Analysis of Two Beer Advertisements : Strongbow and John Smiths

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LokMan Lee                                                                Wednesday 18th December 2002

                                Critics of Two Advertisements

        In our everyday lives we are surrounded by advertisements, for example, we wake up receiving junk mail on our doorsteps, work in environments with posters on walls and leaflets on desks, all advertisements of some sorts.

        Each year, billions of pounds are spent on advertising be companies whose aims are to attract your attention and obviously wanting you to purchase their products, waiting for your money.

        In my essay I will be comparing two advertisements produced for television. These are for John Smith’s and Strongbow, both are for alcohol with one difference; John Smith’s bitter and Strongbow’s sider.

        The first I will explain is the John Smith’s advertisement. This advertisement has chosen to football as their topic. It starts off with five men playing football in a public football pitch, each performing tricks of staying the ball in the air and then passing it to another player. The first three men demonstrated their exceptionally good skills until they passed it to a rather over-weighted man which resembles the comedian Peter Kay who instead of performing tricks, kicked the ball directly towards someone else’s back garden. The man then mumbles proudly ‘ave it’. This eventually triggered the revelation of the product: a bottle of John Smith’s. Adjacent to the product is a slogan stating ‘No Nonsense’.

        The second advertisement I shall explain is of Strongbow. This advertisement starts off with a scorching sun, shining upon and burning down five men on a rubber raft in the middle of a sea. The more dominant character lying down on the raft says: ‘throats so dry… don’t… think we can… take anymore…’ After the weak voiced speech, the man then sat up and all five of them jumped out into the “shallow” water, which it finally reveals a beach, losing the “serious” effect. All five of the men then races up through the beach and into a bar, in which they ask for five Strongbow. After a swift moment of patience, the men then collect the Strongbow and together, drink it at the same time. The advertisement then ends with a slogan quoting ‘Get a Thirst First’. Besides the slogan is a rubber raft which eventually gets shot by two arrows simultaneously, deflating it.

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        There are both differences and similarities in these two advertisements. If you think about it carefully, the names John Smith’s and Strongbow are both traditional English names. John Smith is a traditional English name and Strongbow, although not English name, it is a unique piece of weaponry used in the Middle Ages by the English and has defeated many other countries using it.

        The demographics of the characters also had similarities and links between the two advertisements. Although the people who appeared in John Smith’s and Strongbow are of different backgrounds and age, they are both people of the product’s ...

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