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.