Priceless Pep-Talks

Who created this media message? Why?

Mastercard made this advertisement to emphasize there on-going advertising that "Somethings are priceless for everything else there is Mastercard." Therefore they used Peyton Manning (who has been one of there spokespersons for a couple years) delivering his "priceless" peptalks because you can't buy a peptalk from Peyton Manning but you can buy many other things with it like "some bigger shirts". They also made this ad to promote another advertising campaign. If you notice at the end people can goto priceless.com/peptalks and make their own Peyton Manning type pep talk.

Who is the target audience? What text, images or sounds suggest this?

The target audience is people who can afford credit cards and are football fans. There are a variety of them for whatever the person's budget and credit line might be. Mastercard probably realized they could get their credit card advertised to millions of people on Sunday's if they put Peyton Manning's face on it. If they had used a basketball player in this advertisement then most likely we'd see this ad during basketball games. However I usually see this ad on Sundays or during any other kind football programming Mastercard sponsers.

What is the text(literal) meaning of the message?

The literal text of this message is go to http://www.priceless.com/peptalks to make a peptalk to send someone. I think this ad, is advertising another advertising campaign. Peyton Manning never says, "I'm Peyton Manning, I use Mastercard" and in fact without it being called "Priceless" pep-talks I would have not made the connection that it was a Mastercard ad.

What is the subtext(hidden message)?

The hidden message is Mastercard's motto for the last few years, "somethings are priceless for everything else there is Mastercard". In all these priceless pep talk(there are many of them) Manning is always hinting to buy something to help them out. For example in this ad he gives his priceless pep talk and says "Buy some bigger shirts". By saying that an old Mastercard commercial would come to my head. Bigger shirts: 10 dollars Pep Talk from Peyton Manning: Priceless. I think Mastercard chose to advertise it's product with subtext and advertise this campaign to go to their website literally.

What kind of lifestyle is presented? Is it glamorized? How?

Peyton Manning is portraying the life style of someone who isn't under the age of 23 and a pro football player. I feel he unglamorizes it by making the viewer accept that fate if they fall into that category. He says, "just give up and buy bigger shirts". While that doesn't sound encouraging or glamorous, I think he's trying to emphasize that you are who you are so deal with it and move on.

What values are expressed?
I think Manning is expressing that he values his place as a football player. Peyton Manning is about 30 years old and plays pro-football. Therefore he is getting older but keeping his pro-football figure. Therefore the way he jokes about how if your not under the age of 23 or a pro-football player you need to accept that guy, I feel is him saying, "Sucks your not a pro football player like me". He's doing this also make us the viewer laugh because he understands he's not the norm, when he can poke fun at that, it seems to make the viewer drawn to the character and commercial.

What techniques of persuasion are being used?

The main technique is name/face recognition and humor. Peyton Manning is a highly touted NFL player with quite the character. People who don't watch football know who he is because he is one of the best players in the NFL and he has made other celebrity appearances. Therefore they have name/face recognition covered they just had to make a quirky campaign. Therefore these priceless pep-talks that aren't that priceless takes care of the humor. This when people see Manning being silly they instantly are curious to see what the website is like.

What healthy and unhealthy messages are being communicated?

The unhealthy message is he tells people to give up. I think someone who is about 24 and really obese might look at that commercial as someone saying it's hopeless for them to lose weight. It sounds kind of ridiculous but the reason Manning can make that statement is because he probably observed many people letting go after age 23. The truth is a person can lose weight at anytime they just have to be ready and should really do it sooner then later. The healthy message though is Manning is also saying not to worry. I don't think he would want people to think he is saying "If your under 23 and large give up" he just wants guys with a guy to get a laugh out of the commercial. He's trying to let guys know not to get too worked about the gut, just buy some bigger shirts.

What part of the story is not being told?

The part of the story is what will Peyton Manning look after he retires. Right now Manning is in great shape, he never gets injured and performs well now. However when he hits his 40's and 50s he's not going to be this cut football player. He will be flabby and he will need bigger shirts. I also have no idea what that ad has to do with Mastercard. I think the commercial is funny but it doesn't make me want to use a Mastercard. I also am curious about these pep-talks I can send to my friends. Is this also part of their advertising ploy. I think ads like this leave questions that are unanswered but easy to answer therefore making the advertising scheme, forcing people to learn about Mastercard.

The Diary of an American Witchdoctor

Who created this media message? Why?

The artist Witchdoctor and the record label who releases him produced this advertisement to tell everyone that this artist(Witchdoctor) has an album available in stores.

Who is the target audience? What text, images or sounds suggest this?

The target audience is adults, particularly ones who watch adult swim and like rap music. In this ad there is a lot of sexually provactive messages shown in the characters. When they play a clip for the song "Best Year" you can see the man pretending to spank the woman. Plus listen to what exactly is being rapped when they play the clip for "The Barrel" The adult swim audience speaks to the fact that I first saw this ad on adult swim(cartoon networks nighttime programming) and that it's 9.99 at adultswim.com which means people who watch adult swim were probably the ones who demanded this product in the first place. I also think the fact that this album's parental advisory sticker is highlighted tells viewers that this material is explicit and probably not appropriate for young ears.

What is the text(literal) meaning of the message?

The literal text of this message is that this artist who is heard a adult swim programming has released an album so people can hear all their favorite songs from the shows. They are advertising it is for sale for 9.99 at adultswim.com and available in stores everywhere.

What is the subtext(hidden message)?

The hidden message is that this music will help you "get down." The people in the advertisement are dancing very provocatively and are hinting to viewers that if the camera wasn't on them, they wouldn't be wearing clothes. Essentially these guys knew the people who watch adult swim, will see this ad(because it airs on adult swim a lot) so they figured most of the programming is full of dirty innuendos, they might as well make the advertising that way to.

What kind of lifestyle is presented? Is it glamorized? How?

The lifestyle presented is the lifestyle of free loving individuals who like to dance. I think the expressions on the peoples faces throughout the commercial glamorize this life style showing that with Witchdoctor's music and hot sweaty bodies, good times follow.

What values are expressed?

I don't think any good values for elementary school children are expressed. If I had a child work his tail off at music his whole life and then when he turns 21 puts out a provocative album like that I wouldn't complain. At the same time I'd be worried if they were listening to that album when I have them as a 9 year old student. I don't have anything against Witchdoctor putting out this album, but I would have an extremely hard time justifying an values in this. One could argue Witchdoctor's values are pretty clearly stated in this advertisement. I think this commercial and music shown in it displays that the artist Witchdoctor is all about partying and ladies, thats what he values most.

What techniques of persuasion are being used?

The main technique of persuasion is humor and sex appeal. The commercial is poking fun at the collection of song one can order off TV(Like the BEST OF THE 90's or Now Music Collection). I have seen a bunch for old motown songs and the ads always shows these outdated people boogie woogie-ing down. This parody of those commercials helps sells the product to people who are looking for something thats different. "goofballs" haven't really attacked mainstream rap and I think Witchdoctor is trying to get this "goofball" market. He wants his fans(no matter where they are from) to know that he likes getting down and having fun. He could have made a hardcore commercial showing him as a man capable of shooting me, but instead they show him as a man capable of shooting me with a sense of humor. The sex appeal part comes from the fact that aside from Witchdoctor telling us about it being available on "Adultswim.com" a woman is always dancing sexually. I am not going to lie, whenever a commercial has pretty women in it, I think of those pretty women and get drawn to the product, I'm ashamed but I know it's true. An example of this is this video for a song called "Mama's Room" by Under Influence of Giants. The images in this video made me think of pretty women thus drawing me to CD and band.


What healthy and unhealthy messages are being communicated?

The healthy message promoted in this ad is that Witchdoctor stayed true to his guns. I don't really think Witchdoctor is a top 100 chart seller but I think his ad showed he doesn't care about that. He just wants to make his extremely provocative music and go on to the next thing. At the same time this commercial marinates in unhealthy messages. The way the women are shown could be argued as degrading to some. Some people may feel they are portrayed as objects for men. Also the music he's advertising isn't exactly all ages friendly. A child who sees this commercial might be exposed to too many things his/her parents were not ready for. I also would worry that kids might think the lyrics are funny(and might not understand what he's saying sometime) and repeat them at inappropriate times. For example a child at Campfire heard like a virgin and started blurting the lyrics out all the time without understanding what a virgin is.

What part of the story is not being told?

The part of the story is how "real" is Witchdoctor. Is Witchdoctor really from the streets or did he grow up with a butler. I'm sure these answers could be answered really easily with assistance from Google but he never claims what streets he tore up. I also don't know a lot about him, himself. For example I tend to stray away from artists who feel sueing people for more then they are worth for downloading songs. If witchdoctor feels this way I would hate to get really into his music and then have to know that, it would drive me nuts. If I knew right off the bat Witchdoctor was one of those people, I'd refuse to listen to the music in the first place.

Maniac for KIA's

Who created this media message? Why?

Kia created this commercial because it's the end of the year and they got to get ready for the new year of sales. This means Kia needed to launched a "Year-end Sales event" with savings like you have never seen before. I guess they wanted to show that people were buying Kia's by showing a fictitious salesman tearing up the sales floor.

Who is the target audience? What text, images or sounds suggest this?

The target audience is everyone who needs an affordable car. Kia's are generally designed for all budgets. My friend for example doesn't make a whole lot of money but seems to always come up with the payments for his Kia. This commercial shows that Kia's are being sold like crazy. Which hints that they can't be too expensive if this particular saleman is "selling like he never sold before." Also at the end the graphic and voiceover talking about how their "Savings like never before". Expensive car companies wouldn't have an ad like this. The reason is they are about elegance and excellence. Therefore floor managers at BMW dealerships would have kittens if they saw their product advertised like Kia's. At the same time no matter how sexy a person will make a BMW look to me, I simply can't afford one, but I'm sure I could find a way to afford a KIA. I think this ad, with the graphic and voiceovers with the word "Savings" I'd think KIA was the direction for me versus something else.

What is the text(literal) meaning of the message?

The literal text of this message is that Kia's are on sale. At this point in time a person can purchase a Kia for less then they could in July. This advertisement is trying to point that out by showing how easy it is for the salesman to sell them.

What is the subtext(hidden message)?

One could argue that the silliness and outrageousness of the commercial is too show that Kia's are for people who don't take themselves too seriously. They never actually say that but I could see a very uptight person not being turned off by that commercial. I think Kia realizes more people need a car then can afford a nice car, so they created affordable line of vehicles and to make up for the lack of "superiority" they created this outrageous ad to show that who cares it's not a BMW "He's selling like he's never sold before".

What kind of lifestyle is presented? Is it glamorized? How?

The lifestyle of a car salesmen is glamorized. The reason it is glamorized is because Kia is trying to show people are buying their cars. They figure if they show the car salesmen making sales left and right with an extremely over the top ad, they'll be able to convince people with the claim that "they are selling lots of cars with huge savings"

What values are expressed?

The value expressed is that saving money is awesome. What sells me on this is the excitement shown in the salesroom. They people are excited that they are selling cars left and right. Being someone who has worked in sales I know I used to get extremely excited when our products went on sale. It was like telling us we had to give up $10.00 in commission to shoot our career sales up and thus making more money in the long run. Also at the end the guy talking about the year end sales event has the sound of "HELL YEAH!" in his voice. The phrase, "With saving like never before" sold me that the savings of their products was the hook to lure people into their dealerships.


What techniques of persuasion are being used?

The main technique of persuasion is super humor. Lets face it Kia's are not going to win people with the car themselves. They need to prove that their car is worth more then their already low dollar value. Therefore they have to sell people on their savings and warranty which means really it isn't the car they are selling us on, it's the value and warranty.

What healthy and unhealthy messages are being communicated?

The healthy message promoted is that I don't need to feel ashamed of having "Maniac" on my i-Pod and that anyone can have a Kia. The unhealthy message I feel ties into the hidden message of tackiness. My friend watched the commercial with me and she said, "I think it's really funny but because it's funny it shows Kia's are pretty tacky". I think the commercial might make some Kia owners feel like they own the car with a silly ad, not necessarily a car with prestige. This in turn might make a person fall into the traps stated in "Born to Buy. In that a new pressure of not having the car with the silly ad.

What part of the story is not being told?

Many people know this but, Kia's are not exactly lifer cars. I think of about all the Kia's I see on the road and most of them are no older then 2000. I think Kia neglects to mention that their car is built for planned obsolescence. In that they decided that people want a new car every 2-4 years so we will make a car that lasts just about that long.