I’m a huge football fan, but in addition to watching the Super Bowl game, I also love watching to critique all of the commercials with my friends. One of the first Super Bowl commercials this year was a State Farm commercial, naturally. I think what surprised me most about the ad was that there were a whole lot of familiar and popular faces. The guy with the cheese on his head is from an older State Farm commercial. Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers are sitting next to the new Jake from State Farm, a celebrity himself. Next thing you know, Paul Rudd and Drake are thrown into the commercial, too. I think the randomness of the celebrities (and familiar face) made the commercial one of my favorites from this year (and Drake is actually pretty funny).
After doing the reading and listening to the podcast, I realized that most advertisements rely on only one thing: their assumption that what is “normal” is desirable. Either through shame, optimism, solutions or rationale, advertisers try to target what they feel the viewer needs. I think that the Teays reading made a very interesting point when it mentioned sin and seduction in advertising. Envy, lust and greed are present in the majority of advertisements that we see, and that’s what advertisers want us to feel, which is kind of unfortunate.
When it comes to analyzing ads, I do think that it’s important to look at the verbal and visual messages, but to also do some introspection into your own values. Even if advertisers claim that “everyone” is using a specific product, what difference does it make if you have your own values and opinions? Even if it’s something as simple as a Pizza Hut commercial, you can easily look at it and realize (from the perspective of a broke college student who loves pizza) “actually, I’m not hungry, this ad just makes it sound good in the moment,” and keep it moving. Understanding advertisements starts with removing yourself and realizing what is really important to you.
I think you made an interesting point about ads appealing to what we see as normal. That would especially make sense for this ad since most people know Drake and Jake from state farm. It is also good to think about realizing what is really important to you to combat the ‘lizard brain’ and deception that ads can cause.
The cameo from the cheesehead guy in this ad is effective because for people who have seen the original State Farm ads with Aaron Rodgers, the cheesehead guy creates a sense of familiarity. He alerts your brain that it should recognize and feel comfortable with what it’s seeing. This was one of my favorite Super Bowl ads this year, and I couldn’t really put my finger on why I liked it so much before reading the chapter.
The fit associated with the State Farm guy is also a great marketing scheme. I can remember watching State Farm ads when I was a kid and the thing I remember the most were the khakis pants. It’s a great piece of marketing that has been stuck in my head for years.