Hi everybody, I'm Katharine "Juice" Majewski and I'll be keeping this blog updated weekly with my thoughts on all things media related. This week I'm currently blogging live from the Oscars. Okay, so I'm not actually at the Oscars--just watching--but I'm looking forward to a night of high fashion, celebrities, film, and of course commercials. The commercials have been almost as exciting as two of February's biggest events: the Super Bowl and the Grammy's. Both shows featured advertisements catered to completely different audiences. The Super Bowl spots were filled with cars, dogs, beer, and scantily-clad women--essentially all things male. In class, we spoke of the four dimensions of media literacy: cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and moral. Most of the commercials during the Super Bowl appealed purely to our emotional and aesthetic senses. Both the Kia Optima and Chrysler commercials showed dreams filled with scenes of all things man and all things Americana respectively.
One week later, the commercials were marketed to an entirely different audience. They were more family-friendly and many included popular music such as Target's ad featuring Adele's "Rolling in the Deep". However, a standout ad from Chipotle really appealed to all four dimensions. With mesmerizing graphics and a Willie Nelson cover of Coldplay's song "The Scientist" (aesthetics), the ad emphasized sustainable agriculture supported by Chipotle (moral from the environmental standpoint and cognitive from the cost standpoint). By the time this ad was over, I felt happy (emotional) and wanted to head to Davis Square to get a burrito. Talk about an effective ad.
The textbook Media Literacy talks about how advertisers need to identify an audience and make them think they are offering them something new that they need. These four ads clearly did that and since have received much buzz. The Chrysler ad has over 10.6 million views on YouTube, while the Chipotle ad has 5.8 million views. These companies have constructed audiences and the people have responded by watching them on YouTube--I would be interested to learn how these ads have affected sales. What do you all think were the best commercials of the Super Bowl and Grammy's? Are you watching the Oscars--any commercials that have caught your eye tonight? Come back next week for some more freshly-squeezed Juice!
Sources: youtube.com
Potter, James. Media Literacy. 5th. SAGE Publications, 2011. Print.
