Using Fear and Sympathy

In this ad we see an adult polar bear and a baby polar bear made of plasticish/paperish material. They are slowing inflated by the air blowing into them from beneath. After a few seconds, they both begin to collapse and fall to one side. At the end of the ad, fightglobalwarming.com suggests some ways to fight global warming. By showing the polar bears (especially the baby one) collapsing, they are using fear and sympathy to convince people that they should stop contributing to pollution and global warming. It is evident that people are trying to be proactive about global warming because we value a safe, and clean environment for our future. It also shows that we believe the issue is in our hands and only we will be able to correct it if we all make small changes in our lives.

Using Happiness

This Cheerios ad shows kids laughing and playing together in a pool of Cheerios. The kids are in large pieces of Cheerios, floating on milk in a huge bowl of cereal. Through out the ad the kids are laughing and look like they are enjoying themselves. Also, the music in the ad is very cheery, soothing, and upbeat, evoking happiness. The lyrics suggest that the kids are happy and Cheerios is trying to get consumers to feel that it is the Cheerios that is making them happy. Then we see a mom who is pleased because not only are the kids so happy, but also the cereal is good for them. The ad suggests that buying this cereal will make people and children in particular very happy. Many bright colors are used in the ad as well to evoke a sense of cheerfulness. It's interesting that they use a woman in the ad because typically in our society women are thought to be the ones that look after the kids.

Using Happiness

In this Mattel commercial we see several different scenes of children playing with toys. Through out the commercial the kids are laughing and enjoying themselves while they spend time with their parents and play with toys. Mattel wants the audience to feel that buying toys from them will help parents and their children have fun together and that the toys will make the kids happy. Also, the music evokes happiness because the song is upbeat and talks about enjoying life and having fun while you're young. The message of the ad is to enjoy life and that buying toys from Mattel will help you in doing so. This ad targets parents as well as children because it suggests that in order to make your child happy, you should buy them toys and play with them. Since parents want to see their kids happy, Mattel is hoping to persuade them to buy their toys.

Using Sympathy, Sadness, and Love

I'm not sure why I keep finding so many emotional and dramatic Thai advertisements, but they are definitely meant to appeal to the consumers emotions. This ad opens with a woman talking to her doctor asking him to deliver her baby early because she wants her dieing husband to be able to hold his daughter in his arms at least once before he dies. After she has the baby, she rushes to the hospital where her husband who has a tumor is lying. Then we see some shots of average people walking the streets as the voice over questions the meaning of life and what we really live for. The woman then puts the new born near the father, and the camera gets a close up of the baby's tiny hands. Then we see tapes that the father has previously recorded for his baby in which he tells his son how much he loves him. The Thai life insurance company is telling this emotional story to get parents or people who are married, to get life insurance. They use sympathy at the same time because the audience feels terrible for the whole family as they watch the ad. The company is suggesting that in order to have a secure future for the family you leave behind, you should get their life insurance. It's interesting that men are always shown in insurance ads and that this still holds true for ads that I've found from America or from ads from Thailand. The man always seems to be the one who would be buying the insurance because he is seen as the one who is responsible for the safety and security of the family.

Using Fear, Love, and A Sad Story

This Thai life insurance ad illustrates a sad story of a father who longs to have more time with his son, who wants to be alive to be with his son and support him. The ad opens with a shot of the fathers watch, then several scenes of the father and son are shown from when the son was very young. Gradually, we see time progress as we see shots of the father and son spending time together as they both get older. Then we see the father driving to his son's concert performance when he gets into a fatal car accident. The music through out the ad sounds sad and dramatic. Throughout the ad the father and son were spending time together, laughing and having a good time although at times we saw the father not supporting his son and yelling at him when it came to things like his interest in music. The life insurance company is targeting parents and telling them that they should get this life insurance to protect their families. The reappearing watch on the father's wrist signifies time and how the father wishes he had more time to spend with his son. They are trying to show that although he wants more time with his son, as all parents do, it's not possible to have an infinite amount of time so you should be prepared and keep your family secure. Also, they use fear to get parents to feel insecure and scared about the future of their children.

Using Love and Fear

In this State Farm ad we see a new father in a hospital. He picks up his new born daughter and holds her while he looks at her in amazement. State Farm is trying to get people who have children to buy life insurance. The message is that since these people now have someone who they love and care about who are their responsibilities, they should be smart and protect their children and get State Farm life insurance. This ad targets parents by insinuating that in order to be a responsible, loving, wise parent, you should get good life insurance to protect your family. Also, I think it's interesting how in America we always use pink and blue to differentiate between boys and girls. When I saw the ad, I immediately assumed that the baby is a girl because she is wearing a pink hat. This is interesting because in other countries they are not so obsessed with assigning colors to genders to differentiate between masculine colors or feminine colors. Furthermore, I feel like they used a man in the ad because we tend to think of the father as the one who takes care of the family and protects the family so it would be the man who buys the life insurance to make sure his family is protected in case anything were to happen to him. It's interesting because I don't think I have seen any commercials through out my search, of a woman in a life insurance ad.

Using Guilt

In this anti smoking ad we see how guilt is used to persuade people to not smoke cigarettes. In this ad we see one person inhaling cigarette smoke and then the camera shifts over to another person with the same cigarette connected to their mouths as they exhale the cigarette smoke. This cancer institute is trying to show smokers that when they smoke they are not only harming themselves but also the people around them because of second hand smoke. Essentially they are trying to guilt smokers into quitting. This ad is effective because second hand smoke is a serious issue and smokers should know that they harm others when they smoke around them. If smokers begin to feel bad for smoking around others, they may cut down and only do it when they are around other smokers or by themselves.