I’m attaching my favorite recent advertisement. A few weeks ago, my marketing professor shared this ad from Bud Light which was shown during the Super Bowl. It’s a national running joke that Americans watch the Superbowl only for the commercials, but they are actually pretty effective and entertaining ads (probably due to intense planning and high budgets). This advertisement plays on the line “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” while referring to 2020 as “a lemon of a year.” They are using lemons as a metaphor for the coronavirus, and the ad features lemons falling from the sky, knocking people out, destroying cities, shutting down airports, and ruining evens such as sports and weddings, just as the pandemic did. The purpose of the ad is to introduce Bud Light’s new lemonade flavored line of hard seltzers, “packed with lemon flavor after a lemon of a year.” I like this advertisement so much because a lot of commercials from 2020 made reference to the pandemic, but Bud Light did it in a relatable, funny, and entertaining way. The reading stated “Ads attempt to soothe our spiritual hunger problem and help us find a way to connect with those around us” (page 476), so I find it interesting that this ad could connect so many people. It gave the nation something to laugh about all together while watching the most-viewed TV event in the USA, the Superbowl.
I find advertisements extremely interesting, which is why I love marketing so much. There are so so many different strategies that companies can use to promote their brand and manipulate consumers, yet at the same time reflect our values and bring us together. I think that being aware of these manipulation tools can make us better-informed consumers.
I gained from your response and from watching the ad that people are moved by effective ads that tell highly relatable stories. Furthermore, when the product consumers purchase the product from an ad, they become a mobile version of the ad itself by sharing that story of how they came across the product with family, friends, and others with who they are connected. It’s mind-blowing how much ads affect our daily lives, yet we rarely take time to stop and realize how we’re being influenced.
I appreciate the conclusion you drew at the end about being better informed consumers by understanding the marketing tactics used to entice us. Growing up I did not have tv, so video advertisements were fairly foreign to me. I used to be mesmerized by ads, so as I’ve grown up its really interesting to look back and see what tools were most effective!
I really enjoy marketing as well. I think that Super Bowl commercials are interesting because they cater to the audience and what they think would be fascinating. For example, this commercial talks about the Coronavirus. This topic caters to what the audience would be interested in at the moment.
I agree with you that having a light and funny ad about the pandemic is much more entertaining and engaging than a tragic one. I think that this is because we’re so emotionally exhausted already that sad ads about our situation makes us more depressed, and ads that poke fun at our situation provide much needed levity which makes us want to buy the product more.