The first advert i'm going to look at is from Fanta, the advert was aired during March in 2011, according to Fanta's offical youtube channel, Fanta have given this commercial the name "It's like that". I believe that this name has been chosen as its appropriate within what the advert is trying to portray; typical teenage lives. You are able to see "It's like that"
Here.
The overall runtime for this advert is 31 seconds long, during the advert there is alot of references to Fanta.
The whole advert tries to create an atmosphere of typical college life, this is portrayed through animation showing different stages and teenage social groups.
The advert starts off with showing a girl on the bed reading a magazine, looking bored and fed up. The shot used is a long shot with the girl in mid-frame. We then have a quick edit to see a shot of her face, once again this helps to show the emotions clearly and give viewers an insight to how the girls feeling. We then move onto another wide shot showing the door; for the first time we see the branding of fanta. The shot shows a boy coming in listening to music and seeming as if he's in a good mood and energetic too. We then move onto seeing him holding a bottle of fanta, this clearly shows the products logo and what the advert is trying to sell. The bottle used in the commercial is an animated version of the real life thing, this means that people watching the commercial will easily be able to pick this out from the other orange based soft drinks. The last shot within the bedroom is seeing the guy bounce onto the bed and give the girl some drink, you can automatically see her come to life and have a much different state of mind than before.
Editing;
The editing of the advert is quick and clean in the first 8 seconds, they have done this due to wanting to get into the atmosphere created by the drink, quickly, instead of waiting. I think that making the point of the advert appear towards the beginning helps to draw peoples attention in and keep them interested.
After 8 seconds the shots used are alot longer and don't cut as much, instead they sweep to different shots and places, this puts the viewer into the different locations and vibes, created through drinking fanta, as well as making the viewers feel like they're there and part of the action.
Set Design/Location;
The first location to which we see is the bedroom; the colours used for this room are mostly oranges and yellows. The colours can be seen on the walls, doors, bed and even cupboard. By using these colours it gives you a strong sense that the advert will be revolving around something orange, E.G Drink. In the room we are also able to see a poster (below), this has once again stuck with the themes within orange and yellow, although they've added a vibrant pink, this helps it to stand out more. When looking at this poster i automatically get the sense of a drink, they've made the poster seem like splashes and given it a sense of something (like a drink) washing around the inside of the bottle. I think that this poster helps to get your brain waiting for the next part of the commercial. The next location we see is on a girls window ledge, occasionnaly
we see a boys head jump up and down drinking the fanta in which shes pouring. This gives us the impression of how he's wanting the fanta aswell as it "lifting" him up everytime he drinks it. We then move onto a road where we see a teenager walking some dogs, who then chucks a bottle of fanta to a red car which is driving past with two people. After both set of characters have drunk some fanta they both end up "bouncing" in some way- the two people in the car are bouncing up and down in the car (which is lifting of the ground) while the girl and the dogs are jumping along the side of the road. The camera then takes main focus on the car and makes it look like we've been transformed into a passanger of the car. When we are in the back of the car we can see through the windscreen at what is happening infront. We notice that they've made a man walk past looking grumpy and seem to be frowning. I think that Fanta have decided to use this as it shows adults who aren't "in" and drinking Fanta are moody compared to teenagers who are living the fanta experience. Secondly i think that this also gives the impression that Fanta is directly targed more at teenagers than any other age. After the shot in the car we zoom out and see a long-shot of four people playing basketball, they seem to be doing different "tricks" that makes the game seem more exciting and once again gives the impression that when you drink Fanta you are able to do alot more. The last different "location" we see is of three girls sitting on a bench reading books having fun and once again "bouncing" until all of their fanta has gone. At this point you see them looking in their bottles, stop bouncing and looking concerned that it's all gone aswel as being upset. This creates the feeling that Fanta allows you to have a good time although when it's gone it's "upsetting."
The advert finishes off with the boy (who burst into the bedroom) coming back with a full drink of Fanta making everybody happy once again. Throughout the whole advert we are able to see bubbles come out from under each person this gives a feel to the fizz and the bubbles within the drink of fanta.
Another factor that ties in with "set design" is the buildings in the background. As you can see from the picture above the main part of the buildings are being lifed up and split; roof and top floor, etc.
This gives the impression of "raising the roof" once again showing that Fanta has created a good time.
Costumes/look of character
The "costumes" tie in with typical clothes you would see a teenager wear within the different groups. Some of the costumes in which they wear are typical for something you would wear when going out, this gives an impression that something "fun" may happen, in this case fanta's brought happiness. When we look at the people playing basketball we see them wearing hoodies and trainers and hats, this is another typical outfit that you would see from somebody who had these interests. (Basketball) Lastly you see the girls on the bench they're wearing shorter skirts and more jewelry, the feeling you get from looking at looking at them is they're "popular." All these different factors and groups help to show the average teenage groupings although everyone seems to be brought together by Fanta.
Sound/Audio;
The advert has a song running throught it, the original song can be seen
Here. As you can see from the original song and the song that Fanta uses in the advert they've edited it alot and sped it up along with adding different sounds and instruments to make it more upbeat and appealing to their target audience. We start of the advert by hearing realistic sounds which consist of the rustling from the bed and magazine, the girl sighing and lastly the door opening. These help to give a more realistic feel to the advert although it's all animated. When we see that the fanta has run out there is a few bars that are a bit more dulled down which then pick up when the boy comes in bringing fanta - it then goes to being upbeat again. Finally at the end of the advert We hear a swishing sound as we see the "Drink" swirl across the screen along with a low quiet hiss, this is the typical sound that you would hear when opening a can of fanta and you can hear the bottle make a fizzing sound.
Representation;
In the advert they've used animated characters to represent the different social groups within teenagers. They've made this come across by dressing them in different outfits, having them do different activities and also having fun. The commercial has represented teenagers in a way showing that they like to have fun and when Fanta comes along it helps to boost everybodys spirits. Teenagers are also keen to keep ontop of new fashions and trends so they've used fanta in a way that it looks more appealing as the new "trend." I think they've tried to represent teenagers in this way as it will appeal to their target audience in a light hearted manor along with appealing to them.
Success;
I think that fanta have been successful within the making of this advert as they've targetted all teenagers in a way that makes them all as "one." Fanta also go onto doing more of these animated adverts which have the same target audience in mind and same feel to them, i think that these adverts will stick into somebodys mind compared to adverts that just people drinking. I think that they've tried to sell the advert well by adding in lots of refrences to the drink. They've done this by the colours used, the "bubbles" and what i believe is a "subliminal message" within the picture hanging on the wall.
The Second Advert!
The next advert i'm going to look at is "burnout" for the drink, pepsi max. This advert has been aired throughout 2011 and you are still able to see it on television today. The run time for this advert is the same as the previous being 31 seconds long althogether. You are able to see this advert;
Here.
Target Audience
I think that the target audience for this advert is for people aged 18 to 25. I think that pepsi have tried to aim this advert at this age group but most importantly people within this age range who have a job and can relate to the advert. I think that this target audience will relate to the subject in which is being portrayed through the commerical along with enjoying how light hearted and humorous it is.
Editing;
The advert consists of 25 shots that are put together cleanly flicking from each person creating the effect of a conversation going on. Each time they flick back to the boss you get a feeling where you wonder whats going to happen next. The way in which its shot and edited doesn't give anything away as you don't expect that a new character is going to appear and that it may just stay as a convosation between the first two people in the advert. The way its been edited gives it a quick feel too so people watching it don't get bored and it keeps viewers in suspence of whats going to happen next. I think that this is important when trying to advertise something.
Set Design/Location
The advert is shot in an office enviroment which can be seen in the photo below.
Unlike the first advert pepsi have decided to keep the commerical in one location. The office has a table located in the middle with chairs either side and a flip chart in one corner which appears later on while on of the pranks is happening. They've kept the office looking lively with clear views out the window, clean looking colours and reflective surfaces doing this helps to keep the viewer more interested than having the four men sat in a dark boring room with minimal props and feel about it. Using an office enviroment helps the advert to give a feel into the characters along with showing their emotions also, most people within the same age range and with a similar sort of job can relate to the feeling of wanting to get home on a friday instead of being stuck in the office getting told you may have to work through the night. Once again i think this helps viewers to relate.
Props and Costumes;
Props are a main part of this advert as they create the atmosphere that pepsi are trying to create along with advertising pepsi itself. Within the first second of the commercial we can see a long shot that shows the 3 men sitting but more importantly you can see 4 pepsi max cans sitting on the desk, as the camera zooms in your eye picks up the cans this already tells viewers that the commercial is going to be about pepsi or if you're not able to recognise the logo, a drink. We then move onto the first "trick" which is a guy with a parrot on his shoulder the parrot sits on his shoulder and moves aswel as making a sound. This makes it have an effect of a pirate as you would accosiate a parrot on somebodys shoulder with pirates. This is comical as its far from what you would expect in a office place. The next prop you see is a clown mask once again its not something you would expect to see within and working enviroment so it helps to add the atmosphere of them trying to create a practical joke, also people aren't able to take clowns seriously so it gives a feel to it. The last prop they use in the commerical is a man wearing a horses head.
The costumes that the men are wearing are suits, this implies that their job is quite smart yet still slightly casual, on the other hand if it was really laid back they would come in casual wear, because of this it helps to add a more comical feel when we see parrots and masks appear.
Sound/Audio
To whole advert consists of a convosation between each of the men. Doing this helps to show the emotions between them all and how the boss is getting confused over whats going on. Along with talking the advert uses alot of different sounds to help make clear the actions that are going on throughout the commerical. When the first man opens a can of pepsi you hear a loud sound of the ring being pulled and a slight fizzing from the drink. I think that this noice has been made louder than it first was to make it clear that there is a drink in the advert that is going to be drunk, once again linking in with selling pepsi. We then hear a squark from the parrot this adds humor as the mans asking "whats that parrot doing here?" to which he gets the mans responce and the parrots as an answer. The next sound is a clashing from a high-hat which helps to add suspence into the commercial along with suprise when the man turns around and sees a clown standing there, once again i think that this bit of audio helps to create a funny atmosphere. The high-hat sound drags on with someother instruments being played until a tinkerling sounds kicks in when the mans bought back to "reality" and sees the men standing there without any costume/prop on. One of the last sounds we hear is a string sound droaning when the boss decides that going home would be a good idea. As soon as he walks out of the door we get some music kick in which helps to lift the atmosphere and make it light hearted, fun and more appealing to the target audience once again.
Narrative
The basic story to the advert is three men being told by their boss that they may have to stay on a friday night and work over night to try and get all of their work done. Nobody wants to work on a friday night so this leads to the main part of the advert, the tricks. Throughout the advert we see different jokes being played for example dressing up as a clown, a parrot, a man wearing a horses' head and finally a window cleaner hanging upside down cleaning the outside of the office window. After all the jokes have been played the boss decides that he's not feeling well and has done to much work and is going home to try and escape from work and going mental, seeing images. Finally when the boss walks out of the door we see the men flick on the television, throw eachother a can, dance and have a good time this gives the commerical a fun side showing that pepsi max will make you have fun within the work area and help lift a dull situation. Pepsi are trying to portray that Pepsi max will help bring happiness too and is good for when you're bonding with friends too.
Marketing Techniques
The advert uses a few different techniques. The main technique that runs through the whole advert (as said before) is wit and humor. They've cleverly used whit in the work atmosphere that may get audience members smiling or even laughing while having Pepsi max in shot for alot of the time.
They then go onto using a form of "subliminal messaging" as when you see the chart behind the man with a horse head on there is a circle which has red white and blue on it, if you look at the pepsi logo it is red, white and blue and also in a circle. Even though they've not used the exact logo they've used a similar shape and colours this may help you to get the pepsi logo stuck into your head without realising, especially since you don't pick up on the chart as you're to busy looking at the man standing there. Below you can see a picture of the pepsi logo and the chart.
At the end of the advert you can see a slogan that says "Max it up" along with the can. Doing this will help viewers to get pepsi more stuck into their head as they may just pick up on the slogan but since they've included the word "max" it may re-direct their attention back to Pepsi.
Conclusion;
I think that the pepsi max advert is good and it makes you remember it because it's so unordinary and also i'm sure people will look at this advert and think "oh i wish i could try this out for myself" - to get out of work. I think from the point of being remembered Pepsi Max's video is better than Fanta's due to it being different and the other pepsi adverts aren't on the same level as this. Fanta on the other hand has become big within using animated commericals to try and sell their product i think that doing more than one of these commericals will beocme boring and won't stand out, although you'll know that animated adverts on this level will likely be from Fanta. I think that Pepsi Max have used a good amount of the can in the advert too so it will deffently make you realise what the advert is about and buy it too. I also think that Fanta has targed their audience alot better as they've managed to get inside of the social groups and bring teenagers the typical thing that they would be looking out for - new trends etc. I think that Pepsi Max doesn't have a set appeal to everyone in their target audience too.
