For your first blog post, I want you to rhetorically analyze a commercial, using the the terms we discussed in class on Thursday (found in Bitzer's "Rhetorical Situation"). Go on Youtube and find a commercial for some product/service/event/etc and then discuss what the exigence for the commercial is, who the intended audience is, and what the constraints for that intended audience are. Finally, discuss why or why not the commercial is effective.
Make sure to embed the video in your blog post. You can do that by clicking the little movie clap-board
on the right side of the "compose" bar.
Remember, you're going to make a post about your commercial, and then comment on a classmate's post.
I chose an Allstate Mayhem commercial to rhetorically analyze because i believe that they are funny commercials that draw the audiences attention. In this commercial Mayhem pretends to be a young teenage girl that is talking on the phone while driving. As he is driving he shows how a teenage girl can be easily distracted and cause an accident, showing the audience that insurance will be there to help and with teenage girls it is necessary. The exigence in this commercial would be that insurance is very important to have and that everyone with a teenager should have it for them. The audience would be the people that are tuning into the television. Some constraints would be that he isn't a girl and it could be seen as too dramatic. Also it isn't very serious so the commercial could be taken as a joke more then serious and necessary. Many people may not be watching or paying attention to the commercial because they are waiting for there show to come back on.
ReplyDeleteThis commercial reaches out to many people, because it is so funny. So the constraint of people not paying attention is less then it would be, because it does catch peoples attention with the humor. Many of Allstates commercials used to be very serious and showing the audience a point that insurance is necessary for everyone and that Allstate will always be there for you. Now they are taking the commercials to a different level with the humor and I believe that it causes the audience to listen more because it does bring humor and jokes to the situation, which draws many of the audiences attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtP-S9OS0o0
I decided to write my blog on a Nationwide Auto Insurance commercial. It depicted a crazy situation that resulted with needed auto insurance. A child simply watched his mother, a bank assistant, put money through a drive-thru bank tube. Surprisingly amazed, the child began to put random objects through the tube that would hit the customer's car. Pens and glass damaged the car, resulting with the customer calling his insurance company. I believe in this commercial there is two different actions that produce the exigence. First, the child watching the amazing machinery made him want to play with it. Second, the reaction of the customer who directly contacted his insurance. The audience is clearly pointed to people who are looking for better insurance companies or possible in need of a new insurance company. However, this commercial does contain constraints. It bases the fact that a child could perform such an action. While it is not impossible, I believe it is highly unlikely for a child to throw items such as pins and a sandwich through a drive-thru bank tube. This commercial also performs an act that usually is not the majority need of insurance in contrast to car crashes. At the end, the commercial makes the bank look bad, faulting it for the damage.
ReplyDeleteI do think this commercial is effective. It simply takes a unrealistic event allowing the audience to have a laugh or two. People do not want to watch a commercial that is strict, boring, and non- information two minute deal. Not only does it provide a laugh, but also shows that when an incident occurs Nationwide will be just a phone call away. "Nationwide is on your side."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-tJN-bktTQ
The commercial that I chose is an ad for the popular insurance company, GEICO. The commercial is titled, “Do you live under a rock?” and features two men living underneath rocks, and a GEICO sign. The exigence for this film is cheaper car insurance. In more detail, it is the billboard of a large GEICO ad reading, “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance”. The man featured, who has just popped his head out from underneath a rock, reads the signs causing an exigence which prompted him to call out to his friend “Rick” who was living under a separate rock next to him. The audience is intended for everybody who is looking to sign up for or change their car insurance carrier. More directly, this message is delivered towards teens and people in their lower twenties who watched the show “Spongebob” as a kid. In the television show “Spongebob”, there is a starfish named “Patrick” who lives under a rock. It appealed more comical for viewers who watched “Spongebob” growing up. The constraints on the audience in this commercial can be that the viewer already has a car insurance carrier they are satisfied with, they already have a cheaper insurance carrier, or they are unable to drive an automobile. This commercial is extremely effective at getting the message of “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance”. It does this by taking a random situation and making it comical, while throwing their message in at the same time. The message sticks better because it is funny.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvXqm0RdJms