The "Snuffy the Seal" advertisements, ran by the Discovery Channel were seen as genius by some and controversial by others. The commercials were advertisisng for the Discovery Channels famous "Shark Week." The ads were extremely effective because they got noticed, and a reaction from viewers. "Shark Week" fans got excited about these ads, and voiced their excitement through social media when the videos went viral. The first ad was successful because there was an unexpected twist, a quote from our textbook, "Not to be confused with a dance from the '60s, a twist is an unexpected element of an ad or a commercial." Pg. 123 (4) The ad was also funny in a sadistic kind of way, because your attention was shifted to somthing that you were not execting. In the remainder of this essay I will examine how the advertisement affected Discovery Channel viewers.
There were plenty of people who were offended by the ads, and many voiced their opinion on the comments section of the videos on youtube.com. Mutant Bunnies, a youtube.com user, stated, "this made me cry and any one who thought it was funny ITS NOT this shouldn't be a commercial so discovery don't do that and if it is fake tell me discovery channel yes u just made a kid cry with the video of it as a commercial and a parody looking for the shark u r sick so thxs for bad dreams 4 a week and making me cry" (2) Another group that may have been offended is PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "PETA did not release an official statement about the ads, Strangely, animal-rights group PETA has not yet expressed its outrage over the commercial, but rest assured, HollywoodLife.com has reached out for comment." (3)
On the other hand there were plenty of people who enjoyed the ...
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...tch "Shark Week" programs the more people will want to advertise durring the week long event in the future. More advertisers, means more money for Discovery channel; thus, good advertising is in the Discovery Channels interest
In summation, the "Snuffy the Seal" campaign launched by the Discvoery Channel was successful. Even though there was some argument about ethics, it got viewers interested in the programs and brought attention to "Shark Week". As stated in our textbook, "Really understand how far you can push your target audience. Consider the risks (legal, ethical, business.)" Pg. 124 (4) The Discovery Channel did push their audience, but in the direction of viewing their channel. In my opinion they were successful, and I was affected by this ad and did watch "Shark Week". Thus, the ads purpose was acheived, to promote "Shark Week" in a non-traditional way.
The Onion’s mock press release markets a product called MagnaSoles. By formulating a mock advertisement a situation is created where The Onion can criticize modern day advertising. Furthermore, they can go as far as to highlight the lucrative statements that are made by advertisements that seduce consumers to believe in the “science” behind their product and make a purchase. The Onion uses a satirical and humorous tone compiled with made up scientific diction to highlight the manner in which consumers believe anything that is told to them and how powerful companies have become through their words whether true or false.
Many television commercials choose to feature a contrast between youth and maturity as their subject. An “Oreo Cookie” commercial, for example, features a little girl who is about four years old mimicking her grandfather’s actions in eating a cookie. Another commercial advertises the popular theme park, Six Flags Great Adventure. This commercial, entitled “The Six Flags Dancing Man,” features an elderly man dancing like an enthusiastic child. This relates to Stephen King’s idea in “My Creature from the Black Lagoon,” that adults long for and are often reminded of their childhood. Meanwhile, Rita Dove’s essay, “Loose Ends,” and Marie Winn’s essay, “Television Addiction,” each presents the great influence television has on life, often because of television’s great aspect of reality. Together, these ideas support the reasoning behind an advertisement’s attempt to sell abstract ideas. By using youth and old age in commercials, advertisers can sell nostalgia as a way of making commercials more memorable.
In an article describing the entire series of ASPCA ads that Sarah McLachlan appears in, the author states “that simple pitch has raised roughly $30 million for the organization since the advertisements started running in early 2007, making it the A.S.P.C.A.’s most successful fund-raising effort” (Strom). This article goes on to explain that many viewers are compelled to donate because they feel empowered whereas the animals being shown are helpless; the ads make the viewers feel like they can make a huge difference and this is a major advertising strategy. After further researching the success of this advertisement, it became clear that this method was not only used by the ASPCA but also in many other commercials that are aiming for donations from the viewers. It is found that people “are particularly sympathetic and likely to donate when they see sad expressions versus happy or neutral expressions” (Small & Verrochi). Based on this research, it is intentional that victims are pictured on charity appeals, such as this one, to elicit the responses that are believed to engender prosocial behavior. With that said, it is not a surprise that these ads were successful in bringing in donations for the
While watching this film I gained greater insight into the intricate process that goes into the ads in which I come into contact every day. This film revealed the vast amount of advertising that surrounds me every day which I may often miss. I am now more aware that each ad I see from location to color to size has a purpose behind the choices made to create it.
Fowles, Jib. “Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals.” Eds Michael Petracca, Madeleine Sorapure. Common Culture: Reading and Writing About American Pop Culture. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 54-72. Print.
...od Television Ads Use Toys, Movies to Target Kids”. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 28. Aug. 2013. 13. Sept. 2013. http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/2013/08/fast-food-television-ads-use-toys--movies-to-target-kids.html
According to Robert Scholes, author of On Reading a Video Text, commercials aired on television hold a dynamic power over human beings on a subconscious level. He believes that through the use of specific tools, commercials can hold the minds of an audience captive, and can control their abilities to think rationally. Visual fascination, one of the tools Scholes believes captures the minds of viewers, can take a simple video, and through the use of editing and special effects, turn it into a powerful scene which one simply cannot take his or her eyes from. Narrativity is yet another way Scholes feels commercials can take control of the thoughts of a person sitting in front of the television. Through the use of specific words, sounds, accompanying statements and or music, a television commercial can hold a viewer’s mind within its grasp, just long enough to confuse someone into buying a product for the wrong reason. The most significant power over the population held by television commercials is that of cultural reinforcement, as Scholes calls it. By offering a human relation throughout itself, a commercial can link with the masses as though it’s speaking to the individual viewer on an equal level. A commercial In his essay, Scholes analyzes a Budweiser commercial in an effort to prove his statements about the aforementioned tools.
This book has opened a whole new perspective on advertising and the reasons we buy things and regret them later. Thinking that I have the urge for a McDonalds hamburger may feel real, or it might just be an elaborate, expensive advertising technique used to manipulate my buying behavior.
Advertisers all have one goal in common, that is an ad that is catching to a consumer’s attention. In today’s fast paced society there are so many selling products and charities. As I exam the advertisement for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals (ASPCA), I will show how they use the pathos, ethos, and logos – also known as Aristotle’s Theory of Persuasion.
Channel Ten refused to run the advertisement giving no reason, incidentally Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan Murdoch was chairman of Channel Ten at the time. Channel Seven also refused on the grounds that the ad was “distasteful” and “potentially offensive”. Channel Nine did run the ad for four days, but then pulled the ad from their schedule citing “coding errors”. Both Fairfax media and ABC ran the ad in their news coverage.
These depictions are often accompanied with sex and violence, usually perpetuating a rape or victim blaming culture. The unethical practices of the firm have become synonymous with exploitive media, as well as sexism due to the recent outrages toward them. There have been more than a myriad examples of just these sorts of ads from PETA, and is now not hard to understand why this organization may be affiliated with emotionally charged and evocative words such as “misogynistic”, “sexist” or even
A small smile, a booming laugh, and a little play on words helped Pepsi’s ad “Scary Halloween” reach viral status on social media in 2013. Ads can be a triumph or a failure depending on how well the rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos are used to convey an ad’s message. This ad’s largest draw was its use of pathos, making the viewers laugh and smile alongside Pepsi over their sly jokes.. “Scary Halloween” also engaged the audience by causing the viewers to cringe at the thought of their chosen soft drink being replaced. Pepsi also has massive amounts of credibility in the soda industry since it has been on the market for over 100 years, giving it ample room to poke at its competitors. Pepsi’s Halloween ad was successful because of
It was during this time when critics, fueled by Cold war era paranoia, claimed that “mind control techniques” were being used to persuade the public into spending. (History: 1950s) In reality, this was because of the use of motivational research. Using psychology, this allowed advertisers to appeal to their consumer’s desires for acceptance, security, sex, and success. By analyzing buying habits and people’s attitudes towards products, advertisers could gauge which ads were more successful based on brand association, color, and packaging. Advertising research has confirmed that ads “emphasizing the aroma, taste, or texture of a food product […] establish their product as the relevant one for the consumer making a choice.” (Marchand xx) By using similar techniques on non-food items, those products become associated with the primal reactions of taste and
...y they did this was by using hyperbole to such a point so as to make something stylish appear ludicrously funny. The repeated exposures to the service throughout the commercial also aids in selling the service. The time slot and channel for this commercial was also strategically planned so as to get the maximum exposure to the intended audience. There was no attempt to hide the blatant advertising. This was clearly meant to be seen as a commercial. However, the ethics were a bit on the shady side so as to make the deal seem better than it really was. The small print of the details makes it appear as though the company is trying to hide the truth and is shown only because it is mandatory. The rhetoric of this commercial is in short stating this commercial is meant to sell a service to young people through a comedic commercial while hiding the negative ethics.
Abuse towards animals is recognized by many in the commercials shown on television, including the Sarah McLaughlin song and the pictures of animals starved and beaten. The commercials are shown quite regularly and give viewers a small look into the world of animal cruelty. What the commercials do not show, however, are the countless cases of people getting away with violence, as well as the hundreds of thousands of animals who did not live to make the commercials. Television, radio, and internet ads often depict and portray the lives of animals living in shelters, and ask the public to donate money each month for the cause. Without a doubt, this is the extent of what many people can say their experience with animal cruelty consists of: pictures and short video clips of half-dead dogs and cats left to die in over-crowded housing.