Advertising manipulates a certain audience to prefer a certain service, or product. It can also imply a certain message throughout without stating it in the ad, by playing on your emotions, desires and/or morals. For the assignment, I have to find an ad, and answer questions dealing with who the ad is catering to and what the underlying message is to the advertisement. For my advertisement, I picked a 30 second ad for Mountain Dew.
1. Who is the audience for the advertisement? How can you tell? What assumptions do the advertisers make about the audience?
The intended audience for the ad are basketball fans between the ages of 12-24. The reason I think this is for basketball fans is because the commercial involves NBA point guard Russell Westbrook, a basketball player who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The advertisers assume the audience is told what to do and what to think by someone else, suggesting the ad is for a younger, more impressionable audience. Another possible reason this is for a younger audience is due to the product itself, which is constantly marketed for teens and young adults.
2. Is this a populist advertisement? Or an elitist one? How can you tell? What traditions or standards does it rely upon to be understood in these terms?
This is an elitist advertisement, because it caters to a specific audience, in this case fans of the NBA and basketball players. Why I think this is because the ad has a NBA player (Russell Westbrook) and it references things people in basketball would understand (for example, pregame music)
3. What is your prior knowledge of the product? Of the advertisement? How does this help you understand the ad's meaning?
Mountain Dew is a soda full of caffeine and sugar made by PepsiCo. I had no prior knowledge this ad existed, since I have never seen it on TV. The caffeine in Mountain Dew gives you an energy boost, so the advertisers are using that to their advantage by suggesting you drink it to keep you energized for playing sports.
4. In what ways is the ad designed to manipulate you into buying the product? What emotions does it play upon? What desires does it commodify?
It commodifies the desire to win and be great, and the desire to be unique. The advertisement plays upon determination, and confidence, since that's what a good basketball player's mind-state is, and Russell Westbrook is a very good basketball player, so it's fitting that he conveys the message. It manipulates you into buying it by marketing Mountain Dew as a sports drink, something that can get you energized. Well it does energize you (it has caffeine), there's a crazy amount of sugar in it which is not healthy in the slightest, and afterwards you can suffer from caffeine crashes which make you feel like garbage.
5. What unstated message does this ad convey? What themes does it employ? What does the ad tell us about American culture?
This ad's unstated message is "You don't have to follow others to be great." The themes this advertisement employs are rebellion (going against the grain), being a daredevil, and greatness. This says something about North American culture. We are told to be the best, and to make a dent in the world enough that a lot of us are determined to make that happen. This ad is designed to motivate aspiring professional sports players, as well as advertise Mountain Dew, which is the most important part of the whole advertisement.
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