This commercial reenforced the tough image of guys, as it also implied that no real man would focus a full 30-60 seconds on his clothing, shopping, etc., but it does something else, as well. When I watched the documentary "Merchants of Cool," I was intrigued by a lengthy discussion of something Sprite was successful with a while back. Sprite had a campaign in which famous athletes would hold up a Sprite and say things like, "Yeh, you're gonna be real cool and everything in your life will be perfect if you just run out and get yourself some Sprite because I tell you to." In other words the advertising made fun of itself and at the same time said to the consumer, "we know you're too smart to fall for that kind of marketing." The narrator referred to it as a "we get you" technique ("get" as in understand): we understand you so much better and respect you so much more than those traditional advertisers. But---of course that in itself is a marketing technique and it was wildly successful until, the narrator suggests, people started to see it for what it was.
Has anyone else noticed similar ads?
I have not noticed any similar ads, but then again, I DVR everything I watch and always fast-forward through ads. (I literally have not watched a complete TV commercial in years until we studied ads in this class.) However, I think that split screens, by nature, beckon viewers to look at both sides of the screen; viewers want to at least peek at the other side to know if it’s worth distracting them from the side that caught their eye first.
ReplyDeleteI am curious to know what time of day this Sears ad was shown, during what program, and what the network was. If it was, for example, on during a rerun of Home Improvement, I think the ad is perfect for the audience. Why? Because men like Tim Taylor shop at Sears—that’s where the tools are—and even though they are disinterested in clothing, they definitely patronize that specific retailer. So, if they need to buy clothing, they’ll do it at Sears when they’re already there buying something more manly. I think the Sears ad you described could very well be one of those cases where the advertiser “gets” the audience all too well.
I'll keep an eye out for it to see when it's shown, but so far I've only seen it that one time, and i didn't notice the show, time,etc.
ReplyDeleteSally,
ReplyDeleteI've always been intrigued by the "stupid man" syndrome in advertising. Even as a young kid, I would notice that the cleaning commercials are all aimed towards women.
Remember the commercial with the Swiffer men (it was a men's chorus, singing as they cleaned.) The underlying message is that only women and effeminate men are interested in cleaning, I suppose.
What about the commercial with the man who "forgets" to put the top of the blender on and makes a mess in the kitchen? Here comes his wife to save the day and fix "stupid husband"'s mistakes.
I'm sorry, I can't find the link for these.