Interpreting Commercials In Today's Media

A good commercial is like a master chef's recipe. Add the right ingredients and everyone will love it. By definition a commercial is, "an advertisement broadcast on radio or television."(Merriam-Webster) I'll pretend that I never heard that definition because to me a commercial is simply money. If effective, then the product sells. When a product sells; a company makes more money. It's that simple. In today's society, everything revolves around money. This is why it's vital to put effective ads out in the media for consumers to view daily. If your ad doesn't have the right ingredients, then send it to Emeril Lagasse so he can, "BAM, Kick it up a notch!" by adding some of the "six C's".

For the seventh consecutive year, Anheuser-Busch's advertising and marketing department has put out the number one rated commercial during the Superbowl. Directed toward light beer drinkers, this year's ad specifically promotes Budlight. Set up in an airplane, anxious skydivers await for the ok to jump. The ad is connected towards younger men because younger men are doing the jump. The first man jumps without any trouble and the instructor tells the next man it's his turn. It's apparent that he's very nervous because he refuses to jump. Trying to coax him even more, the instructor says, "Not even for some Budlight", holding up a six-pack. He then throws the 6 beers out into the open sky, hoping the skydiver will follow in pursuit of the cold beer.

Instead, the pilot of the plane leaves his controls, runs to the open door, and jumps without a parachute to retrieve the Budlight. The target line says, "Fresh, Smooth, Real. Budlight. It's All Here." The captioned tagline used here is fine. It is short and sweet, but still clear. As a whole, this advertisement works. Its clear and doesn't beat around the bush or confuse its audience. Everyone who sees this add knows what the product is. The ad targets the credibility of the drink. Anheuser-Busch is saying hey, if a pilot will jump out of a plane for this beer, it must be pretty damn good stuff. The directed audience is younger men, like many other beers ads. This specific commercial does not contrast other beer products. They have other commercial out to combat their biggest competition, Miller Light Beer. This commercial's main goal is to connect with its viewers, rather then to put down the competition. It doesn't need improvements and overall the ad was compelling and made me want to grab a brew.

The goal of the advertising and marketing department of any company is basically to make consumers buy your product. One product that is relatively expensive but has been selling at record rates over the past 5 years is a World Series of Poker (WSOP) buy in ticket. The price: $10,000 dollars. Last year's number of entrants: 2200. If you do the math, that's $22 million dollars worth of prize money which means the WSOP entry ticket is selling almost as well as Viagra at a senior citizen home.

Currently airing on the ESPN network is a commercial promoting the WSOP. This tournament is the only one of its kind so there is no contrasting involved in this commercial. The creators of this ad must be familiar with the Ð''KISS' theory. There are no celebrity poker players involved, no actors or professionals, just one guy whose name is Mike. Mike is just an average guy and that's exactly who the message is connected towards. Average guys who like to play poker. The past three tournament winners have been amateur players, so clearly this ad is talking to guys who think they could be the next champion.

Unlike most ads, there is not a captioned tagline to sell the product.