Netflix

Throughout this commercial, they show clips of popular movies to get our attention immediately.  The music with this commercial ads more effect to what they are trying to show case.  They want to show how great Netflix is by using music that pops out and appeals to our ears.  They don't stay on one movie for a while because they want to appeal to as many different audience groups as they can by showing a variety of movies. By doing this, any age group will become interested in their commercial and that's when they begin to go into detail. 

They use simple solutions such as "What you want" to tell us that we could watch any movie we desire without having to wait for it to show in movies or going to a store to find it.   "When you want it" saying that you can watch a movie on Netflix at any time of any day.  Also, they say "where you want it" telling us that it doesn't matter where we are.  We could be at home or on a bus and be able to watch movies on the go. Who wouldn't love to watch movies wherever and whenever?  They also say "no commercial" because they know that everyone hates sitting through commercials and if they provide Netflix with no commercials, then people will appeal to it.  People will do almost anything to prevent something that annoys them from happening.  They are showing to us that movies on TV are separate from movies on Netflix.  It's easy, if you don't want commercials, then go to Netflix.  But if you do want commercials, then watch movies on TV. This showcases their glittering generalities.  It also uses the word "instant" as a weasel word to mention "instant streaming" to we could get it right there and then no matter how many movies we want to see.  It's fast, easy, and at the tip of our fingers.

This commercial shows that it not only appeals to all ages, but it doesn't matter your wealth either to be able to have Netflix.  They show simple movies that everyday people watch and that everyone is familiar with. They begin with a movie that goes on an adventure, like you would be able to do if you had Netflix.  This uses the appeal of need to escape, allowing us as the audience to be able to feel involved in what we are watching and not just watch the movies to watch it. 

Life Alert

"With the push of a button, Life Alert is there at your side!"  They're giving off the technique, simple solutions, to show that your life can be saved by just pushing a button and someone will be there to assist you.  No one wants to over complicate things, especially towards their main target group, senior citizens.  They aren't that dependent on their own and are usually accompanied by others.  They want to make an easy and fast solution to a problem when someone isn't able to reach the phone or move anywhere else.  They show situations where grandma's and grandpa's are stuck on the ground because of an instant problem that they are facing and they need someone to respond quickly.  Watching this happen and seeing a man respond in less that a minute, shows us that if we buy this, then we wouldn't have to worry about our grandparents being alone anymore because Life Alert will be there 24/7. In big bold red words, they say 24 hours medical emergency response about 2 times throughout the commercial.  They want us to trust them and again, give off the need to feel safe, knowing that help will be there at any time.
The narrator talking about Life Alert is a grandma, showing more truth into what this product means to them.  If it was a man narrating this commercial, it would make us feel like they are leaning towards selling the product and getting our attention than making us feel the need to nurture or to feel safe.  In every grandparent, they have a sweet soothing sound to their voice and we wouldn't want anything harmful to happen to them.  She uses the words "safe" and "protected", using weasel words, to emphasize the idea of its safety.
At the very end when they are showing us all their information, they show repetition when they are talking about their contact info.  They repeat their number really fast so you feel the need to call right away at that second.  Showing time pressure.
Just seeing the face  of an elder makes us feel sympathy for them.  We would never want anyone to get hurt, especially older people who are more fragile.  In order to prevent this, GET LIFE ALERT

Pillow Pets

The first words that started the commercial was "It's a pillow.  It's a pet. It's a pillow pet!" Right from the beginning they want the audience to be amazed on how this pillow differs from all the other pillows out there. Throughout the commercial they repeat these words, showing repetition so the song can stay in your head and you'll remember it once you see a pillow pet.
 The main target audience are young kids and maybe even young teenagers.  Throughout the commercial, they show little boys and girls hugging their pillow pets and getting really excited once they receive it.  They are expressing how much fun it is to have one as if it was their best friend.
Not only do they have a song that later becomes annoying, they tell us 10 adjectives in every 1 sentence! They even show them in print when they are talking about a certain detail.  Pillow Pet advertisers use a lot of weasel words, such as "its great for all ages" and "its fun and simple."  They pound answers on us so they make sure we have no questions and just buy the product right there and then.
If you think about it, there really is no significance in a pillow pet.  We could take a regular stuffed animal and sleep on it if we want.  Even though im saying these things, i own one on my own and everyone at school talks about it and sings the jingle.
The commercial gives off the feel that it's magical and since they show almost 15 different kids in the commercial, they want to show that every kid has it and that we should get it to, using the technique need for autonomy.  You don't want to be singled out and since everyone talks about them and knows about them, then it makes us feel like we should get one too.

Hump Day!!!!

Whenever it's Friday people always shout, "It's hump day!"  and it always reminded me of this specific commercial.  I always thought it was just a commercial for fun talking about Wednesday being hump day and i never knew it was for Geico until I actually watched the full commercial for myself.
Thinking about it, the concept of the camel in a office has nothing to do with Geico.  It just shows a camel asking everyone what day it is today and at the end a lady says hump day, which gets him really excited.  The overall idea of the camel was to show how happy and excited it was, explaining how someone would feel the same way if they had Geico.
The target audience of this commercial is towards parents or adults who pay for car insurance.  It shows when they are in a work environment and all we see are adults in their offices.  There is also no up beat music that would lean more towards the attraction of kids. A camel having that much fun in an environment like that shows that you would be more happy than that switching to Geico.  At the end of the commercial, they play a little guitar to liven up the environment once they start talking about the actual company.
I have noticed Geico has a lot of animals in their commercials, to attract more people because we feel the need too satisfy curiosity.
They use the weasel words "save hundreds of dollars" to attract people on how good their company is compared to the other car companies. They know people like to save money and by saying that, many people would love to save hundreds of dollars.  They also say "Get Happy. Get Geico."  showing a feel to nurture by making the customers happy about switching to Geico. They make it short and simple, giving off the technique of simple solutions.  They sum up their whole idea on why you should join Geico. To me, it sounds like switching to Geico will be fast and easy but knowing what other parents went through, it's not.

Coors light

What makes beer so good? After watching the commercial on Coors Light, I noticed that all beer commercials have a resemblance. That is to make their product the coldest of all beers. In this commercial, coors light does a really good job with this. I wouldn't know whether or not a beer would taste better if it's cold but that doesn't really have to do anything with the quality or the taste of the beer. They show a journey that someone would experience once they drink a coors light. As I was watching, I got the chills because the scene is full of ice and snow. They have a group of people dancing to also represent that it's good for parties and Ad Populum. They give off a need to escape on this journey to a different place. 

They also have another commercial showcasing a "party in a box." It's when a guy brings this metal box everywhere he goes containing coors light in it. Again, it showing all the different places you will be able to go with a bud light by your side. Every once in a while, the box gets best up and dropped everywhere but in the end it still stays in tact. It gives off the feel that coors light is the best and you will have the best time of your life if you take a bud light with you.

The up beat music makes you want to dance and gets you in the mood to drink a beer. It's main focus group is on young adults because they showcase them dancing at parties and having a good time. So I guess we can say the colder the beer, the better?

In the commercial above, there are two men who travel in the freezing icy waters just to grab a couple of beers.  They go through all this trouble and in the end, they pop out of a fridge in the bar and serve it to customers.  They are show casing that their beer is always served fresh and cold just like the way people like it.  It's not like they actually have people go drilling holes in the ice to find packets of Coors beer.  Their main attraction is towards teenagers or young adults who love going to the bar and getting a drink of beer.  They want you to buy Coors beer every time you are at a bar and if you do, it's always going to be cold.

Carl's Jr. or Katherine Webb?

The first thing that comes to my mind is that "there are so many wrong things with this commercial."  They are trying to promote their new burger with blue cheese which they only mention once in the beginning of the commercial and you don't see shots of the burger that much.  Instead, we mainly see a beautiful women, Katherine Webb, to represent a technique called testimonial.  We don't even know for sure whether or not Katherine Webb is a fan of football.  They would make a false analogy to show case their product in the best way.  The burger is shown in short clips, whereas Katherine Webb's body is shown longer so people, mainly men, would constantly watch and show that this burger is for men like them.
In the beginning, it goes from a football game to showing Katherine Webb.  Then once sauce spills on her jersey, it goes to a movie theater there she starts stripping.  This is an example of Wit and Humour/Sex Appeal.  Are they trying to tell us girls that if we eat this burger, we will feel like Katherine Webb?  Or if a man eats this burger they will get a girl like that?  Just because a famous person is eating, they want us to appeal to the food the same way we would looking at her.
In real life, we know the burger isn't going to look the same as it is in the commercial.  It's like the size of her head when she pulls it out of the bag.  They get a close up view to show the juiciness and all the vegetables in there to make us want to crave for the hamburger so we will buy it.
In the end, it goes back to the football game and shows one of the players getting hit because they are distracted.  We don't know if he is distracted because of the food or if its because of Katherine Webb.  It's confusing to us because throughout the commercial, we know it's a Carl's Jr. commercial but they mainly show Katherine Webb.  What is the message they are trying to send us?  They only include their information at the end to remind us that this product is from Carl's Jr. but when i saw this commercial, I forgot what the product was and what was so special about it. We would just remember it as the Carl's Jr. add with Katherine Webb in her sexy clothing in the movie theater...but wouldn't remember it about the new hamburger they are promoting.  I even forgot the name of the burger...

State Farm

Another commercial that shows the technique, testimonial, is the state farm commercial with Chris Paul and his "twin" brother.  One of them plays NBA basketball and the other helps people with their car insurance.  They try to attract people by showing Chris Paul as their main character in their commercial.  People love Chris Paul and know him from the NBA.  They want to show that they are better than all the other car insurance commercial by trying to get the best people even when they have nothing to do with insurance.  They even show a whole story from the start when Chris Paul and his twin are separated in the hospital and they grow up their separate ways doing their own things.  This shows that he is "born to assist" on the court and when it comes to insurance.  People can be safe from the day they are born.

They appeal to "Need to feel safe" with Chris Paul always being there when their is a problem.  Or even in their other commercials when a group of friends are stuck in a problem and they say they jingle "...state farm is here."  Whenever they say this, an employee shows up and brings them to a safe place, covering up all their problems, showing the simple solutions they will  provide if you join state farm.  This jingle stays in people's heads because its catchy and is used in every commercial they show.

They use the technique "repetition" in each of their commercials when they have the same idea.  Showing a different problem to begin with and once they say the jingle, then an state farm employee shows up to enable their safety.  

We know that if we do join state farm, that an employee won't magically appear just like the commercial shows.  This is a slight example of doublespeak, showing something that won't happen so people will get the idea of what they really do and are capable to do.  

Subway, EAT FRESH

Subway is know for their logo "Subway, eat fresh."  When people hear "eat fresh" they automatically think Subway.  They know people want to eat healthy, especially those who are trying to watch their weight or maintain skinny.  Or people who don't want to eat something greasy and eat a healthy sandwich.  To further represent this, they show on their commercials famous athletes to show testimonial.  People like Louis Smith is used to show that since famous people like him eat subway, that it's the best choice for all athletes.  They also have a saying "where winners eat."  They are trying to express that if you want to be a winner or if you are a winner, then Subway is the right choice for you, representing the technique bandwagon.  They drive people into wanting to be on the winning side and avoid from the losing side.  When we walk into a Subway place we see a big human billboard of a famous athlete to get our attention right away.
Another commercial they have is promoting their $5 deals.  They use a lot of repetition in their song, mentioning that it's only $5 for a foot long sandwich.  It's very catchy and it stays in your head even after the commercial.  They mention the weasel word "only" to get your attention of the deal they have, trying to romance the product.  People are also dancing to this song, showing a lot of random backgrounds and random people dancing and singing to the song.  This shows a lot of "need to satisfy curiosity" because if we didn't know that it was Subway with the $5 deal, then we wouldn't know who is sponsoring this and what is the purpose of these random scenes.
They have another commercial where they show a guy with nerdy glasses sitting in his office and a beautiful women walks by and bribes the man by asking if he wants to do something and she takes the sandwich in the end.  This shows that people like this guy can get a woman to talk to them if they have a Subway sandwich in their hand.

I'm a Pizza Guy!

Watching the Kings game right now against the LA Clippers, I've noticed every time it goes to commercials or if there is a short break in between the game, they show the commercial of Isaiah Thomas and Pizza Guys.  Not only are they showing it constantly during this game, but they also do it during other King's games.  To me, this commercial is kind of fake because they just have people saying "I'm a pizza guy!" to try to show that Pizza Guy is popular and everyone loves it, showing an example of doublespeak.  We don't know for sure if these people are true lovers of Pizza Guys.  They may be "acting" or lying just to promote their business.  At the end, the ask "Are you a Pizza Guy?" to give off projection towards the audience to lure them in and get them thinking about whether or not they should think about getting pizza from Pizza Guys next time.
The main person in the commercial is Isaiah Thomas.  The business owners use Ad Populum to show that since Isaiah Thomas is an athlete and plays for the Sacramento Kings, that Pizza Guys is the best kind of pizza and everyone should get it too.  They understand that many people watch the kings and what better way to promote their product is through one of the players on the team that people are a fan of.  Usually on TV shows, people change the channel when commercials come on and change it back when we think our show is back on.  But when we watch sporting games like football, basketball, etc., the commercials are usually short so we stay on the show or sometimes we don't want to miss the game, so we don't change it to make sure we see every part of the game.
Overall, my thought on this commercial is kind of silly because every time we watch the game and Isaiah Thomas makes a shot or makes a steal, my family always says "The PIZZA GUY!"  They may call him this, but it doesn't change our mind of getting pizza from Pizza Guys.  This commercial certainly doesn't work or appeal to us, but I don't know how others feel towards it.

The SPCA

As I was watching TV tonight, I always hear the commercial about the SPCA come up.  I don't even have to look at the screen to know what it's about.  The first thing you can hear is the sad music playing in the background and when you turn to look, the first thing you will see are sad-innocent puppies that are begging to be adopted by an owner.  They are trying to persuade listeners to feel bad for these pets and adopt them as soon as possible.  

In the commercial above, they mentioned statements in between clips mentioning how millions of animals are being put down.  Just by reading this, it makes us feel like we need to do something about this and they are being put down because of us, that it's our fault.  We don't know for sure if this is the case.  If that many animals are being put down every year.  I believe they don't need to make us feel bad for something that really isn't our fault or has nothing to do with our involvement.

They use sayings like "help save a life" to show the weasel word "help".  The SPCA knows that by letting the audience know on how much effect they will have for the pet's life, then they can get more adoptions from others who are moved emotionally. Who wouldn't want to save an innocent life?  They try to make us feel bad in order to get our attention.  Yes these dogs may have had a bad reputation or experience in their life, but I didn't think they had to go this far in a commercial.  They will do almost about anything to improve their sales and business.

While they show small clips of pets during the commercial, they are usually the ones who have been effected the most to show sympathy.  They show that they have "puppy eyes" that can't get you to look away from the screen.  By the end of the commercial, they mention their contact information, hoping that we will be moved by this commercial and want to help the animals.

There is a part of me that feels bad for these animals in the SPCA, knowing that I can make a better life for one or more of them.  I just notice the little things that they do to set aside the fact that they are trying to promote their offer by covering it up with innocent pics and emotional sayings.

Trend: Retro

Looking through the "More" magazine about different style and fashion tips, I have noticed a certain page that got my attention for sure. They labeled outfits with a side note, saying words such as "lower-priced" and "updated" to show emphasis on the product.  Unlike some other clothing lines who just print pictures of models wearing their clothes, they don't use models and use the power of words instead.  It feels like they believe words can persuade buyers more than how it looks on someone so they move more towards writing than image.  Not only to they present clothes on this page, but it includes both clothes and jewelry that match with it.  They don't want you to just buy the clothes, but the jewelry that comes along with it.  Like a package deal but its not displayed as one.
At the very top of the page, it says "Making Trends Age Appropriate," getting the attention of older or younger adults looking to look either younger than their age or older than their age.  They give tips on the side to show why this outfit is better.  They mention how no pockets, pleating or ruffles will make you stand out and shape your body consciously.
This page just mentioned the word trend, a weasel word, used to persuade people that this certain fashion or style is the "new" thing and that you should buy it so you can be just like everyone else who has it.  They want people to feel like they need this type of clothing to prevent from being the only person without this style of clothing.  They use the TV show, Mad Men, to let us buyers know that retro style is being used and seen in famous hit TV shows, demonstrating narrow casting.
Just from this page, there are many examples of what advertisers do to show case their product in clothing to stand out from other companies.T

The Golden Arch

What makes it so intriguing, the food or the toys? It may be cheap, but we pay the price. "I'm lovin' it" what are we really loving? The processed foods produced in everything they make?

When we first think of Mickey D's, we think unhealthy and fast food. Even though we are told how bad McDonalds is, we still have a tendency to eat it. Everywhere we go, we will notice on about every corner there is a McDonalds. It's always one of our options when we are looking for food. 

The mascot is a clown dressed in yellow and red. Some kids and even adults are scared if clowns but they still eat McDonalds.  I wonder, how do they attract so many people? Is it because the clown shown in their commercials that attract customers?

Kids love the kids meal because the toys that come along with it. There are toys for boys such as action figures and toys for girls like dolls and ponies. When I first walked in to the McDonalds by the school, the first thing that caught my eye was a stand containing one section for boy toys and the other section for girl toys.  They try to persuade young kids in wanting to buy a kids meal just for the toys.  Also, right in the front they have a dollar menu sign that shows all the food options they have for a dollar to show how "cheap" it is.  Even thought its cheap, we don't understand how much artificial ingredients are in the product or how much fat is in there either.
Once in a while, they even have a time when they include the game "Monopoly" in their business.  They persuade people to buy more and more stuff so they can receive more and more monopoly pieces to fill up the board.  They understand that people are hungry for money and food so they thought, why not include both in their business so they can flourish.
These examples show how businesses get the attention of different age groups by bringing attention to a specific group at a time.  The attraction of toys involves young kids who love toys.  Even the clown can make a kid smile, or maybe even scared.  But they still find it interesting.  The idea of the Monopoly game brings attention to young adults and adults, maybe even elders who are always interested in money.  They are showing an example of doublespeak when they showcase "I'm lovin' it" on their signs and commercials.  Not everyone loves McDonalds and not everyone thinks its the best.  They are lying to the people that even though some may love it, that not necessarily true for others, pretending to tell the truth.
Honestly, whenever I think of McDonalds, it always reminds me of food that's not real and that is really unhealthy.  However, I still make decisions to go there when I am looking for something to eat.

Power of Words

I came home from practice, sat down, and noticed this book on the table and it caught my eye right away.  The first words I saw were in pink, HAPPINESS, WISDOM, WIT, ADVICE, INTERVIEWS, and INSPIRATION.  I found these vague words to express a lot of meaning of what is going to be mentioned in this book and it gave me a feeling of wanting to read what is in the book or what it's about.  Not only does the color give off a this vibe, but its also shiny too.  It may not look like it is in the photo but my eye automatically saw it the instant I turned my head to look at the glare.

Not only do I know about Oprah being known worldwide, but she opens up to people and the hearts of others.  She makes strong statements that everyone can relate to and I found the title of this book signifies her personality perfectly.  In gold, they mentioned "big" to tell the reader that it's not just a plain ordinary book.  Also, it says "The best of O" making a statement that this book is worth reading when something says it's the BEST.  Gold and pink can catch the eye of anyone around.

Flipping through the book, I found that it mentioned a lot of pathos, using words like YOU and WE.  it makes us as readers want to get a better understanding of what we can do different about something I our lives and it makes us feel like we are getting all the attention.  She uses a lot of words like LOVE, FAITH, NATURAL, and CONFIDENCE to express the feeling of a more positive side than negative.  All her subtitles in the book attach to the reader even when they are just flipping through it.

An image of Oprah on the front cover grabs attention to readers who are fans of hers, showing ethos.  If it was just words on the front cover, it wouldn't be standing out as much because people rarely take the time to just read what's on the front page especially when it's kind of long.  Inside the book, Dr. Phil is mentioned a lot and he gives his tips of things throughout topics.  Since he is a widely known doctor, this shows Appeal to Authority from the fallacy's because everything he says, people will believe. Oprah, Dr. Phil, and powerful words combine to emphasize the power in one book.