Task 3
Pantene Advert - Deaf Girl Learns to Play Violin
The Pantene advert, that was produced in Thailanad depicts a young deaf Thai girl that is interested in playing the violin. This advert is very unconventional because it is treated as a short film and the product is only seen at the end unlike most adverts.
Obviously this long, film-like advert was not done just because the producer wanted it this way, there are a lot of reasons why an advert like this can be more beneficial to the company than a normal 30 second advert. The Interactive Communications Model states that consumers nowadays have a lot of products to choose from. Because there is so much choice, the adverts/media products that go against the 'norm' are more likely to attract the viewer's attention . This same model explains that with the experience and the knowledge that the audience has of the power of media advertising, the audience has greater control over what s/he understands and believes from the advert. This point is very valid when taking into consideration the other Pantene adverts that are shown on television. They are mostly characterized by models and celebrities with perfect hair. Studies show that this type of 'unrealistic' advertising is no longer working on audiences because many know that other products and techniques are used to create such a look.
The Active Consumption theory , that is relatively modern and accepted in today's society, states that different individuals will respond differently to media products. This happens because the audience is not made up of the same kind of person, but it is made up of different people that have gone through different experiences. I believe that this advert was created with this theory in mind.
Again when looking at other Pantene commercials, one can see that their target audience is the young and the beautiful, but this advert appeals more to those that are different, have something missing and want to shine, basically the opposite of their previous target audiences.
NHS - Anti Smoking - Hooked
This Ad (one from a whole series of similar adverts), which was created by the UK council of Health was banned after recieving around 774 complaints to the ASA.
The ASA claimed that:
'the images of people with hooks in their faces used in the poster and TV campaign were offensive, frightening and distressing - particularly to children.'
This is a clear example that some adverts receive the same kind of response from the majority of it's audience, just as the passive consumption theory states. Maybe this was the initial idea of the producers, that is, confronting smokers and show them the seriousness of their addiction. The DoH stated that although there is no available information about the people that placed the complaints, they are certain that a large amount of the complainers are in fact smokers themselves, thus meaning that they accomplished what they initially wanted.
There are countless debates regarding violence in ads, especially if they can be seen by minors.In 2007 the ASA received 1,748 complaints about violence in 523 adverts. Ex Army psychologist Dave Grossman, a leading american activist states that movies and adverts are bringing kids up in a violent-friendly world and video games and teaching them how to handle guns. But not all arguments follow this one, for example Tesse Tisserone, psychiatrist, says that because violence is depicted on television it doesn't mean that children are going to grow up being serial killers and rapists. This kind of debate has been going on for ages ( around the 1980's ) , and social scientists have been unable to gather concrete evidence to show that violence on TV will lead to aggression in real life.
Obviously, wether one believes that violence is injected into children by the medium of media , depends on how one looks at children, either as passive or active consumers , even at such a young age.
No comments:
Post a Comment