Divided by a Border

by Oana Naiman

In order to enhance the awareness towards their products, the Coca-Cola Company invested in media advertising, using a marketing strategy called “creative excellence”. “Coca-Cola Border Guards” advertisement shows the story of two soldiers from rival nations who are able to put aside their differences and, for the briefest of moments, see each other as individuals, as they share a bottle of Coke.

First of all, the media product emphasizes a tough and critical situation in a humorous manner; the two soldiers are too responsible of following their missions, acting ridiculously both being too proud and having a hostile behavior. An ice-cold bottle of Coke is the only solution that can bring them together, at least for one moment, a small step in order to become closer, “friends and not enemies”.

Furthermore, in my opinion, this advertisement can not be appalling for those who feel as they are “on the top of the world”. Even though the characters and their behavior might be annoying for someone who is in a bad mood, it is almost impossible not to have a little smile on you face at the end of the commercial. The ridiculous story tells us that no matter how big a problem is and no matter how many enemies are against us, there is always a solution for everything.

The music, as one of the greatest means of affecting the particular mood of the audience watching the production, is perfect for that period of time (the action might happened in the first half of the 20^th century). A new war is about to come, and the two rival soldiers are ready to sacrifice their own lives in order to protect their countries and their homeland. The song is an orchestrated version of "Keyboard suite in D minor, Sarabande" by George Frideric Handel.

The advertisement allows us to gain pleasure by giving us permission to interact with a different world and different people who lived more than one thousands years ago. The two characters are ready to face death anytime, by working in the army. Nowadays, we can not understand a situation like that, just because we have never been involved in a dramatically and dangerous war; all our knowledge about war comes from history classes, books, movies or documentaries.

In my opinion, “Coca-Cola Border Guards” is a successful advertisement!

       

THE DARK NIGHT RISES

by Loredana Barbu 

"The dark night rises”, also called Batman 3, is an impressive movie due to its scenario.  In the movie, the director uses variety of scenes to involve the audience. On the other hand, the spectators can experience all the drama, action and romance storylines, because this movie confers it all.

In the beginning of the movie, the producer uses a way to transmit a pleasurable context, which can later involve the audience in the movie actively. The cliff hanging makes people think that they “can take the action in their hands” and make a real connection between the person and the screen.

During the movie, the producer wants you to make psychological judgments and to think about how the movie ends. This can make an uncomfortable mood, but also a good one, this means that not only the director or the scriptwriter has to offer and send a positive and peaceful scene, but also the people who are looking at the movie have to perceive the message correctly and to be in the mood to see it.

The emotional scene also exists, highlighted at the end of the movie, when Batman helps the whole population of one city and no one knows if he was still alive. The filmmakers want the audience to be involved until the end of the movie, so they create an interesting end that makes people think differently on how to interpret it.

To draw a conclusion, the producer of the movie dislikes the fact that the audience is not involved, that so he created amazing scenes that make us think about, even when the movie has finished.     

Pepsi vs Coke

by Rosi Otilia

The main topic of this video is to highlight the supremacy of the Pepsi’s products against the Coca Cola’s ones. The message shown in this video is definitely created by the Pepsi’ s promoting team. The video seems to be produced and directed quite well concerning the main line and the plot. The commercial was made in 2005, therefore the images are of low quality, but the action is fully organized and easy to follow. There is no speaking during this video, as a result the message is communicated through the boy’s point of view.

The target audience is widely represented by the consumer of any gender or age, meaning any person who can afford or usually buys such products. The storyline of this video presents a little boy who buys 2 coke bottles from a vending machine and then uses them to get to the button for the Pepsi ones.

         The main tool of persuasion is the kid’s behavior in order to get what he wants, even if it means spending more money to reach it. His attitude is meant to induce the idea of better quality, in spite the cost and the superiority of the Pepsi brand to the customer.

       The point of view revealed in this video, is generally referred to the competition between today’s most known brands. The untold part of the story is the effect of these goods on our organism and how dangerous they can become when excessively consumed.

Big Rock Advert_Specsavers Company

by Oana Naiman

       Specsavers is an international company providing eye care service, glasses and contact lenses all over the Europe and across the Globe. In order to enhance the awareness towards their products and to make them more appealing for possible customers, the company decided to use media advertising. Big Rock advert was created by SMART in 2012 and it was first launched in Australia.

       The advertisement features a young couple: the man wants to propose to his girlfriend, but she mistakes the engagement ring for a stone and skims it across the water. First of all, I might say that the target audience is represented by wealthy people of all ages and backgrounds, as the actors do not seem to have a shoestring budget vacation. The landscape, probably somewhere in Ireland, and the ring box suggest something about their financial situation and their prospects.

       The text message is objective and convincing, but in the same time, it emphasizes an embarrassing and tough situation in a humorous manner.  The technique used to persuade the viewer into buying Specsavers products is associated with the sense of fulfillment and happiness, which in this unique situation, only a new pair of glasses can bring. The man’s reaction when his girlfriend throws away the ring, shows the importance of being capable to see the world as it is, and to pay attention at every single thing in order to succeed in life and to be happy.

       On the other hand, the commercial does not talk about their products quality and the advantage of purchasing form their stores. At the end of the advertisement, it is said that the company offers a 50% off for glasses over $179.

       In conclusion, the aim of this advertisement is to encourage people to put their trust in Specsavers Company and to purchase products in order to enrich their lives.

Doritos Ads

by Radu Casiade

“Advertising is the art of the tiny. You have to tell a complete a story and deliver a complete message in a very encapsulated form. It disciplines you to cut away extraneous information.” Dick Wolf

Doritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips founded by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the North American food company Frito-Lay (a division of PepsiCo, Inc.). For many years, Doritos advertised heavily during the Super Bowl. Doritos launched a contest, Crash the Super Bowl, to allow consumers to create their own Doritos commercial. The general public was allowed to vote for their favorite of five finalists. I assume that they chose this method because fans were able to feel as if they are actually taking part in advertising Dorito's. Along this, it might also be a financial advantage, not having to pay for advertising companies.

The target audience are grown-ups and middle aged people, especially men. I am saying that it is especially for men because it is shown how Dorito's might have gave Adam the power to resist in front of The Original Sin, and also to resist in front of a posibly bad temptation from Eve. As a tool of persuation, I consider that making the story funny and catchy is the main weapon. As well as that, it is the refference to a Biblic theme, which is widely known, so that everybody could understand the joke.

In the end is depicted how God gets angry on Eve for breaking his only rule, but it's not shown what the consequences are and what will happen to Adam who did nothing wrong.

United Colors of Benetton

by Katrin Kuncheva

Advertisements are the strongest weapon of marketing, they are the main reason for increasing the sales and interest around the company’s products. The sensation and the provocation cause attention, which leads to knowledge and sales respectively. Many brands are using thеse two methods to be seen and remembered. The marketing trick - "scandalous" images is well-known in the world.

Italian company "Benetton" uses this kind of trick from the beginning of its foundation in 1950. The popular brand presents once per year scandalous ads and they become the subject of discussion worldwide. Nowadays the Italian company has developed the strategy to such an extent that the media around the world expects their new advertisement.

Luciano Benetton, the creator of the brand “Benetton” is one of the most scandalous designers. His ads represent what unites and what separates people. Basic themes are: sex, religion, race, life and death. Power and money are not included, despite they are so desired by people. Both of them belong to the high society and Benetton wants to reach only the people on the street- they are the main audience to which the message is made for. Advertising photos concern everything real people are involved in their life- from the birth to the death. Benetton brand is like a world speaker. The audience is truly inspired and reacts positively or negatively.

One of their advertisements is connected with AIDS. This theme is not a taboo, people are just afraid of it. The posters don’t give any indication of how to treat  people who have AIDS- whether to be tolerant or not. This debate is beyond advertising, it’s in the society. The purpose is only to say that the phenomenon exists.

The text in the green is the company’s logo, which is on each of the Benetton’s ads says: “United Colors of Benetton”. This is the message of the company to the world.

The brand addresses its vision using the opinion of the individual rather than the consumer. The company can identify its target group not based on age or income, but rather a shared vision of what is important in life, starting from a set of common values.

Another photo shows religious and sexual conflict (a priest kissing a nun). These conflicts are a consequence of taboos.

"Benetton" provokes, scandalizes and of course unites. The focus has shifted from the clothes to the world around us and the problems of everyday life. The audience is attracted, each consumer interprets the message in their own way and most importantly, remembers it longer.

Roland McDonald at Burger King

by Loredana Barbu 

For the fist assignment, I have chosen one video from YouTube - “Roland McDonald at Burger King” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GpUhULRIuA&feature=fvwrel).

            In my point of view, this message comes from the McDonald’s competitors, Burger King, because there is a fight between this two fast food companies. The Burger King’s company also created and paid for this commercial.

The aim of this video is to position BK’s company as the best in the world, even better than McDonald. They use Roland McDonald to impress the great amount of people, but especially kids, because children think Roland is real and all that he do is important and really good for their life. They use the image of McDonald to emphasize some particular thing, like their food and their services. Moreover, they use some text to highlight the recurrent action that happened – Roland making the visit every day and he is used to buy the same sandwiches. They stress the fact that even Roland is the “face” of McDonald, he prefers the BK’s product instead of  “his own” food.

The “tools of persuasion” used in this video are: the man dressed in Roland and the tips on why chose Burger King over McDonald. The whole commercial is based on comparison, Burger King versus McDonald. To convince the audience why to chose the one over the other, the filmmakers use subtext to transmit they message “choose Burger King over McDonald”. Without any further explanations, the video stresses that at Burge King prices are better and there is more meat in sandwiches.

The message that is not being told is to stop thinking of going to McDonald’s and start doing what even the image of this fast food restaurant is doing.