Maria Boreham 50519106

Task 1

To ready ourselves for production in TV, we looked at different kinds of adverts within the industry. We picked 3 examples that include, an advert from before the 2000’s, an entirely British advert, and an advert that received complaints. Adverts are created for many reasons and can be made to appeal to a variety of audiences. Adverts as a whole are essentially made to persuade, as it is their intention for you to purchase/like/want to do something. Every advert you see will have a similar type of structure as every other one, as the intentions are almost always the same. The structures can be shown in many different ways however, through a cartoon, documentary, music video or a series; there are hundreds of possible ways a structure can be shown but these are the most used by advertising companies.

Structures overall means the form an advert takes, there are many obvious forms but some are more specific and unique. As stated before, adverts essentially all take on the same structure as the intent is the same, a basic advertising structure can most definitely be seen throughout and within almost every advert.

The advert I have chosen for ‘British’ is the popular Skoda Fabia Cake Car advert from 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhfEGKc7PLQ

This advert was created by Skoda Auto to promote the new second – generation Fabia supermini car in the UK. With Julie Andrews’ ‘My Favourite Things’ playing throughout the video, the video was light hearted and liked by thousands of UK residents. The structure of the advert was simple and easy to view and could not be seen as controversial at all. The advert didn’t include any spoken dialogue and just included the bakers creating the cake and then posing with the finished ‘car’ at the end.

I think the reason the overall advert is not serious and ‘action packed’ is so the advert can be memorable, most car adverts are the same and involve the promoted car just driving down a long road. However this advert shows a more gentle and soft approach to promoting the car therefore making it unique compared to other car ads around the time. The ad is imaginative and ambitious and is definitely like no other. There basic target audience would obviously be those who are looking for a car or are interested in the car but with the concept being quite wholesome and quaint, the target audience can be anyone who wants to enjoy the advert.

After the release of the advert, there wasn’t a large increase in sales but there was still a slight difference from the sales the year beforehand compared to the year of the release of the ad. Within the advert itself, there are no specific messages given and there are simple techniques used, for example a catchy well-known song is playing. The ad very much fits into the ‘surreal’ style due to its uniqueness and sense of eccentric nature. This doesn’t mean the ad is bad however it just means that this type of ad is not seen very much due to mixed reviews from viewers, but this overall style can be portrayed in different ways, this one way was received well.

The advert I have chosen for ‘Controversial’ is the misjudged ‘Pot Noodle Horn’ ad from around 2005.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItgN-SmKSVk

The basic plot of this advert was, whoever wants a pot noodle, gets the pot noodle horn, therefore to get rid of the ‘pot noodle horn’ they must relieve themselves by eating the noodles. It is a definite gimmick and was not supposed to be serious but most definitely came across as inappropriate and unsuitable for everyday television. This advert did not get banned however but did get many complaints due to its crass nature.

The style of the advert is certainly just humorous and is not vague about it, it is very straight forward. This can also be seen as a technique within the ad, making the viewer laugh can draw them in even more as everyone loves to laugh at others misfortune when it is ‘made up’. The entirety of the advert is one big innuendo and that is clear, the aim for what it wants you to think is also very clear.

The advert was cleared by the BACC (Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre) to be shown on TV, its main target was 16-24 year olds, as the snack is popular with that age range due to its cheapness and simplicity. The company beforehand also has a slogan which was banned thanks to complaints from the public, ‘the slag of all snacks’. It is safe to say the company did not have a perfect clean reputation and the ‘rudeness’ of the new ad did not surprise many, but this however was less straight to the point compared to the banned slogan of course.

The advert I have chosen for ‘Before 00’s’ is the simple ‘Clairol Hydrience’ ad from around 1998. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74CEvGN4C1w

This advert is seen as the typical ad for hair products, beautiful women talking about how amazing their hair is now and the benefits of the product shown. The ad uses buzzwords within to capture the eye of the viewer and to make the pros of the product be known in a more straightforward manner. Use of the product is shown clearly and swiftly which is a simple yet beneficial technique.

There was no definite increase or decrease in the sales due to the audience the product is targeted towards were almost definitely not the ones sending in complaints about the ad.

The product seen in the ad is now discontinued so it is unsure that the product did well after the ad release. Clairol is a known brand and is a somewhat go-to for most people without them even realising the brand they were investing in. Due to the age of the ad, statistics are unclear as stated before as well as the production is unclear also.

However, it is obvious how much ads have changed since then, they are more extravagant nowadays and over the top. This advert is very clear and big productions and effects are essentially not needed as the advert shown in the end is clear and simple and that is all that is required.