Sunday, September 23, 2012
Week 5 - Activity One
1. What is the product or service being sold? Tide instant stain remover
2. What is the general mood or feeling of the commercial? This ad is meant to show how not looking right, such as having a large stain on your shirt, can be distracting and leave a bad impression of you.
3. How does the soundtrack play a role in your interpretation of the commercial? There is no music in this commercial, but there is a lot of talking, although the audience can't hardly understand a word that is being said... which is the point. A man is in a job interview and is answering a basic "tell me about yourself" question, but while he is speaking, the stain on his shirt is talking loudly and in gibberish. The stain's speak mimes the rhythm of the interviewee, but completely distracts the interviewer from what the man is saying.
4. How do the actors playing the characters affect your interpretation of the commercial? Both the interviewer and the interviewee are "everyday" men... they look very normal. It makes me relate more with the characters because they look like people I know, and they are in a situation that most people in the audience could relate too - especially with the current economic climate of high unemployment.
5. How does the commercial try to get your attention? It doesn't use anything flashy... even the office the interview is taking place looks kind of drab. But, the commercial uses a lot of auditory cues to get your attention... namely that the stain is talking loudly. This commercial makes you strain your ears to pick up what either the stain or the interviewee is saying, but it's rare a recognizable word is heard. It also has a catchphrase: "silence the stain" which works with this commercial's reliance on sound.
6. Who is this commercial aimed towards? The middle and working class, white, aged in their mid 20's to early 40s. Possibly looking for work, or wanting to move to a better job.
How I could use this in my classroom:
I teach Adult Basic Education and Career Readiness Classes. One unit we work on is "Dressing for Success" and I could see this as a fun way to illustrate how to dress for an interview. It could illustrate how distracting it is when someone isn't dressed properly. We could also use it to talk about how he could have looked better - for instance, if he had a suit jacket, he could have hidden that stain pretty nicely.
When talking about who the commercial is aimed towards, we could talk about the economic climate, the rate of unemployment and the large numbers of people in the job market. This could help underline the importance of making a good impression - the resume, your experience, the job interview - it is ALL critical because there are so many people competing for that position. A LOT of people are in the job market right now .... so much so that they are making commercials about it!
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Great way to use the add for adult education purposes! I like the way your analysis was broken down to pay attention to what you hear separately from what you see.
ReplyDeleteFrom a critical media literacy standpoint I question the use of two white men. Why not show a women or a person of a different ethnicity in the role of the boss? Do you think that would make the product less appealing to the target audience?
I had that thought too. I think, in general, women are more able to relate across the gender gap than men are, so it makes more sense for an advertiser to use two men to reach a larger group of people. Although, I also think that this ad may help contribute to that stereotype that the white male is the "Universal Donor" of the advertising world.... which I don't believe is the case. Especially considering women do most of the shopping for a household and may have a larger brand loyalty than men.
DeleteI liked your pick of commercial and your deconstruction was well done. This would be an excellent video to show to a group of some things to look out for before going on your interview. The use of voice was very well demonstrated in the video. Students need to educated on the rights and wrongs of interviewing and this would be an excellent source.
ReplyDeleteGood deconstruction of this commercial. It uses comedy as a tool to capture the audience's attention and demostrates the need for stain free clothing. This is an appropriate advertisement for the product and you have a great idea about using it to educate students on interview etiquette.
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