An Analysis and Comparison of Two Adverts.
An Analysis and Comparison of Two Adverts
Advertising is defined in the dictionary as "the action of calling something to the attention of the public by announcements, to call public attention by emphasizing desirable qualities so as to arouse a desire to buy or patronize"
In order to persuade, or be effective the advertisement must communicate to the audience the message it wants to relay. If for example, the advertisement is trying to sell a particular product than it must persuade the audience that for whatever reason they need to purchase the product.
Not only must the advertisement effectively relay the desired message, but the audience must be willing to "buy into" the desired message. In other words, for the advertisement to be effective, the communication must be accepted and absorbed by the audience. Advertising is a two way communication process.
The time at which adverts are shown on television can also be a guide to which minority the product is aimed at, for example in the morning most will be advertising for children's toys and sweets, the is because this is the time when a lot of children watch television. Therefore it is the most appropriate time for the advertiser to show their advert, as this is when it will reach a high amount of the target audience.
The two adverts which I will analyse and compare are the advertisements for the Ford Mondeo of November 2002 and the Peugeot 206 also of November 2002. The reason for choosing these two adverts, is because they are both products which are in the same category, vehicles, therefore it will be possible to make a comparison of the techniques and attributes of each advertisement.
The first advert which I will be analysing will be the advertisement for the Ford Mondeo of November 2002.
In the first scene of the advert, the surroundings are upside down, the reason for this is to attract the viewer's attention and make him or her interested in watching the rest of the advertisement. The second scene reveals the origin of the original perspective; it was the view of a little boy hanging on a climbing scene. The third scene is of a car pulling up the drive and stopping and the people inside the car coming out. The fourth scene is upside down again, this attracts the attention of viewers who have just tuned into the channel.
The fifth and sixth scene shows the boy getting off the climbing scene and having a disgusted and bemused expression on his face. Scenes seven to ten show the woman who got out of the car, kissing the man and the girl, and then the small boys reaction to those actions. The way in which she kisses the man and the girl is clearly exaggerated which adds a sense of comedy. In scene eleven the close up on the woman's face also shows the exaggerated nature of the woman. In these scenes, the woman is portrayed as some ...
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The fifth and sixth scene shows the boy getting off the climbing scene and having a disgusted and bemused expression on his face. Scenes seven to ten show the woman who got out of the car, kissing the man and the girl, and then the small boys reaction to those actions. The way in which she kisses the man and the girl is clearly exaggerated which adds a sense of comedy. In scene eleven the close up on the woman's face also shows the exaggerated nature of the woman. In these scenes, the woman is portrayed as some sort of "villain", this is done by the bemused face of the small boy in the sixth scene, and also from the unhappy face on the small girl, we assume to be his sister, in scene ten.
In scene twelve the overview of the house is shown. It is a very large house with a large garden and a white picket fence surrounding it. The Ford Mondeo takes a very central role in the scene. The reason why the scene is constructed in this way is because it will appeal to those who are looking for a luxury car, and this scene is trying to convey the message that purchasing a Ford Mondeo is not downgrading, it is in fact the right car, therefore it also appeals to the more up market buyers.
In scene thirteen the woman, says "Joe?" we the audience now guess that the person she is referring to is the small boy that we saw earlier. Scenes fourteen and fifteen are of the man, who we now assume is the father, shrugging his shoulders and saying that he has know idea on the whereabouts of his son. Scene sixteen shows the viewer that Joe is inside the car, and that he has chosen to stay in the car for "protection" against the woman.
He kisses the windscreen of the car in the direction of his father this shows affection for his dad and the car. However this act can also be interpreted as comical and in a sense he is making fun of his dad because he wasn't able to escape.
In this scene also there is a voice over saying the line of the series of adverts, which is, "The Ford Mondeo, the safest place to be." The last scene is of the father walking away, and then patting the car affectionately as if it were a real thing.
The next advert for the Peugeot 206 of November 2002, this advert uses some of the same techniques as the previous advert such as comedy and humour to entice and draw the audience in.
Scene one establishes the setting; this is a typical busy Indian market square. Scene two is of a man staring. The man is wearing a peach shirt which makes him stand out from the crowd; the reason for this peach shirt is that it attracts the viewer's eye, and therefore we can assume that he is the main actor in the advert. What also attracts the viewer's eye is that through this busy market the man is the only person standing still. Scene three now shows us the audience, what the man was staring at, it was in fact an old Ambassador car.
Scene four is of the man walking across the busy street and in this scene he does not removing his gaze, and he walks straight towards moving people out of his way, showing us his determination. In scene five the man gets into the car, the car has several decorations inside, a small idol and also a hanging set of beads, this makes the viewer believe that the setting is authentic. In scene seven, the man has a maniacal yet determined expression on his face. The first seven scenes are constructed in such a way that it adds a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty to what lies ahead.
A sense of comedy is added to the advert when the car smashes into the wall in scene eight. This makes the viewer want to continue watching as they still have no evidence to what the advert is for or why the driver has done this. When the car is crashed into the wall, the read end of the car lifts up and there is visible recoil, this adds a sense of realism and stops the viewer from dismissing it. Again in scene nine the main actor still retains the maniacal expression from scene seven but this time he is looking behind, the scenery can be seen through the windows and is moving backwards these two aspects allow the viewer to assume that the car is moving backwards without actually needing to see the car. In scene ten, the man reverses the ambassador into a wall, again the recoil from the impact can be seen, and this time it is echoed in the boot of the car which crumples behind the impact at which the car collides with the wall. The spectators in the background in scene eleven also add to the comical sense due their reactions which consists of laughter and bewilderment.
In scene twelve and thirteen elephant is being lead to the car. The elephant is then coaxed into sitting on the bonnet of the car, crushing it in the process, in scene fourteen. What also attracts the attention of the viewer are the sounds of the bonnet and the elephant itself.
In scene fifteen the man begins to hammer the car with a sledgehammer, the impact of the blow is displayed in scene sixteen. The man is now hammering the front tof the car with a smaller hammer in scene seventeen. In scene eighteen it is now night time, this is significant as it again shows determination by the man and his willingness to put in as much effort as required to get the job done, again he has downgraded to a smaller hammer. In scene nineteen he repeats this and is now using a chisel in addition to a smaller hammer. His downgrading of hammer size in scenes fifteen to nineteen represents increased control.
In scene twenty the camera has zoomed into the man and you can clearly see him run his hand across the bonnet of the car, he repeats this in scene twenty-one but before he runs his hand across the bonnet, he blows on it, as if he were trying to remove some dirt or debris. These two scenes portray a sense of pride and caring for the car as his actions are slow and thoughtful.
In scene twenty-two the viewer can see a distant view of the car, however there is actually surprising as at the start of the scene there is no visible light source, and so the car is shrouded but suddenly the sparks begin to fly this the viewer is taken aback. After the initial shock, the viewer then realises that the man is wielding.
Scene twenty four and five hold the viewer in anticipation as to why the man is staring at a newspaper, in scene twenty four the viewer is curious to what is on the newspaper. In scene twenty five the viewer is shown what the man can see, he is fact staring at a picture of a Peugeot 206, he then lowers the newspaper and all is revealed. Behind the newspaper stands the battered shell of a Peugeot 206 and all of his previous actions are explained.
Scenes twenty-seven to thirty show the owner of the car "putting on the style". While this clearly looks outlandish with his battered car, from the viewers perspective, nevertheless he looks proud. Even the woman in scene twenty nine looks impressed and somewhat intrigued by the car and its residents.
In the concluding three scenes, modern Indian music is played which is in contrast with the more traditional music which is heard in the first two scenes. This somewhat represents the change from the old Ambassador, shown in the second scene, to the new more modern Peugeot 206.
Scene thirty concludes the advert, and to do this the Peugeot logo and the slogan "The drive of your life," is shown. This is the first appearance of a brand in this advert this is so that the viewer associates the advert with the brand.
The advert is thoughtful and humorous and keeps you in suspense until the very end. It is extremely affective at making you watch the advert again due to its comedy element and in the end this makes the advert memorable. This element of remembrance is vital in this sort of car advert due to the fact that is soft cell.
Therefore it is not trying to persuade you to purchase the car rather it is trying to make you remember it, so that if you were to purchase a car in the near future you would remember it and find out more about it.
The main difference between the two adverts is their target audience. The Ford Mondeo is clearly a family saloon and so it would be aimed at parents with large families, whereas the Peugeot 206 is aimed at another market, the young adults, and so the Peugeot 206 advert has more humour in it.
Their targeted markets are reflected in each of their slogans. The Peugeot 206's slogan of "The drive of your life" has no details at all with the car itself and promotes excitement and pleasure whereas the Ford Mondeo's slogan of "Safest place to be" is aimed more at a family as it emphasises the safety of the car, which is one of the main reasons why a family would consider when purchasing a car.
Slogans are important in both adverts due to the fact that they help people to remember their product so that they will consider their product if they were buying a car in the near future. This is why both of the slogans are short and are not trying to reveal everything about the car, so as to make it catchier and make the viewer want to find out more.
In conclusion, even though both adverts attempt to promote similar products, the ways in which they go about this are unlike, whereas the Ford Mondeo Advert tries to promote safety and protection, the Peugeot 206 Advert advocates modernisation and fashion.
Ramesh Kanesan
