A Car with Swag

Cars, cars, cars.....

When you think of a car commercial, what do you think of? Heavy, serious, sleek, smooth, like a cool white collar businessman.... pretty much these stuff. Or, on the other hand, it might be more family centered, about safety and comfort. However, this commercial, on about Kia's new SOUL car,  takes an interesting take on the image of cars. Hip hop dancing Hamsters.

First of all, this commercial finds its perfect in that first, this commercial was shown during the MTV Video Music Awards, a perfect event that you can lure the young, music loving audience with hit music. Also, the commercial uses a trend setting music, LMFAO's "Party Rock." The kind of dance the hamsters do is called shuffle. To have this kind of music and this kind of dance, it is sure enough to attract the TV viewers.

The big question is, why hamsters? If you think of people dancing, it might have been dull, because we basically think of dance=people. However, animals don't dance. This fact makes the dancing hamsters funny and interesting. Thanks to this imaginative commercial, it is all the more fun and playful to watch.

The last thing that makes this ad the more effective is the fact that they made a contrast between the fighting deadly robots and the hip, cool dancing hamsters. This is an interesting thing because, eventually the ad is selling a machine, which is no different from a robot. Cold, no mercy... However, they are linking the car with warm-blooded animals. This indicated that the car is no ordinary car. It is no cold, heartless machine. It is actually a "soul"ful thing, full of fun and quite trendy.

By taking an approach as such to a car eventually resulted in a great acknowledgement from many all around the world.

Visual Brain Freeze

     This week has been quite warm, sometimes very hot that I was sweating a lot. Thanks to the warm weather, I was craving cold drinks that could quench my thirst under the sun. The one I craved the most: ice-cold slurshies.

     Speaking of slurshies, I have come across an interesting advertisement on this drink. Specifically about the Seven-Eleven Slurpees.

google.com

     Just by looking at her face you can see that she is certainly surprised by the drink that she is holding. Her eyes seem like they are going to pop out just by staring at her drink, her mouth does not seem like it will ever close, and her neck is so tense that you can almost feel the immense chill. Even the way her body is tilted shows that she was so surprised by the drink that she suddenly lost her balance. How surprised is the lady in the picture? Just look at her head. In all directions, there are icicles spreading out of where there are supposed to be hair. Assumingly, her hair has been frozen by the chilling taste of the slurpee. Summing things up, while her facial expressions initially shows her feelings, the numerous icicles enhance her expression with exaggeration.

    Color plays a big role, too. The overall color that is used in this ad is the color blue. The drink, the background, and even her face, they are all blue or blue-ish. We all know that blue represents cold temperature. In effect, all the blue that is used in this ad intensifies the chilling feeling that they are trying to demonstrate through this.

I say that this advertisement did its job by selling the coldness of the slurpee. In other words, the "visual brain freeze" has been sent successfully out to the audience.

"Dunking over the car"

    Blake Griffin dunked over a Kia Optima during last year’s NBA Dunk Contest. Ever since that, he became a spokesman for the KIA Optima commercial. This commercial which I posted is just one of his many Optima commercial series.

       Blake Griffin is a famous basketball star. He is a great example of ethos. Especially because of the fact that he dunked over a Kia Optima, it is easy for the audience, who will mostly be basketball fans, think of Blake Griffin when they see the Kia Optima. Also, at the end of the commercial, it says "Not your average spokesman.", meaning that because he is a star athlete, he has the credibility to be worth listening to. Also, right after that, the phrase "not your average midsize sedan." appears. By using a similar structured phrase it links Blake and the car, showing that these two have something in common; they are special.

        Also in this commercial, a man complains that he cannot fold the bed sheet right and Blake Griffin says, “You know what easily fold Phil? The side mirrors on 2011 KIA optima… with a push of button, it fold automatically.” He acts really seriously without a change in his facial expression. The only change in his face is at the end when he stares at the camera and raises one eyebrow, nice and slowly. Normally, being serious has to bring a sense of weight into the whole atmosphere. However, in this particular situation, the seriousness does the exact opposite; it makes the ad funny and light. This is because he is being serious for not much of a big reason. He did not really have to be serious in a situation where a man is struggling with folding laundry. That awkward situation made the ad not heavy but funny. This enlightenment of the ad makes it easier for the audience to remember the ad thanks to its sense of humor.

RCL Blogging #8

Soft Drinks in Action

When we think of soft drinks, there is a certain number of images that come in mind. Sweet, fresh, cool... Of course there are differences in the particular beverages that people prefer, but the overall image of these kind of drinks are limited.

This can also be seen in soft drink advertisements. Despite the difference in the way they initially look, they all eventually are sending the same message through similar strategies. Let's look at the few ads below.

1. Cover up the ad with the main color of product

     Notice the four ads that I have put up. They are all different colors and structures. However, they are all demonstrating through one huge aspect: color. Each product line has their own distinctive color. Coca-cola is red, Sprite is light green, Pepsi to blue, and Mountain Dew to lime green. Even just by looking at these ads from afar, one can pretty much notice from the color what product it is. What is more interesting is that, except for Coca-cola, the products are bright, "refreshing" colors. The reason Coca-cola is not in the trend is probably because that color has become more of an identity, therefore it would be more effective to keep the color than changing it to a different refreshing color.

2. Use water

     All four have water. It is not just there, but it is the one thing that covers up or surrounds the product in the advertisement. This use of water around the bottle or the glass cup indicates the temperature of the product. It looks like the product just came out of a clod refrigerator, refreshing and cold, just how a soft drink should be like. This kind of effect will reach its peak during the summer, when it is extremely hot and sweaty. You can actually see this in other drink ads such as beer. However, don't forget that it is not still, motionless water; it is active, splashing water that does the trick.

RCL blogging #7

    
   Whitney Houston, the pop star, died at the age of 48. Her funeral was held last Saturday.

Several celebrities spoke to honor her, Tyler Perry, Kevin Costner, Alicia Keys, and Stevie Wonder.

      Among those honoring Whitney Houston, Kevin Costner perfectly used the pathos, by using storytelling and associated emotions with audience.

      Kevin Costner spoke at length about his experience with Houston. He told the story of how he got to work with her in that film, what the two had in common and what it meant to him to lose her. Sharing stories of getting in trouble at his Baptist church and how he delayed filming the film to wait for her to stop touring, and consoled her when she felt insecure of her ability to nab the role that made her a superstar.

      Costner first called for the audience to “suspend our sorrow, just our anger, just long enough to remember the sweet miracle… never forgetting that Cissy and Bobbie Kristina are still among us.”

     The audience cheered as he noted that he, too, was in a Baptist church, that he had gotten in trouble for stealing small cups of grape juice used for Communion, for being dragged out by his parents for misbehaving. He noted that he shared this with Houston and that he could see her getting in trouble similarly as a child, and then told the story of how he got Houston to play the lead role in The Bodyguard.

     “Why don’t you think of another singer, maybe somebody white?” he noted that many studio executives implied to him, when they asked why he was so dead set on having Houston in the movie. “I told everyone I had taken notice that Whitney was black, the only problem was I thought that she was perfect for what we were trying to do.” He postponed production for a year while she was on tour.

     “Her greatest setback and greatest strength”, Costner said, was her insecurity. “Am I good enough, am I pretty enough, will they like me?” he said she wondered, then speaking to her to say “you set the bar so high that professional singers, your colleagues, don’t want to sing that little country song, what would be the point? Little girls like you who dream of being you someday sing that song.”

     He left the audience with the knowledge that, now, “there is a lady in Heaven making God Himself wonder how he created something so perfect,” and spoke to Houston to tell her to never fear again that she was not the great she was on Earth.

     By sharing very special experience between Kevin and Whitney, which was very personal, Costner was able to engage with the audience. Because of this, audience could understand how much the Whitney meant to him and they all shared sorrow together.

"Rhetoric in international politics"

From google image

      International politics concern relationships among the world’s government. They cannot understand in isolation so many countries form some kind of alliances or organizations to share the collective goods. Therefore, countries have been struggling with the conflict and corporation mix in relations among nations and to solve how to provide something that benefits all members of a group, regardless of what each member contributed to it. This is especially true where there is no central authority, such as a world government, to enforce on individual nations the necessary measures to provide for the common good. The study of rhetoric and politic examines the role of persuasion in the political process. Classical scholars conceived of rhetoric as “a practical art involving the performance of public oratory in the contexts of politics, law, and ceremonial occasions.” When these kind of conflict begins the actors(presidents and diplomats) of each states(governments) hold a committee and try to find a resolution.

     For example, all countries share an interest in the collective good of peace and stability. However, when few countries like North Korea tested its first nuclear bomb and Iran continues uranium enrichment that could lead to a nuclear bomb, intergovernmental organizations like UN tried to convince them to give up their nuclear experiment. This is when the rhetoric plays its role. To solve this problem “The big five” (USA, France, England, Russia, and China) send the delegates to prevent potential threat the world security. Well, here is the kicker; few years ago “The big five,” with the largest nuclear arsenals, held veto power on the UN Security Council. Through agreements like the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Proliferation Security Initiative, the existing nuclear powers actively try to keep their exclusive hold on these weapons and prevent smaller nations from getting them. They are eventually using a form of logos, and considering their status in the international level ethos as well, in order to fulfill their point.                                                                                                                         

"Kobe System, Beyond Success"

Few months ago, Nike released the Kobe system, which basically is a Kobe VII sneaker with two separate inserts, in other words, two different bottom layers inside of the shoe.

As a former basketball player and Big Lakers/Kobe Bryant fan, I had to watch the whole commercial series, seven in total, as soon as they were released. However, they didn’t make sense at all!!

In the videos, Kobe Bryant plays a motivational speaker to guide people who have already achieved success, even beyond success. Kobe starts speaking in front of these successful people like Kanye West, Serena Williams, Virgin CEO Richard Branson, Chinese mega star Hong Lee, and more.

Kobe gives one simple message,

“The Kobe System is about adaptation: attacking fast and strong," Bryant says. "How do you know when you're in the Kobe System? Look at your feet. How do you use the system? Listen to me."

 And with that, Bryant dunks a basketball, and behind him, the highlight reel of his memorable plays are shown on a large LED screen. But it goes beyond that. Bryant asks a question that truly defines how he never remains satisfied: "Where do you go from the top? You go over the top."

The commercials make no sense to anyone but Kobe. It is funny and ridiculous but strongly symbolic. It asks a question; what comes next, after you achieve success?

During the class yesterday, we discussed about the role of successful celebrities in commercials. This Kobe System commercial emphasized more on the success compare to other commercials: success at success, and beyond success. It is a great example of Ethos by using Kobe Bryant. The commercial puts Kobe above all the other successful people, which stresses ethos over ethos. Through this strategy, if people buy the product which is advertised by a successful celebrity, they feel like they can achieve success like that person in the advertisement. People know that this is not true, but at least they can have the feeling of Kobe’s “success.” The audience wants to feel it too.

 If you like the commercial, check out youtube. There are 7 more of them.