Advertising Portfolio by Jennifer Rhodes

Introduction

Advertisements are typically used to convince an audience to do or avoid certain actions, try certain products, or trust certain companies. What an audience looks for is an emotional connection or need, or a shortcut to whatever goal they either had already or planted into their heads by the advertisement. The following advertisements in this blog, when not using humor to grab a person's attention, use some kind of emotional appeal:

• Belonging to a certain group or feeling accepted,
• The promise to fee secure,
• The promise to feel attractive, and
• The promise of self-acceptance (Udemy.com).

There are other components to an ideal advertisement, of course, but the most successful ones are what scares or otherwise convinces its audience into doing what it wants. 

BAAD Sells

Old Joe Camel

The Smooth Character campaign of Camel cigarettes from 1988-1990 made references to stereotypical "manly" or “cool” characters such as 007 (shown above). It gave its customers 'C-notes', which was currency that can be traded for prizes that, according to a cancer prevention specialist, "are all items that kids would want, and the only way to get them [was] to buy Camel cigarettes" (The New York Times). Since it was accused of being a ploy to encourage children to smoke, it received a lot of backlash and some parodies of Old Joe Camel as a cancer patient.

Pitches & Persuasions

From humor...

...to fear & insecurities

The Mayhem commercials, starring actor Dean Winters, uses a troublesome yet likable character to represent disastrous situations that would make people pay out of pocket. It falls under humor and fear & insecurities, both to keep someone's attention and scare them into buying home/auto insurance. Most of the commercials make heavy implications of rivaling insurance companies like Progressive and Geico. A more recent Mayhem commercial focused solely on the fear, not using Winters’ character and having spokesperson Dennis Haysbert try to comfort the viewers while showing the same “mayhem” situations as before. 

Celebrity Endorsement

Even though it's not what one would typically think of, this Flintstones commercial can fall under celebrity endorsement. The use of popular cartoon characters from a family show (it was shown just before the average time children went to bed) to endorse Winston cigarettes was done back in the sixties. It used both "celebrity" endorsement of iconic cartoons and the humor of lazy husbands hiding away from their hardworking wives. In the process, the ad listing the positive components of the cigarette such as its filter. 

 Sex Appeal

Liquid-Plumr uses blatant innuendos and attractive men to act as the plumbers while explaining how their product will clear out a pipe clog. It can also be viewed as humor due to the sheer ridiculousness of the ad, but it gets its point across. The targeted audience, housewives, would more likely watch the ad because of the men than in a regular, strictly informational ad.

Alcohol Commercials

Taman Whiskey

What type of alcohol is promoted in the ad?

            Taman Whiskey, a Swedish brand

What age group and gender are depicted in each ad?

            Middle-aged men and women, and a young girl during the second half

What activities are the models engages in?

            In the first half, they are drinking and socializing, talking with old friends and new, showing a typical alcohol commercial in the first half. In the second half, however, there are incidents that usually occur when one drinks too much, including fighting and the neglect of a young child

Why were these people and this place chosen for the ad?

            They are shown as everymen, undergoing the ups and downs of going out to drink/socialize

How do body language and facial expression contribute to the message?

            Originally friendly and sociable, and then tense with the feeling of provocation

What socioeconomic group is the ad depicting or targeting?

            Regular people, most likely parents and people who drink heavily or regularly

What doesn’t the ad tell you about the consumption of alcohol?

            This is where it gets tricky. Taman took a risk by showing both the positive side of drinking their liquor, and then the negatives of drinking too much

Women's Placement

Women lack the intellectual independence and defer to males

An old Heinz Ketchup ad shows a typical assumption of a woman: that they’re incapable of opening a bottle without a man’s help. The commercial is a blatant jab how women are portrayed as the weaker sex, with the model even showing a shocked, somewhat clueless expression.

Women use & need products to attract the attention of men 

This 50s ad encourages women to use a certain product or go to the doctor in order to gain weight. It's the opposite of what is implied in media nowadays, but the goal is still the same: its claim was that it was promoting health, but its intended goal was to make women want to become attractive to men. 

Women tend to be obsessive about cleanliness 

These Swiffer commercials display a woman replacing her mop/broom with a Swiffer. The cleaning supplies are portrayed as exes and love interests. There are usually just women in the commercials talking about these cleaning supplies as if they're men.  It was argued to be a sexist commercial because of this.

Women are shown in a narrower range of roles than men 

This ad shows a pregnant woman holding a non-alcoholic beverage that looks a lot like alcohol (I suppose that’s the point). She's wearing unnecessarily skimpy clothing - her holding her stomach should have been enough of a clue that she's pregnant - and appears to be handing beer to the audience, which narrows her down as an ideal woman. The ad also narrows the roles of women to the childbearers, despite its noble intentions. 

Children's programs show more men and boys then women and girls 

...or at least in this case, more clearly. The Battleship board game cover shows a father and son having quality time playing a well-known game while the wife and daughter are barely noticeable in the background, washing dishes or helping with housework. Battleship is usually seen as a male-oriented game, so it isn't too far-fetched. 

Product Placement

'Telephone' - Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce

Did you spot all the name brands?

Lady Gaga’s Telephone featuring Beyoncé is one of many examples where music videos use product placement. Gaga wore cans of Diet Coke in her hair while she was in prison; she clearly displayed a bottle of Miracle Whip and Wonder Bread while she poisoned the diner’s food; she used a Polaroid camera to take pictures of Beyoncé; and the couple was using the Pussy Wagon from Kill Bill to make their escape, among other things. Gaga is known for plugging her favorite products into her videos, but according to Gaga’s manager “only a handful were paid placements” (Advertising Age). In other words, there were more personal reasons for her choices of product placement than one would think.

'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a parody of NASCAR racers who are known for printing their sponsors on their jumpsuits and cars. Will Farrell’s character Ricky Bobby even said that he had a "binding endorsement contract that stipulates [he] mentions Powerade at each grace”, which was clearly his sponsor at the time. Their dinner consisted of Coca Cola, KFC, and other famous brands and chains. Ricky Bobby stated the names during the grace as well.

Free Choice

'Space Jam'

In 1996, Warner Bros. spent millions establishing a promotional website for Space Jam, complete with a forum and media downloads. It looks as campy as one would expect, considering the time period, but it was considered a huge deal since the World Wide Web was developed in the early 90s. The film contained both fictional characters, the Looney Tunes, and a somewhat exaggerated slice-of-life for the star of the show, Michael Jordan. The beginning of the film showed Jordan’s transition from basketball player to golf player before coming out of retirement. The website contains in-depth information about the characters, even having a historical background about the iconic Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, among others. The intended audience could be both the adults for nostalgic purposes and children who grew up watching Looney Tunes or looked up to the Dream Team (this, I speak from experience).

Tostitos' O'Hare's Party Repair

(855) 94-PARTY. Try it!

This is a commercial promoting Tostitos chips with O’Hare’s Party Repair phone number. It’s a real number (I’ve tested it a number of times and it still works), having an 80s-style automated teleprompter listing a number of outrageous options. While telling humorous party-saving options to the caller, it occasionally plugs the chip brand into the call between jokes.

• adnewsaust. (2013). Liquid-Plumr 'Hunky Plumr' campaign - AdNews. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4OR0bd9J
• adpressive. (2013). Allstate Mayhem Forbidden
•  Apple 2013 Super Bowl Ad. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iz0gPW0i1E
• Allstate Insurance. (2011). Mayhem Doesn't Care; Allstate TV. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKt3YNIxVkk
• Beckett, P.(2011). Baby Come Back - Swiffer Sweeper Vac 2008. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHxG6-SzeWo
• Bourak, A. (2010, November 30). Advertising for Children, Emphasizing Gender Roles. Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://annabourak.blogspot.com/
• Brody, J. (1991, December 10). Smoking Among Children Is Linked To Cartoon Camel in Advertisements. Retrieved March 11, 2015. from http:/www.nytimes.com/1991/12/11/us/smoking-among-children-is-linked-to-cartoon-camel-in-advertisements.html 
• Gee, J. (2014). Tostitos Cantina Commercial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Z-Rapqmjg
• Hampp, A. (2010, March 13). How Miracle Whip, Plenty of Fish Tapped Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://adage.com/article/madisonvine-news/miracle-whip-plenty-fish-tap-lady-gaga-s-telephone/142794/ 
• Horowitz, A. (2014, April 14). Vintage Weight Loss Ads You WON'T Believe - Weather.com OUTRAGEOUS Sexist Weight Loss Ads. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/14/vintage-weight-loss-ads-y_n_5145681.html
• How Gender Impacts One's Life. (2014, May 23). Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://itsmelissaxo.weebly.com/blog
• Jose Perez. (2011). Alcohol Commercial Suddenly Turns Anti-Drinking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QalnisJfHEw
• LadyGagaVEVO. (2010). Lady Gaga - Telephone ft. Beyonce. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3U
• MOVIECLIPS. (2006). Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (1/8) Dear Lord Baby Jesus. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A0-u85aAYg
• Nova Schin Beer Ad. (2013, October 9). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from https://mlodicho.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/nova-schin-beer-ad/
• Ng, F. (2014, June 13). Advertising Strategy: Most Effective Advertising Strategies. Retrieved March 12, 2015, from https://blog.udemy.com/advertising-strategy/
• Psychotronic42. (1961). Flintstones Cigarette Commercial. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAExoSozc2c
• Tobacco. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2015, from https://www.adbusters.org/spoofads/tobacco
• Vintage Joe Camel Ads. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/joe-camel-ads
• Warner Bros. (1996, January 1). Space Jam. Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/jam.htm
• Warner Creative Design Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://www.warnercreative.com/blog/2010/03/lady-gaga-takes-product-placement-to-another-level/