ANALYZING TV COMMERCIALS

The medium is the message Marshall McCluhan

Instructor: David Deubelbeiss

In this lesson, we will look at TV commercials and ways

to introduce and use them in the classroom.
We will try to understand commercials and the ways the
messages they contain.
Activities will include: Watching commercials,
Watching for Media messages, Making and presenting
your own commercial

1.
Why?
Commercial

Lets watch 6 commercials. Which commercial do you think is the best?

Why I think it is great.

______________________

______________________________________________

2. Fact or Fiction?
People who are media aware know how to tell the difference between what is fact (always true)
and what is opinion (not always true). Commercials often state opinion but want you to believe it is
fact.
Lets practice telling what is fact and what is fiction? How good are you at telling them apart?
Example. Which is fact or opinion?
A. The weather today is nice! B.

English is difficult to learn. C.

Seoul is a large city.

3. Commercials are powerful media tools. They inform and shape minds, especially the young
minds of our students. Lets watch the video Media Wise and learn about some of the ways
commercials influence us.

After, complete the quiz and see how Media Wise you are!

Perhaps no one understands and uses audience, purpose, and tone more effectively than
do advertisers. With the price of just a 30 second spot on television often costing hundreds of
thousands of dollars, sometimes even exceeding one million, its crucial for advertisers to be
absolutely clear on what they want, whom they want it from, and how theyre going to get it. With so
much money, time, and research invested in one message, advertisers must know anything and
everything about their audience . . .and be able to use this knowledge to their advantage. Indeed, the
commercial writer--through use of audience, purpose, and tone--is highly skillful, if not masterful at
having a desired effect on his/her consuming audience.
Assignment: Carefully examine a television that you find particularly effective. In doing so, identify
how this advertiser effectively employs audience, purpose, and tone in order to have a desired effect
on his/her audience. Follow the four steps below:
STEP ONE: Describe the commercial/ad. Provide a brief summary or synopsis of the commercial.
Be as specific and concrete as you can, yet focus on only the essential details. Describe as deftly
as you can only the details that you feel are necessary for your reader to understand the audience,
purpose, and tone of the commercial.
STEP TWO: Identify the audience. Explain as succinctly , yet as precisely as possible, the
target audience. To whom is this commercial directed? As you delineate and describe the intended
audience consider everything you find relevant: gender/sex; age; socio-economic status;
education; profession-family-recreation; political, religious, or social affiliations; the viewers wants,
needs, fears or desires; their assumptions, biases, prejudices, values, emotional appeals; their
consumer habits and behaviors. Explain how the advertiser uses all this to get the audience to
do what they want.
STEP THREE: Identify purpose(s). More than likely, the advertisers purpose will be to motivate the
viewer to buy and use a specific product/good or service. Identify that good or
service. Expand or enlarge your analysis of purpose, however, by asking, From this
commercial what does the advertiser want the audience to think, to feel, to believe, and,
ultimately, to do? Identify multiple purposes if there is more than one (e.g. sometimes the purpose
is just to get the audience to say the name of the product or service, or merely to remember it).
STEP FOUR: Identify tone. Describe and explain the mood or attitude the advertiser uses in treating
the subject, as well as the mood, attitude, and feelings the advertiser invokes in the viewer.
What emotional and psychological appeal does the advertiser make? What other notable strategies,
methods, devices, sounds or images does the advertiser use to manipulate his/her audience?

I analyzed two commercials from random brands. The first one was Wash&Go and the other one was
Always. I followed 4 steps in analyzing these commercials (I analyzed the two individually). The steps
go something like this: Step 1.Describe the commercial, Step 2. Identify the audience, Step 3. Identify
purpose, Step 4. Identify tone.
The Wash&Go commercial

Step1. First of all, the commercial is set in a public place, most probably a shopping center and it
starts with one guy comparing two loafs of bread. This is due to the fact that the new Wash&Go
volumizing formula is based on yeast extracts (the yeast helps the dough rise). The new shampoo is
presented to several women which dont seem convinced. After agreeing to test it they are impressed
by the product. The commercial ends with a scene in which the guy turns his head after one girl which
used the shampoo, hence, the shampoo is effective.
Step 2. The commercial is obviously targeted towards women with the idea that if you have a
voluminous hair you will be appreciated by men. This is the idea that I am stuck with. You dont need
the shampoo necessarily for yourself but for attention of men. This example expresses typical gender
roles seen in the media.
Step 3. The purpose of this commercial (or any commercial in general) is to persuade the targeted
audience to buy the products. The fact that this commercial is set in a public place with actual people
testing the product and loving it is actually an idea they want you to get. They are actors playing a
role but they accomplish one thing, which is making you believe that you can better yourself
(physically, sexually) by purchasing their products.
Step 4. The tone is quite cheerful and the main character is friendly as well as good looking. This is a
strategy used in most commercials, using a person that appeals to the opposite sex. The commercial
is set in a public place like I said before.
The fact that every woman agreed to test the product is a little bit off to me. Personally, I cant imagine
this situation. Say that you are a sales man (like the person selling the product) in a shopping center. I
dont believe every woman will say yes to your propositions. There will always be one saying no,
another one ignoring you, passing by quickly, and so forth.
In conclusion the Wash&Go commercial was made to persuade women to buy the products for the
attention of men. Of course, the fact that several women of different ages have taken part in this
commercial, makes it more convincing.