Once the car has transformed into the ‘transformer’ it starts to dance along to ‘Les Rythmes Digitales – Jacques your body’ within the dancing sequence the transformer does some well known dance moves including the one out of ‘Night fever’ where you raise your right hand out stretched above your left ear and move it back down towards you crotch. Again this is borrowed interest. Another strategy it uses throughout is special effects, in this case the graphics rendering used to turn the car into a ‘transformer. The Dancing carries on for another 18 seconds before the transformer jumps into the air and turns back into the car and the camera switches back into the position where the sea is in the background. At the same time the citroen logo along with the slogan “Alive with technology” comes up on the screen. This stays with the theme of a more upbeat image for the advert.
The second advert to be analysed in this essay is fosters – robot cleaner. The advert begins with a Japanese man excitedly opening a parcel containing a robot. The colours at this point are all very light and modern. Fosters have made the Japanese man who opens the box very stereotypical due to him (when opening the box) looking very extravert and excited. He is in a room in his apartment with a lot more modern accessories apart from the robot. As another strategy fosters use humour throughout, this keeps the viewers attention level up and increases the chance of the viewer purchasing the product. The Japanese man proceeds to open the packet and subsequently orders the robot to clean the apartment while the man goes out. Once the man has arrived back the apartment is a mess with the robot nowhere in sight. The man looks around the apartment calling the robot in a strong Japanese accent, viewers warm to accents which differ from their own, and as this is aimed at English viewers this applies to them. As the man walks closer to his bedroom, he can hear the sound of a Hoover coming from within. As he walks into the bedroom the robot is seen to be in bed with a pink Hoover, which has the sucking part of the vacuum, wrapped around the robots neck, the noise of the vacuum suddenly stops. At this point music gently starts to play, gradually getting louder and louder. A common strategy to use in adverts is sex, but it probably isn’t counted as a strategy in this, due to most humans not being attracted to vacuums or robots. The robot calmly and coolly lifts up a can of fosters and pours some down a hatch in its chest. Then 2 pieces of writing appear on the screen “Drink Australian, Think Australian” in type of writing you would find on the front of a Chinese restaurant, but said in an Australian accent by a voice-over. As the man stands looking mortified at his robot, with very exaggerated actions throughout the advert, a ‘ping’ is heard from underneath the bed sheets. The man snatches up the bed sheets and to his disgusts sees a microwave in-between the robots legs. The advert ends with the Japanese man making an ‘Urgh!’ sound. This is very good use of comedy. In this advert there is two main contrasts, the robot who drink Australian beer, and acts in a very laid back type of manor. And then the stereotypical fast paced life of a Japanese businessman. In a way it is portraying that by drinking fosters you are rebelling against the high paced life styles, and staying laid back “thinking Australian”. Like the Citroen advert, Fosters have used technology. Which plays a large part in this advert.
The next advert studied in this essay is the Stella Artois – ‘Hidden British Airman’. Unlike the other adverts it is filmed in black & white. This is unusual for the adverts of today, because most advertisers choose to use full colour due to the obvious benefits of this. But the reason Stella~ have decided to use black & white is as follows; the black and white gives a much more authentic/true look to the production, it actually makes it look as if it was filmed in the war. The advert starts with the camera gently circling a general looking on inspirationally towards the battlefield. The camera swiftly switches to a plane plummeting to the ground; once the plane has hit the ground the pilot leaps out and runs towards a conveniently close local pub. The man runs in then subsequently faints on the doorstep. Then momentarily regains consciousness to see a lady stroking his face and looking over him. This perhaps uses a mild ‘sex’ strategy, but in a less ‘full on’ type of way. It could trigger touching memories of a romantic event in the memory of the viewer. The scene quickly moves on to the to the commotion of hiding the man. Once the man is hidden, the barman notices the airman’s glasses as he runs to kick them away; the door creeks open with enhanced sound. The barman is caught running back to behind the bar when the same man who is at the start storms into the pub. The camera focuses on his face looking muscular and with stereotypical German features. Like in the Fosters advert they have used a lot of different people, with varying cultural backgrounds. In this advert it helps because it can be used in a seamless amount of countries. The sounds in the whole of he advert are enhanced to add to the overall effect. Once the barmen gets to the bar the general brings out a gun and points it at him. The barman looks shocked. This is perhaps intended to keep the viewers attention, possibly to make the viewer want to know what is going to happen next. This is actually like a miniature film with an actual story line, which has been compressed into a shorter amount of time. The next part is where the comedy comes into play. The general cocks his gun as a warning to the barman. The barman then sees that a glass of Stella Artois is being filled up behind the bar, and will begin to overflow very shortly. This panics the barman, and soft music starts to play, which is the same music which has been used in most ‘Stella’ averts. After pausing a few seconds, while the tension builds, the barman quickly points at where the airman is hidden and runs to switch the ‘Stella’ tap off. The barman shrugs simply, and the ‘film’ ends in the shocked faces of the customers, and the struggling of the airman. This is all meant to signify that ‘Stella’ is more important than even a person’s life. And to show that it is better than the rest. Then the slogan appears on the screen
The next advert is by Grolsch advertising their lager. It uses a wide variety of techniques with the eminent one being humour. It starts with a quick scene of some extremely stereotypical alien like creatures. Followed by the ‘aliens’ abducting a (very stereotypical) truck driver. Then a (also stereotypical) Dutch man comes onto the picture, looking very cool and laid back. He then takes his sunglasses off in a very ‘cool’ manner (the sound to the whole of that sequence are emphasized). Again in a laid back tone, he says “Guysss why do you always abduct the first person you see??” again this is playing with stereotypical circumstances, by the way that the aliens abduct a ‘Truckee’. This is relatively common in America to hear truckers tell tales about how they have been abducted by aliens. Then the Dutch man slowly opens a bottle of Grolsch while the sound of him opening the bottle is enhanced. This is very effective in the Dutch man look refreshed and giving you the impression that it will have the same effect on you. This sequence is shortly preceded by the aliens dropping the trucker back into the river in a barrel type device with an also ‘louder than life’ splash, which has obviously been enhanced. The scene roles on to the aliens coming in their spaceship to a large storage park full of containers of Grolsch Lagers. The colour pretty much everywhere is green to relate to the fact that everything about Grolsch is green. This is a dominant feature, which is portrayed throughout the advert (the green). Once the spaceship has entered the atmosphere the aliens sit down and relax (again promoting the fact of relaxation and refreshment) while drinking Grolsch. This is where the main humorous part comes into play. One of the aliens (also green) while sitting down drinking Grolsch, points at his fellow aliens chest. Then when his fellow alien looks down the alien flicks him in the nose. This was a very effective piece of advertising due to school children actually mimicking this, so every time someone does that it reminds people of Grolsch.
