I think one of my all-time favorite advertisements would have to be the “John West Salmon: Bear Fight” ad that shows a fisherman going up to duel with a large grizzly bear. The entire advertisement feels like a crazy moment captured on camera to give it a more realistic and spontaneous feel.
I think this advertisement also shows us how humor and laughing play such a significant role in appealing to our lizard brains; when we laugh and find something funny, we release serotonin and associate it with happiness and relaxation. This ad makes us crack up because it’s a bear fighting a fishing dude as if they were in a cage match, and the perfectly-timed yelps and kicks had me in tears the first time I saw this ad years ago. And you wanna know why it stuck with me? Because it’s hilarious and it brought me joy.
Furthermore, there’s an underlying theme that John West Salmon is willing to go above and beyond to get fresh, great quality salmon, even if it means fighting wild grizzly bears. At the end of the advertisement, it shows the fisherman walking away with a large fish in his hands, we make the audience assume he was successful and that the company really does put this much work into getting good salmon just for us (which makes us feel special).
I think that humorous advertisements that make us laugh are some of the ones that stick with us the most, which is why so many people are obsessed with Super Bowl ads; the majority of them are aimed at making us giggle and has us looking forward to the next year’s advertisements.
I also love this app. I remember watching this while watching tv with my family and it was always very humorous. I agree with you. I tend to remember humorous ads much more than I remember others. Something about humor lightens up society and I think it is a vital part of television.
That’s a super funny ad! I have never watched it before, but even before getting through your blog post, I had shared it with my roommate, which definitely proved your point. This company knew that the best way to advertise their product is through humor (Because canned salmon low key doesn’t look good) and it worked exceptionally well.
I thought that your take on the ending, where you note that they make us feel special, was really insightful. Ads that can connect and make you feel like your a part of them are really impactful. This is kind of similar to Dr. Bezio’s example of the Old Spice ad, not based on humor, but based on the idea that it draws you in and makes you feel like you are a part of their team.