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.