The first advertisement ‘top bombing’ has a sporting theme, it is set in an Olympic diving competition. The advertisement opens with an Australian diver who earns a respectable score of six hundred and forty-eight point two. Then the second diver; another fit and athletic man does his dive and scores an outstanding score of six hundred and ninety-seven. But finally the third diver, John Smith the fat, unfit, rough guy performs a suicidal bomb and soaks the judges however he scores the best score of seven hundred and twenty-three point five and the crowd uproar in cheers. Then the final shot is of ‘John Smith’ climbing out of the pool using the ladders rather than climbing out of the side like a professional swimmer next to a large pint of beer and the slogan ‘no nonsense’ appears. This stressing that John Smiths is a no-nonsense drink.
My second choice ‘monsters’ has a family theme and takes place in a curry house this being a place where most working class beer drinkers have found themselves many times before. John Smith is sitting at a table with his wife and another couple when the babysitter Sarah calls them and puts his daughter Brittany on. Brittany tells him that “she has had a nightmare about monsters in the cupboard” and John replies “don’t be silly, it’s the burglars coming through the windows you need to worry about.” Then there is a pause and he says “sweet dreams!” and puts the phone down however John has to check his phone to be sure that Brittany has gone this shows that he is not an electronic type of man. John then orders two more currys and takes a swig of his John Smiths. When he looks up and finds his wife and friends starring at him he asks “what?” this makes him sound really dumb like most fat beer drinkers, then the slogan ‘no nonsense’ is the final shot and this again emphasises the fact John Smiths is a no nonsense drink.
Peter Kay was chosen to play John Smith in both of these adverts. This is mainly because the adverts are supposed to be witty and Peter Kay is well known for his humour and wit. He also appeals to the target audience as he is a mirror image of the target audience with him being a stereotypical, lowlife, overweight, no-nonsense, Englishman this gives the advert more chance of succeeding because many people would associate themselves with the advert clearly therefore they are more lightly to buy John Smiths.
‘Monsters’ is set in the evening, you can tell this because it is dark and the only light is coming from lights in the restaurant. Notably in ‘Top bombing’ it is very light, this is because the area is well lit and the scene is live on TV therefore there is lots of artificial lighting also it could be daytime but we don’t know this because we cannot see outside the indoor set.
The pace is different in both advertisements: in “Monsters” it is slow with the same scene throughout the advert; this works well because the characters are having a meal which would not be rushed whereas ‘Top Bombing’ jumps quickly from scene to scene with not one scene lasting more than five seconds this was done because it keeps the viewer interested in what they are doing and stops them from switching channels like many British people do when the adverts comes on.
Some of ‘Top bombings’ camera shots include close ups, mid shots and replays. The close ups are of the divers faces, the mid shots are of the divers these two shots work together to form a contrast between John Smith and the two professional divers. There are also replays which are a recognisable feature for beer drinkers as most watch sports on television in which replays are always shown of good shots and goals etc. There is also a recognisable commentator voice over which would also be familiar to most beer drinkers and sport watchers. The swimming pool scene is just like a scene from the common wealth games and just coincidentally the advertisement was shown on television at the same time as the common wealth games were being advertised on the TV.
‘Monsters’ opens with a panning shot from John Smith around the restaurant; this works well because it shows the setting ‘a dark curry house’ and the characters ‘Johns wife and their two friends’. When John Smith picks up his phone there is a close up of the wedding ring on his finger this is to emphasise the fact that he is married as he is not married in any other advertisements. The director also uses bathos to show the anti-climax when John is telling his daughter the complete opposite of what he should be saying. There are two sounds in this advert music and dialog. The music is Indian music and is very minimalist because nobody wants loud, techno headache-causing music when they’re eating a meal it also shows from the start that the characters are situated in an Indian restaurant, the only other music is the ring tone on John’s phone.
The adverts advertised the product and brand name using a series of comedy techniques such as bathos. It never actually gives information about the product, for example, what it tastes like or what it smells like etc. whereas it emphasis’ the target audience.
The John Smiths campaign with Peter Kay achieved the ultimate accolade for any piece of advertising this is proven to be correct by the fact that it became the only bitter in the top ten selling beers in the UK, the other nine being either lager or stout In the year that the adverts were screened.
