task 6 advert review

The ASA is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. They make sure all advertisements are appropriate and decide weather they can be viewed by the public or not.

To make a complaint about an advertisement you find offensive you first have to check if your complaint is covered by the ASA. If your complaint is covered you can then submit it online, by telephone, text phone or write to the ASA. They will then assign a person who will be your point of contact. If the complaint is small like a minor mistake it will be resolved very quickly but if it is a bigger case then an investigation will have to take place. This means that the ASA council will rule on an outcome. Any adverts that are seen to be offensive will then be taken down.

This is the advert I watched: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzcRSr6PW_o

This video starts out with many different celebrities saying what appears to be a bleeped out swear word. It then becomes apparent that the word they are saying is not a swear word but actually ‘famine’. The advert goes on to explain how bad famine was in 2011 and how it has to change. Later on in the advert some of the celebrities then goon to swear but it is covered up and bleeped out. 

This advert could be banned because it suggests the use of offensive language. And for parents who have younger children it could be seen as offensive because they do not want their children hearing that kind of language.

I think that this advert shouldn’t be banned because by bleeping out the word famine it is trying to explain to people that famine should be as obscure as swearing. We shouldn’t be aloud to say it because famine shouldn’t be happening. It is also quite shocking at the beginning this catches people attention and makes people aware of how shocking famine is. By using celebrities it also entices a younger audience to be more aware of what is happening in the world around them.

The reason that advertisement was banned is because they breeched the rules for political advertising.  The aim was to keep political propaganda off British television.

I do not believe that this advert should have been banned because although it is putting a political view across to the public it is clearly for the greater good. It is to try and help make people aware of the famine in Africa. As humans we are very selfish but being exposed to real problems that are happening in the world may make us less selfish and more likely to do something about the famine in other places. It is very important for people to understand what has happened in certain countries because of what man has done. There are plenty of supplies to go around the world. The point of the advert was for the people that are experiencing famine and to try and get people to understand it isn’t right. So I do not see how it would be used for political propaganda.

This advert was very effective and the fact that it was banned is ridiculous. It should be shown to more people. People do not need to be sheltered from what they have essentially caused.

task 5

Task 5 (evaluating adverts) 

1^st advertisement: Grolsch Christmas beer advert.

 This advertisement is aimed at mainly men because stereotypically men drink beer more than women do. However this advert is quite musical and might come across as being aimed at women as well because they usually do the shopping. This advert is aimed around Christmas time so they have a Christmas theme to make people more inclined to buy it. The age rage for this advert is 25-60 because this is the age of people that generally drink alcohol. It will also be aimed at people that are celebrating Christmas. In the advert there is a large Christmas tree made out of beer bottles and an orchestra making music with these beer bottles. This will attract a target audience celebrating Christmas. Using the socio-economic model I would say that the target audience for this product would be B-D because this beer is reasonably priced but not expensive. People ranging from B-A would probably go for a slightly higher prices product as they have more money to spend. And people in the D-E range would probably buy a cheaper brand of beer. Taking this into account the audience will probably be living in suburban communities and council houses.

2^nd advertisement: Calvin Klein concept 2013 advert.

 This advertisement is aimed at men that take pride in the way they look. I think this because of the way the model looks in the advert. He is very toned and comes across as being fit and healthy. This advert is for men’s Calvin Klein boxers. This is another reason I think that this advert is aimed at men. The age range for this advert is 18-50 because this is the stereotypical age that men are still self-conscious about the way they look and have the need to exercise and keep themselves looking fit. However both older and younger men do still work out but do not have the same appeal to work out to get abs. This advert might attract women that are buying for men because seeing a good looking man in the advert might give them the illusion that their partner could look like that as well.

Using the socio-economic model I would say that the target audience for this product would be c1-A because this product is in the higher range of prices. If you were earning less money you would be less inclined to buy a product that you didn’t need to spend a lot of money on. The advert is very slick, smooth and short. I think that these features would appeal to businessmen as it gives the impression that the boxers give men a slick look. The type of houses that the target audience would be living in would be higher priced houses in the centre of large towns.

3^rd advertisement: Morrisons 2014 Christmas advert.

 This advert is aimed at mainly women because of the stereotype that women generally do the shopping, however it may also appeal to men because there are men in the advert buying beer. There are also men with families in the video so it will appeal to a family man. Single mothers will be able to connect to the advert because in the advert there is a single mom at Christmas with her children. It will make her feel like she has something in common with someone else that shops there. There was also a pregnant woman in the advertisement; this is going to appeal to anyone due to have a baby. Because it is around Christmas time they are showing every different type of person at Christmas time to get all different types of people to shop at their shop.  The age range for this advert is 20-70. A lot of people move out in their early 20’s so they will start to do their own shopping. And in the advert they showed two older people so this will get any older customers interested. People start to feel comfortable with something when they see an example of themselves in the advert. So just by seeing someone your own age one can subconsciously feel like the advert also applies to him or her. There were also women a lot of women with children in the advert this is to make sure that their biggest target audience knows that they are able to shop at Morrisons. Using the socio-economic model I would say that the target audience ranges from c1-E because Morrisons is cheaply priced but not of a low standard so still appeals to people with a little more money. This audience would range from living in suburban houses to council estates/urban areas. 

task 2

Task 2: Type of persuasive technique	Link to an advert which uses this technique
The anecdote: Personal experience or story which is sold to us as proof.	Colgate total toothpaste advert (2012) has an anecdote of a woman who is a nurse. She says ‘as a nurse I keep people healthy by fighting bacteria, so I was shocked when my dentist showed me all the bacteria in my mouth’ This explains her story. Almost convincing the audience that she is the same as them making them more likely to listen to what she has to say. She later goes onto say ‘I switched to Colgate total and WOW the bacteria was practically gone’. This makes the audience watching think that what she is saying is true because she has already made them feel comfortable listening to her by making her problems feel familiar. This is also very effective because she said ‘practically’ gone which takes out any chance of Colgate being able to be taken to court for false advertisement because she did not say it was all gone.
Adjectives: Crisp, fresh, healthy, nutritious, etc	Innocent juice advert (2013) uses the word ‘juicy’ and ‘delicious’. Not only does the juice come across as being healthy but it also comes across as being very tasty as well. By saying juicy the advert is making people think it has lots of flavor and is made form ripe juicy oranges. They also have a funny sounding voice over to make the words ‘juicy’ and ‘delicious’ stand out even more. In a lot of adverts adjectives will be used because companies want their product to sound exciting, new, fun or tasty. They want their product to be bought and they want people to think the product they are going to buy is going to be worth their time.
Repetition: Key points, positives about the product, themes etc	Cillit Bang advert (2007) repeats the word ‘BANG’ through out the advert. This is to keep reminding people that the product cleans very well. The whole sentence is ‘BANG and the dirt is gone’ once this has been said the word bang then becomes very effective through out the whole advert. Companies would use repletion in their advert to make sure they were getting a specific point across to the audience or to make sure the audience remembered their product. If you hear something over and over again then you are likely to get that word stuck in your head. It means after people have watched the advert they are still thinking about the product anyway and subconsciously.
Statistics: Often presented as factually accurate but sometimes they are a bit dubious.	Palmolive shampoo advert (2006) uses statistics. The voice over says ‘new nourishing power with 100% natural extracts. Completely redesigned to give your hair new life’ This technique is used to make people believe the product they are using does what the company says it does. By putting loads of numbers and figures the audience is more likely to be convinced that the product is good and worth buying. Another example of when statistics is used is when adverts have surveys in them to show ‘how many people said this product worked in just only 2 weeks’. The company could have only asked 10 people that said the product was good. They can then legally say 100% of people said this product works in 2 weeks. Because in the small survey they did it was true.
Fact: A statement that is true and can be proven	Axiron medical advert (2013) uses facts to back up the product they are trying to sell. Because this is a medical product there needs to be facts that are true so that people are aware of what they are using and know exactly what the side effects are. In this advert the man talking says ‘women that are pregnant should avoid contact when Axiron is applied it increase acne in women. Before using tell your doctor about all medication you may be taking’. These are important facts to include in your advert when selling something that could harm you if used in the wrong way. Fact is usually used to reassure people that the product they are buying works and will be effective when used. No one wants to think they are going to waste their money so by adding in facts it means you are letting your audience know that your products is worth the money.

30.1.1

What is a TV advert?

A commercial advertisement on television is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization, which conveys a message, typically to market a product or service. Advertising revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately owned television networks. The vast majority of television advertisements today consist of brief advertising spots, ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes. Advertisements are used to promote a wide variety of goods, services and ideas to the public through television.

Marks and Spencer 2014 Christmas advert:

. The target audience ranges from about early 20’s to late 60’s. Anyone that could be doing there own shopping, and then they have to get an average age to sell there product to.

. The narrative is about love, Christmas whishes coming true, the happiness of children at Christmas and the magic in Christmas as well. Although it has children in the advert the advert is not aimed at this age group. It is aimed at parents celebrating Christmas with their children.

. There was very little product placement in this advert. The only time ‘Marks and Spencer’ was mentioned was at the very beginning and at the end. This is effective because it means people are not overpowered by the brand. They are just subtly told about it.

John Lewis 2014 Christmas advert:

. The target audience ranges again to people about early 20’s to late 60’s although some children might be interested in watching the advert because there is a little boy with a penguin as a friend. (This might get children to tell their parents about the advert they watched, meaning that the advert has worked anyway because the parents are convinced to go to the shop by their children)

. The narrative is based around love. A little boy’s pet penguin does not have a mate for Christmas so the little boy decides he wants his penguin to have one. On the morning of Christmas the female penguin is under the tree. The ‘real’ penguin then turns out to just be a stuffed animal. This is affective because it is a sweet story and will make people want to go to john Lewis.

. Again there were not very many product placements, apart from the stuffed penguin at the end. And the audience was only aware that it was a John Lewis advert at the end. This works because it means no one will have certain expectations. So they will enjoy the advert without knowing what the advert is for. Then they will be interested to see what the advert is for at the end.  

Sainsbury’s 2014 Christmas advert:

. The target audience is again aimed at adult age 20-60. Most if not all groceries shopping advertisements will be aimed at adults because that is the average age of people that go shopping. Even though this advert did not have a lot of product placements.  

. The narrative in this story was about when the British and German troops stopped fighting in the First World War and enjoyed Christmas together. This was more of an advert to show that Sainsbury’s worked with the Royal British Legion instead of advertising their products.  

. There was hardly any product placement in this advert. The only product placement was a bar of chocolate but in the advertisement it does not state weather the chocolate is from Sainsbury’s or not. At the end of the advert there is some branding only the fact that they state the advert is made by Sainsbury’s along side and supporting the Royal British Legion.