this makes you feel like he is looking at something behind you, and makes you want to turn around. If you look closely into the man’s eyes, you can see that it looks exactly like a pint of Guinness being poured suggesting that this is what the man is anticipating. He is not the stereotypical surfer, as he is slightly older and less muscular. This conjures a mental image of experience. The choice of character is extremely pertinent as he will be somewhat of a role model to Guinness’s target audience. You can also distinguish his lips flickering as if he is muttering to himself; this could be a way to prepare him for what he longs to see in the distance. Although we can see the man very clearly, and all of his facial features, it is noticeable that we do not see far below his bottom lip. The advertisers obviously want us to focus on the eyes, mouth and brow as these features give off a stronger sign of how the man is feeling. The man’s lips look dry and this implies that he has a thirst for the waves. The viewer wants to see the man quench his thirst and the solution is the mighty wave and perhaps the image of the Guinness at the end of the advert.
This is the first time we view the surfers together on the brink of war. We are instantly reminded of how the men are dwarfed by the humungous wave. This could, metaphorically speaking, be a link to how powerful and strong the Guinness brand is and that it is a giant compared to business competitors. The men are standing in a specially organised configuration and they all look like soldiers ready to go into battle, The surfers boards could be like weapons. Next the men charge towards the water and this gives us a mental image of war: specifically a less technically advanced war, that would have been fought hundreds of years ago. This links directly to the Guinness brand, as the traditional brewing technique used by the Guinness factory is unique and stretches back hundreds of years ago. If we imagine this situation to be a war, we can think of the opposition as the sea. We then watch all the surfers running almost simultaneously towards the water. When the surfers reach the water they are all getting dragged under, but force themselves back up to the surface to fight their battle. As the wave rapidly approaches the men, white water fiercely spatters in all directions. Similarly to the eyes of the man at the beginning of the advert, we can see a clear resemblance to the Guinness product itself. The top of the wave looks very much like a pint of Guinness being poured. The struggle of the men against the wave now begins. Instantly after the aerial shot, we focus into the men and are drawn to the fact they look extremely engaged and ready for the approaching wave. The next shot is of a man in a struggle with the wave. His facial expressions vary greatly from earlier shots. His face has changed from engaged and psyched, to extreme panic and even fear for his life. Although he looks very scared, he is still determined not to be beaten.
For the first time, we see horses approaching the surfers. Horses are often referred to when talking about waves or the sea in general. But horses also symbolise power and aggression. This again shows that Guinness is more powerful than other brands. The shot of the horses riding the waves, with the surfers underneath is of biblical proportion. The surfers seem to be battling all the elements, and still have determination.
After seeing a few of the surfers being taken out by the might of the wave, we see a flash of a man’s face. The face has ghostly features. His eyes seem to have no life, and he looks like he is struggling to keep them open. He seems to be on the brink of death. As we only see a split second glimpse of his face, we cannot see many details. I believe that the director was trying to create a disturbing atmosphere, and the quick flash of the man’s face makes you almost jump and wonder what it represents. All of this adds to the eeriness of the advert.
After the mighty battle we see our man holding his hands up into the air triumphantly. He has braved the waves, and won! Although he must be ecstatic, we see him looking back into the distance to check his friends are alright. He is clearly worried for their safety and this makes him appear even more heroic.
The men gather together back onto the beach. The main thing we notice here is that the pulsating beat stops. Although the heart beat attracts us to the advert, the use of this cleverly placed silence makes you watch with suspense and creates dramatic tension. When the beat stops, we instantly think something is about to happen. If you are watching the advert for the first time, you may still be wondering what product is being promoted, as the advert strangely doesn’t mention its brand name until the end.
For the first time in the whole advert, we see the Guinness. This happens at exactly 53 seconds into the advert. The advertisers could be making us wait to increase anticipation, as this is the theme of the advert. We then see the product thumping like a heart beat. This could metaphorically mean that the Guinness product is the heart of today’s society and as important to man as life itself. The words “good things come to those who…” When looking at this phrase, the first thing that comes to mind is the word “wait”, and this promotes the lengthy process that leads to a pint of Guinness and emphasis the benefits of waiting.
Throughout the advert there is a catchy thumping beat. This keeps you gripped as the tension grows. As well as the beat, we hear a voice in the background saying:
“He waits; that's what he does.
And I tell you what: tick followed tock followed tick followed tock followed tick...
Ahab says, 'I don't care who you are, here's to your dream.'
'Here's to you, Ahab'.
And the fat drummer hit the beat with all his heart.
Here's to waiting”
The background voice over is a clearly from the book “Moby Dick”
Moby Dick is about the struggle of a man to catch a whale. We can relate it to the advert, as there is a struggle with a colossal wave. The words also add a slightly sinister atmosphere and along with the steady pulsating beat, it gives a very hypnotic refrain.
The Guinness advert is inspirational. It portrays Guinness as being a powerful, masculine and desirable product. The combination of the background beat and music creates a mesmerizing and tense scene. Relief from the tension comes with the knowledge that the surfers are safe and just as the viewer feels able to relax, the screen is filled with the picture of a pint of Guinness. Despite this being the only glimpse that we have of the product it is this picture that the audience will remember.