The Super Bowl ad that I chose as my favorite was this one for Skittles. Skittles is known for their off-the-wall, goofy commercials and this one is no different. In this commercial, there is a very obvious story being told about a town that settles all disputes through arm wrestling. It's not obvious at first, but the viewer slowly develops an understanding of what the "usual way" is. As with good story telling in any form, the viewer/reader isn't introduced to the entire story at once and in the beginning, but slowly and in stages. This commercial is only thirty seconds so there is only one stage of a story being told, but it is still entertaining.
http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35133.html
In addition to the Skittles commercial, I also enjoyed the "Avocados from Mexico" commercial. This commercial had a funny story-line too, but I omitted it as my favorite because I liked the simplicity of the Skittles ad.
http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35154.html
Although I chose a funny commercial as my favorite, I really appreciated the story and message being told by this PSA about domestic abuse. I had heard this story about a woman calling 911 and ordering a pizza on purpose before, so it took a little of the surprise out of the ad for me, but all the same it does an excellent job of telling a very important story. The choice to have the visuals of the commercial not match the audio (still photos of a torn up house while the call is being made) is very effective in this case. It adds to the uneasiness of the situation.
http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35008.html
Although the Skittles commercial strikes my funny bone, it certainly doesn't blow me away. In truth, I wasn't extremely impressed with any of the ads that aired during the Super Bowl. After reading some reviews, it seems others have felt the same way. Story-telling plays a huge role in commercials for television, it could be argued that it is really the only role. Telling a story is what brings the viewers in and keeps them interested.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Ad Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000
I found this agency after searching for some of my favorite commercials. I initially started by looking for the company who made the Little Caesars t.v. commercials. I have always thought those were funny even though they're pretty wacky. I then found out this company, named Barton F. Graf 9000 is responsible for these ads as well as some others that I've noticed. The company also did the Clash of Clans t.v. commercials and one for GrubHub which I saw during the Super Bowl.
It seems to me, that while funny commercials are still very popular, that emotional, heart-wrenching commercials seem to be increasing in numbers and efficacy. Although I do find the sad puppy commercials fairly effective, I really enjoy watching the humorous ones. Barton F. Graf 9000 seems to do humor well. Even in this ad, promoting climate change awareness has a very serious undertone, but still manages to use humor in a new way that gets the job done.
The commercial that still makes me laugh out loud and got me interested:
Overall, I like this agency's work because it uses humor in a new and silly way. Although some of the ads tackle more serious issues, there is still a vein of humor that really sets apart Barton F. Graf 9000.
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