Textual Analysis: British Airways – London 2012: Home Advantage

British Airways – London 2012: Home Advantage

This advertisement uses features such as:

• Real Time
• Repetition - This advert was made for multiple viewing as viewers can notice something different each time they watch it.
• Dramatic Action – This advert shows an aeroplane driving people through the streets of London, to the Olympic stadium.
• Music & Sound – The song “London Calling” by The Clash plays all throughout the advert. When creating this advert, they must have thought this song can help people find their sense of patriotism and get excited because London really was calling people from all over the world to come and be a part of the games. We hear the diagetic sound which supports the action such as the plane engines, the beeping of the overhead signals, and the milk bottles rattling. At the end of the advert, the volume of the music drops, and we hear the cheering of the crowd in the packed out stadium.

This advert is a dramatization in which an aeroplane drives through the streets of London to take passengers to the Olympic stadium in time for the games.

There is no exclusive target audience for this advertisement. British Airways want to get their message across to everyone. There are no specific genders, age groups, social classes or ethnicities that this advert would appeal more to. They just want to get their message and feeling of patriotism to British people all over the country.

As official sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics, British Airways have created this advert to pass the message onto The British people, telling them not to go abroad on holiday this summer, but to stay here and support the British athletes in their bid to win Olympic glory. The theme of patriotism is strong throughout the advert, and we see the union jack several times in different place and in different forms like face paint. Just before the advert end the words “Don’t Fly. Support Team GB” appear on the screen to sum up the purpose of this advert.

When making this advert, they took care to ensure every social group is represented. We see white people, black people, brown people, children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged people, elderly people, people that looked working class, and people that looked middle class. They tried not to exclude anyone in order to support their idea of unity, of everyone getting together, feeling patriotic and supporting the British athletes. However, I did note that although they tried to include everyone; there were no Chinese people, or upper class people featured in the advert.

I think this advert takes a light but fairly formal tone.

Textual Analysis: Burger King – Homer Double Whopper

Burger King – Homer Double Whopper

This advert contains features such as:

• Real Time
• Repetition
• Speech – There are no voiceovers in this advert, it is just the characters speaking.
• Dramatic Action – This advert is based on Homer Simpson, a popular character in the Fox show The Simpsons. He is trying to advertise the Burger King Double Whopper but is making a hard time of it.
• Sound – We hear a lot of diagetic sound such as the beeping of the camera, the sound of Homer hitting the microphone, the plate falling on the floor, Homer eating, Homer drooling and Homer talking with his mouth full. All of these support the action that is occurring.

This advert is an intelligent combination of different types of advertisements. By creating an advert, in which the characters are creating an advert, they are able to merge these different types of advertisement together. The advert is a dramatization as characters from the Simpsons world are trying to make a commercial advertising the Burger King Double Whopper, but Homer is making a mess of it. The type of commercial the characters are trying to make in the advert is a spokesperson/sales pitch, as Homer is supposed to describe the features of the burger. This Burger King advert could also be categorised under famous faces as the Simpsons franchise is epic, and people all around the world know of them. Homer Simpson is the main character in the television series and he is famous all around the world.

This advertisement will appeal to the masses of Simpson’s fans all around the world. I feel that it will appeal more to children, teenagers and young adults as opposed to the elderly. Simpsons is so popular that I think the use of its main character will help this advert transcend differences in social class, gender or ethnicity as the Simpsons are loved by all. However, as the product contains meat, most notably bacon, it wouldn’t appeal to muslim people.

With this advert, Burger King wanted to show that they are fun, and that their products are loved and eaten by all people, even fictional character such as Homer Simpson. They want to push the idea that their product is great, everyone enjoys it and so the viewers should too. I also think the advert tries to trigger an impulse purchase, which is a lot easier to do with food products. They want the viewers to watch this advert and desire a Burger King double whopper, and then go and buy one.

Homer Simpson is a negative stereotype on the average working class man; however he is always shown in a positive way which makes him loved by the audience. Other than his stereotype on working class men, no social groups are represented.

As typical in the Simpsons, this advert has taken an informal and light tone, with is effective use of license and hilarious gags.

Textual Analysis: Nike: Designed To Move Initiative – Extra Time

Nike: Designed To Move Initiative – Extra Time

This advert contains the following features:

• Real Time
• Repetition
• Speech – This whole advert is based around asking children the question of what they would do if they had an extra five years to live, and listening to their answers.
• Music – The song “Welcome Home” by Radical Face plays faintly throughout the advertisement, until the end when the kids stop talking and the underlying message and purpose of the advertisement is revealed, the volume increases and the chorus kicks in. This song is calm and peaceful, and it has a powerful effect, especially when the message is revealed.

I think this advert is created as a documentary. The children don’t talk about the campaign as a product, but we hear possible results from the use of the campaign, and what it aims to do.

I think the target audience for this advertisement are parents. This advert doesn’t aim to focus on a specific gender, ethnicity or social class; it wants to send a direct message to the hearts of parents.

This advert aims to send a message of children dying from a lack of physical activity. It states that this generation is expected to die five years before their parents, this is a very negative and terrible thought, but they then offer hope as it says “Let’s give them those 5 years back.” Straight after this they show the link to their official website. The purpose of this advert is to make people aware of the Designed To Move initiative, and make them search the link and go onto their official website to find out more and get involved.

Only children are shown in this advert and they are shown in the most positive way as being innocent, carefree, happy and imaginative. This makes the emotional impact stronger when viewers are told that those children will die 5 years before their parents, and this will make them want to do something to help.

This advertisement takes a serious message, but tries to present it in a manner that is not harsh. The innocence of the children makes this advert seem like it has taken a lighter tone, until the children’s voices go quiet and the deep message is presented to the viewers. I think what makes this advert successful is the way it maintains the happy and light overall tone, despite the very serious message which it send to the viewers.

Textual Analysis: Toyota Camry – It’s Reinvented

Toyota Camry – It’s Reinvented

The following features have been included in the advert:

• Real Time
• Repetition - This advert was made for multiple viewing as viewers can notice something different each time they watch it.
• Speech – A voiceover runs throughout the advert stating the different things that have been reinvented, and saying a little thing about each. It also states the product name and the company name.
• Dramatic Action – The advert features comic, fantasy “upgrades” of things like police, babies and sofas.
• Music – Throughout the advert, the score from 2001: A Space Odyssey is playing. This song is dramatic and widely popular. It gives the viewers the impression that they are about to see something epic. The song breaks for three seconds and Lionel Richie – All Night Long plays to support the narration and the action.

This advert is a dramatization in which they show fantasy scenarios.

The advert is intelligently constructed and it makes sure no particular group is isolated. They show the sofa with women on it which appeals to men, but then then show a sofa with men on it to appeal to women. I think this advert may not appeal as much to senior people as it would to younger people. They don’t exclude any social classes or anyone with children either as there will be points in the advert that will appeal to, and humour them.

This advertisement aims to create an image of perfection. They want to send the message that they have re-invented the Camry and now it can do anything you want it to do. This is made obvious at the end of the advert where the voiceover says “Available with everything you could possibly want”. By showing the different things and then the desired reinvented versions of them, they attempted to exaggerate the extent of the new changes made to the vehicle by showing other dream changes that have been made to different things, like the baby and the police.

The advert has tried to fit in people of different social groups; men, women, children, black people, white people all feature in this advert although they are only shown for a few seconds each.

The blend of action and the voiceover give this advert a funny but formal tone.

Textual Analysis: M&M – Sexy and I Know It

M&M – Sexy and I Know It

This advertisement contains features such as:

• Real Time
• Repetition
• Speech – The only speech used in the advert is dialogue between the characters.
• Dramatic Action – The advert is based around animated characters. They have attempted to bring the product to life by giving the M&M’s faces, arms and legs.
• Music – The humour of the advert is created by the influence of the music. “I’m Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO is played as one of the characters dance; this forms the crux and the humour of the advert.

This advert is a dramatization which features the product as characters. One of the human male characters makes a sexist remark about the female M&M and she reprimands him. The male M&M mishears her and shows his wild side.

Although the product is made to be enjoyed by everyone, this advert focuses more on their teenage and younger adult audiences. I don’t think that the advert appeals more to a particular gender or social class.

The image the advert intended to create for the product was one to emphasise the tagline “Not your average chocolate.” The red M&M shows his wild side, and it supplements the idea of this chocolate being fun and wild, and using the product will bring out that side in you.

For the human characters, the men are shown negatively as being sexist, while the female human characters weren’t shown in any particular way. The female M&M is shown positively as a calm, professional and intelligent character, reflected in the way she handled the situation with the sexist man. The most likeable character in the advert is the male M&M as he emerges and goes wild, taking off his shell and dancing. This shows men as crazy and fun-loving.

This advert uses a funny and informal address. This helps to support the image that the advert aimed to create for the product.

Textual Analysis: Toyota Yaris – Gadget Master

Toyota Yaris – Gadget Master

The features in this advert include:

• Real Time
• Repetition
• Speech – The artist speaks in the prelude of the song, saying “This one right here, is for all you smart folks out there, making smarty arty decision.” The artist speaks directly to the viewers and using the work “you” makes it personal. The artist compliments the viewers by calling them “smart”; this helps establish a positive relationship with the character and makes him likeable.
• Dramatic Action – This advert focuses on dramatic action, with the protagonist mocking the “gadget master” and the unnecessary modifications he has made to his vehicles. The gadgets he has installed in his car are shown to be obsolete when compared to the Toyota Yaris’ Bluetooth enables multimedia player; which can do many different things while remaining compact and convenient.
• Demonstrative Action – The female character shows some of the cars features as she connects her phone to the multimedia player using Bluetooth. The interface of the multimedia player then shows other features such as be used to play songs directly from the phone, to make phone calls, to access Google, and for satellite navigation. Those features are not demonstrated, but the advert makes the viewer’s aware of their existence.
• Music – The advert is created to seem like a music video. The Gadget Guy song was created especially for this advert, and the action in the advert supports the lyrics. The car is aimed for younger people and so advertising company Saatchi & Saatchi created an urban pop style advertising campaign. This short rap song appeals to the target audience, and ends with a hook that has been in hip-hop music from its early days.

This advert is a dramatization, which compares the Toyota Yaris to another car, and highlights the built-in gadgets and features of the vehicle; while ridiculing the customisations made by the gadget master to his car.

This advert targets the young adults; the hip-hop theme appeals more to them. The target audience must obviously be people old enough to drive, who have passed their test and are looking to purchase a car. I think this advert appeal more to males rather than females.

The advert implies that people who purchase the product are intelligent, and the vehicle allows them to do all sorts of different things while remaining convenient and relevant. In the prelude to the song, the rapper says “smart people” this makes the viewer’s think that smart people buy this vehicle, and so they should too.

The female character is shown positively because she is the “smart” person who owns the Toyota Yaris. The male character is sown negatively; he has made foolish additions to his vehicle, and the lyrics of the song aim directly to insult him.

This advert has taken a funny and informal tone. They have attempted to make it personal to the audience and make them feel involved in the mocking of the “gadget guy”, while enjoying the comments made by the cartoon protagonist.

Textual Analysis: Lynx Excite – Fallen Angels

Lynx Excite – Fallen Angels

This advertisement contains features like:

• Real Time
• Repetition
• Speech – There is a voiceover at the end of the advert which states the name of the product, the name of the company, that the product is new, and the product’s tagline “Even angels will fall.”
• Demonstrative Action – At the end of the advert we see the main character using the product.
• Dramatic Action – The dramatic action used in the advert was used to create an exaggerated, literal illustration to emphasise the products tagline. The casting agents for the campaign selected attractive females to represent the angels, and this was supported by the wings and halos’. The advert shows these angels falling from heaven and approaching the main character.
• Symbolism – Halos are associated with angels and represent virtuousness. An angel is a symbol of purity and chasteness. Using angels and halos and then showing the angels throw their halos away implies that the angels have gone bad because of the product that has been used.
• Music and Sound – The advert starts off with diagetic sound as we hear the people talking and walking, we then hear the sound of thunder as the first angel falls. We hear the crashing sound as she hits the ground and the distant sound of church bells echoes. The music begins to play; we hear violins and then singing. The music is calm, peaceful and soothing which supports the idea of angels and their innocence.

This advertisement is a dramatization, which is showing angels falling from above and walking towards the man who sprayed the product; they smash their halos and give him a flirtatious look.

The advert targets males, the product is a men’s deodorant and so the advert must understandably be aimed at males. The women used in the advert are gorgeous and this will significantly increase the appeal of the advert to men. In terms of age it would be to teenagers and younger adults as sexualised themes would appeal more to them.

The advert puts forth the idea of irresistibility. It aims to make the audience think that by using this product they will become irresistible to women, that the most beautiful women and even angels will be drawn to them. The angels’ smashing their halos implies that they've gone bad, and the sexual idea of angels going bad appeals to men.

Women are represented as angelic and striking; however they lose control if a guy uses Lynx Excite. Men are shown in a positive way which will make them want to buy and use the product; women will be drawn to them after they've used it.

I think the advert had a formal feel to it, as it wasn't made personal to the audience, but I think with the style of dramatic action in the advert, this formal and fairly serious tone helps it be successful.

Textual Analysis: Volkswagen Passat – The Force

Volkswagen Passat – The Force

This advertisement contains the following features:

• Real Time
• Repetition
• Dramatic Action – The whole advert is centralised round a spoof of Darth Vader, one of the most popular and well known film characters, from the epic Star Wars franchise. The story in the advert is of a small boy dressed in a Darth Vader costume and is trying to use the force (an ever present energy which is fundamental to the nature of the world and life forms in the fictional Star Wars universe) in order to manipulate things around his house. He is unsuccessful until his father arrives and he tries to use the force on his car. The boy’s father locks the car using his key, which makes the boy think he did it.
• Demonstrative Action – The car is briefly shown being driven, and its key based locking system is shown. The advert mostly focuses on the dramatic action.
• Music & Sound – The use of music is effective in supporting the dramatic action, but also to assist the Darth Vader mimicry. Darth Vader’s theme music, also known as The Imperial March plays throughout the advertisement, even at the end of the action where the product name, price and company logo appear. The only diagetic sounds we hear are the plate sliding across the table, the dog barking, the car door shutting, and the car engine. We hear the sound of a Lightsaber (fictional weapon from Star Wars) being drawn as the logo appears.

This advertisement is a dramatization which is focused around a parody of Darth Vader. The plot is of the by failing in his attempts to use the force until his father uses one of the features in his car to make him believe that he was able to use the power of the force.

By using Star Wars as basis, this advert is able to appeal to people of all ages. The main character is a child which will allow them to connect more, but overall the advertisement is aimed at adults and the older generation. Star Wars appeals much more to men than to women and so this advert targets males. The story incorporated in the advert shows that the target audience would be people with children, as the dad uses the car to make his child happy. This advert will allow Volkswagen to appeal to the masses as there are millions of Star Wars fans and this advert will appeal to them.

The advert puts forth the idea that fathers need this car, not only because it looks appealing, but because it will help them make their children happy. The advert has the underlying tone of the man being a fun and loving father. The performance by the small boy is what makes this evident. He seems fixated and focused with his tense movements and gestures, and he hangs his head showing his disappointment every time he fails. Once the car is locked he makes his surprise and elation evident through his body language.

Kids are represented positively as they are shown to be gullible, playful and imaginative. The father seems to be in his thirties and he is shown in a positive light as he tries to make his son happy by making him think he can use the force.

As a character, Darth Vader is serious, and to show such a fearsome and powerful villain in such a comic light gives this advert a humorous tone. At the end of the advert the father gestures to the mother, the audience feel involved in the story, they know what really happened whereas the boy doesn’t, and this makes the advert feel more informal.

Textual Analysis: Cravendale – Cats With Thumbs

Cravendale – Cats With Thumbs

This advert contains features such as:

• Real Time
• Repetition – This advert was made for multiple viewing as viewers can notice something different each time they watch it.
• Speech – There is a voiceover throughout the duration of the advertisement talking about cats getting thumbs and going after the product. The voice over ends with the company’s tagline. This voiceover adds drama to the advert, while creating humour and helping promote the brand.
• Demonstrative Action – This advert does show the product being used as the main character is pouring the milk into a bowl and we see him eat the cereal.
• Dramatic Action – The advert focuses on dramatic action much more than demonstrative action. They have created this story of cats evolving over time, getting thumbs and then going after the Cravendale milk. This is done in a humorous way and I feel that has made this advert more appealing and successful.
• Sound – The advert features diagetic sound such as the milk being poured, the cats purring and meowing, the door opening and closing, the crunching of the cereal, the cat licking its thumb and then turning the page and also the gang of cats clicking. There is music which begins playing once the cats get thumbs. This continues playing and the volume and tempo both increase until the door is opened near the end.

This advert is a dramatization. They have used the product as the focal point for a story which they have created. The milk is the main focus of the advertisement as it is want the cants want, and the reason why they evolve and get thumbs.

This advert has a very wide-spread target audience, as it appeals to the majority of people. I think that in terms of age, the advert appeals to people of all ages as everyone can find this advert humorous and appealing. Cats generally appeal more to women, however by using a male as the protagonist, and giving the advert a masculine feel with the story, I think the advert will appeal more to men than women. I feel the humour in the adverts will appeal to younger children and this will encourage them to persuade their parents to purchase the products.

The advertisement make the product seem wanted. It creates the idea that everyone wants the milk, especially cats, so the customers need to get their hands on it before they do. The story of the advert is about cats getting thumbs and so there are several close-up shots that focus on the cats’ hands, this helps reinforce the idea that everyone wants to get their hands on the product. It is set in and around a kitchen which makes it easily accessible for viewers. Mise-en-scene is used to create humour by showing what the cats do now that they have thumbs; but also to support the story. The cat wearing the hat created the impression of a rough, gang-leader which helped the story make sense. The non diagetic sound helps the dramatization as it increases in both volume and pace, which helps build tension up to the moment where the cats open the door.

The advert only has one human character, which is a white, working-class male in his mid-twenties. This character is shown in a positive way, and in the dramatic story, he wants the product and is the one trying to save the milk from falling into the cat’s hands.

The advert has an informal and funny tone; I think this is done to make it appeal to a wider audience. Also because the humour helps it to stick in the minds of the viewers and that what the company want to do.

Dogfather Hotdogs Concept PowerPoint

The Concept Presentation

This is the presentation we created in order to display our initial ideas of the concept, and reference our inspirations and intentions.

Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback

This is the feedback we received on the initial idea and concept of Dogfather hotdogs, from a group of 17 year old teenagers. The group contained a mixture of ethnicities, social classes and genders.

• Well laid out plans, I love the theme.
• I like the humour aspect.
• Sponsorship scene is good, however it needs to be different from the others – are you allowed to continue this?
• Make sure you sell the hotdogs as a good product – tasty.

• Good name – clever pun.
• Well detailed and structured.
• Funny.
• Well thought out.

Improvements:

• Too deep – How will the props be found? Hotdog stand etc.
• Very detailed, may be too complicated.

• Eliminates people who haven’t seen Godfather – Women.
• Where do you get these hotdogs?
• More focus on theme than product.

• Good idea – Slogan and name are good.
• Visually appealing.
• Close to plagiarism? Copyright issues. 

Dogfather Hotdogs Advert 1 - Shot List

Dogfather Hotdogs Advert 1 – Shot List

This is the shot list we produced for our first advert.

• Extreme Close-up – Bonasera’s Face.
• Zoom Out Close-up To Medium Shot – Bonasera’s Face.
• Over-the-shoulder Medium Shot – Godfather sitting on chair over Bonasera’s shoulder.
• Two Shot – Godfather and Bonasera.
• Close-up – Godfather.
• Over-the-shoulder Medium Shot – Godfather sitting on chair over Bonasera’s arm and shoulder.
• Long Shot – The room and the characters.
• Over-the-shoulder Medium Shot – Godfather sitting on chair over Bonasera’s arm and shoulder.
• Long Shot – Guy 2 & Guy 3 walk past table as Godfather and Bonasera are sitting down.
• Large Medium Shot – Godfather, Bonasera, Guy 2 & Guy 3 sitting around the table, briefcase is slowly opened.
• Close-up – Briefcase opening.
• Large Medium Shot – Godfather, Bonasera, Guy 2 & Guy 3 sitting around the table, Godfather motions to Guy 2 & 3.
• Extreme Close-up – Hand going into the briefcase like a gun is being drawn.
• Close-up – Bonasera looking scared.
• Two Shot – Guy 2 handing Bonasera a hotdog on a plate.
• Medium Shot – Bonasera eating the hotdog.
• Medium shot – Godfather.
• Close-up – Bonasera.
• Close-up – Godfather.
• Promotional Image – Hotdog on a plate in a briefcase.