortier singing “My Favorite Things” which was originally in the movie “The Sound of Music”.

Ok, so now what makes these ads relevant to the discussion in class? The chapter “A Spoonful of Sugar” says that using jingles in ads equal a great ad, but instead of creating a new, unique, intelligent jingle for the ad advertisers have opted to use a song that is mainstream and easily recognizable. I’d like to mention that using a famous song instead of an original jingle seems to be more hip. But hip when talking about the AC/DC song, and for something like the MasterCard Julie Andrews cover the lyrics are beautiful and leave the television viewer with a warm hearted feeling. I do understand how this concept works. If a person hears a song that is very popular or maybe even their favorite song the product trying to be sold will stick in mind! It seems safe to just use a song that is well known, but it is actually really smart. Also from the “Wernicke and Broca” chapter Williams writes, “The memory of sound is stored in the auditory association area…”, and when you hear a song (during a commercial) memories surface, and it is only fair to assume that the advertisers want the memory of their product to surface.

For my ad journal this week I am posting advertisments for T-Moblie. I choose to discuss these advertisments because they are smart and relateable. Some commercials lack substance and are sometimes rediculous and are purely for entertainment. I’m not saying these commercials are so brilliant but they are interesing and funny. It almost seems like the writers of these ads were writing from experience. They two guys in the ads are awesome too; they’re not the best looking guys and are sort of nerdy but are definitly relateable.

The guy talking to his friend’s mom is really priceless! That might really happen. I mean someone out there is talking to their friend’s mom in an inapproate way. In the other commercial the friend’s girlfriend is in the other guy’s “fave five” with a love song as a ringtone. When I first saw this commercial I couldn’t stop laughing, and this ad is actually one of my favorites! This ad goes back to the “6 tugs-of-war” style vs. substance. Not alot of style going on here but the substance is clear.

There’s not much style just two regular guys they seem to be roommates. Nothing flashy or sexy like other ads. I think these commercials are using the comedy factor to sell there products, and its working. No, I do not have T-Mobile service but I know the commercials and what the product is. Although the ads are mostly about a guy with no sense of tact but you get that a phone/phone service is trying to be sold.

These ads are great and I’m sure bring in a ton of money!

For my ad journal this week I decided to analyze the advertisements for Careerbuilder.com and for these commercials I am going to discuss the ideas of “Exploring Design”. The following questions from the article helped to analyze the advertisements:

• What do you see?
• What is it about?
• To what does it relate?
• How is it composed?
• What details mater?

What do you see?

In the careerbuilder.com commercials, when watching, you see a deep green, dense forest that has components of an office sprinkled around. The employees are all dressed in office attire but they also are dirty, sweaty, and their clothes are torn.

 What is it about?

These series of commercials are about finding a better job and not “just surviving the work week” (Careerbuilder.com’s tagline). Careerbulider.com is showing how working in an office might be like a forest and of course that is not realistic. And with a website finding a new job online is very appealing. You can get a better job without leaving your home or maybe you can search for a new job at your current office desk.

 To what does it relate?

The commercial is basically about finding a better job, but if you really pay attention to the ad you realize that jobs are really not anything like the ad. But these commercials are cleaver in that they still make sense.

 How is it composed?

These commercials also have an interesting composition. Even though it is taking place in the middle of a jungle it still very much looks like an office. Some outrageous thing are happening like coal walking and pen darts flying through the air, but its not so outrageous that you can’t take it seriously.

What details matter?

Details that matter in the commercials are the idea of placing a working office in a forest. If the commercial was set just in an office building the employees couldn’t be trapped by a net.

So in conclusion the careerbuilder.com advertisements are great because they are absurd but still make sense. Also when a person familiar with office jobs see this commercial they might laugh or even realize there office is similar to a forest/jungle and will run to the computer and look for a new job!

These are some of my favorite Peyton Manning commercials!!!!!

This week I choose to talk about the numerous commercials featuring Indianapolis Colts quarter back Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning has appeared in a variety of television commercials. I cannot turn the television on without seeing Peyton Manning’s face! He is in ads for companies like Gatorade, MasterCard, Direct TV, ESPN ads, Sony, Sprint and various NFL commercials. Peyton Manning is a marketable entity and these companies have surely realized this. Not only is he one of the best players in the NFL, but he also has an awesome personality that comes out in these commercials. I’m sure not all athletes are as comfortable poking fun at them selves. He has a down to earth likeability about him. Even though he is a talented football player it doesn’t seem like he has let his fame get to his head. Manning is the perfect choice for endorsements because of his, which seems real, humble demeanor. I will have to admit the advertisers and people in marketing have truly got the know how. They can really drive someone to go for whatever they are trying to sell. Whether it is a sports drink or satellite service. In my case these Peyton Manning commercials drove me to choose a new favorite football team to root for. I am the biggest Colts fan based on my love for the Peyton Manning commercials. Seeing Manning’s face every two minutes has given the Colts a new fan. So I started out as just a Peyton Manning fan which led me to cheer on the Colts. So not only does Sony sell more TV’s and Sprint sells more phones but the Indianapolis Colts get new fans and in turn make more money for them selves.

This week we discussed print ads and as I was flipping through a fashion magazine I found the ad for the new Revlon 3D extreme mascara. When I read Ogilvy’s “Wanted: a renaissance in print advertising” I thought I would be able to connect the print ad to his article. First off Ogilvy writes about television being more exciting than print ads, so Revlon has used both mediums in their advertising. They have a television commercial along with various ads in different fashion magazines. Therefore someone is going to see this ad no matter if they’re watching TV or looking through a magazine in the doctor’s office waiting room.

Next he says that headlines with a promise will sell better. In this advertisement there is not an actual headline but a few word which claim, “25x fuller, 70% curvier, and 80% visibly longer lashes”. When I first saw this print ad/television ad I was truly convinced, and not because of Jessica Alba’s celebrity. I bought this product because of the “promise” as well as the close up of her eye with beautifully thick long luxurious eyelashes. As for whether or not the product does what it promises. Well I do like the mascara, and would purchase it again, but there is no way that I could actually measure at what percent my eyelash’s curviness is. It doesn’t really matter what the ad or who’s in the ad I am such a sucker for these make up ads.

Ogilvy mentions using famous people is a good idea so that the famous person is relatable. Jessica Alba is a good choice for Revlon because she is very pretty but not so much that a woman would be intimidated by her, so the product will sell regardless if a woman is a fan of Alba’s work or maybe their boyfriend likes Alba and hopes if she wears this product she will look more like Jessica Alba. No I’m kidding on that last part I don’t think that would really happen! Next Ogilvy says color ads work better that black and white. I do believe that this point is true, but since this ad is in black and white it will still works since there is an old Hollywood trend going on. The television ads as well as the magazine ads are in both color and black and white. So in my opinion the ads will do well since they are unique; mixing a little old Hollywood with the new. Over all, this entire ad follows most of the criteria Ogilvy has written all but, in my opinion, when he says long ads will sell more than short ads. In this day and age short is gold!

This week I had a little trouble deciding on a commercial/ad I wanted to discuss. So after browsing through you tube I finally decided on Apple. The ads for Apple, whether they be for the I phone, I pod, or the new I touch, are strait to the point and don’t try to over sell. The Apple company really knows that their product sells itself. They could probably be just as successful if we never saw ads. The commercials let the product speak for itself, and no dialogue is used just music. Last week in class we discussed how using the right vocabulary is and important part of marketing, and these Apple commercials are perfect examples.

They don’t try to bombard the consumer with any highfalutin vocabulary basically they just show how the product is used. In the commercial the products are demonstrated showing how easy the Apple products are to use. So the consumer realizes how easy Apple products are and go to the Apple store and pick up the latest Apple creation. Still on the subject of the product selling itself, I am a huge I pod fan and I didn’t need a commercial to tell me how great they are to purchase one I just say one in the store and a friend had one so in my opinion Apple can also count on their products being sold based on because it’s trendy to own an I pod.