Structure:
Non-Linear
Anti-Realist
Stand Alone
Style:
Surreal
Techniques:
Hidden Messages
Overt Messages
Describe and explain the structures of the advert:
This advert is from Sony, it is advertising Sony Bravia
televisions. The advert’s duration is 70 seconds. I chose this advert because
upon watching it for the first time, I felt it was a bizarre way to advertise a
television range. However once I watched it again I realised how clever it was
for a TV advert.
The advert consists of buildings of varied sizes shooting out
various colours of paint. The clips of paint shooting from the buildings are
synchronised with the soundtrack to make it seem more like a piece of art
rather than a TV advert. The advert begins with a drum roll and then a series
of blue paint explosions, various colours of paint are shot up from the
buildings and the ground. The buildings explode with colour as columns of paint
are shot into the air and burst like fireworks. There is a moment when the
paint stops being shot into the air and the music pauses, during which a short
shot of a clown in a suit is shown running away from the buildings. After which
there is a frenzy of paint shot out from the buildings and ground covering the
area show in a spectrum of colours. Towards the end of the advert, the music
stops and there is a shot of the paint falling after being shot in the air, in
which the viewer can only hear the sound of paint falling. The tagline is then
shown, “Sony Bravia. Colour Like No Other”. The soundtrack of the advert is
from a piece by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, the piece itself is called
The Thieving Magpie and is from one of Gioachino Rossini’s operas.
The advert is non-linear as the clips of the paint being shot in
the air aren’t in chronological order. This is shown through one of the behind
the scenes videos for the advert. The fact that the advert isn’t linear doesn’t
seem noticeable as the viewer is too fixated on all the colours bursting into
the air and onto buildings in a balletic manner. During the same behind the
scenes video, the crew also stated that they only had one take to do
everything, they weren’t able to do more than one take of a scene.
I feel the advert is anti-realist although it doesn’t have a
narrative to it. The advert is portraying something that wouldn’t happen in
reality unless intended. The advert is introducing the viewer into a different
world of colour. The advert is extremely realistic in general and is very
unlikely to happen unless someone set up paint to burst onto buildings in a
spectrum of colours.
The advert is stand alone; there aren’t any that are directly
linked to it, whether it is before or after this advert. However saying that,
this advert is part of a campaign in which Sony advertised through the use of
colour. Each advert in the campaign consists of a surreal event such as
thousands of coloured balls bouncing down a road in San Francisco, or play-doh
rabbits in a variety of colours gathering in the middle of a city to create a
giant rabbit through the use of stop motion.
The advert is shot in high key lighting throughout so the viewer
can experience the colours better as it would be hard to see all of the colours
bursting in a dark environment.
As the advert is quite bizarre, it would be logical to assume it
was made through the use of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) however it was all
actually filmed. The site was going to be demolished therefore the site was
empty allowing the paint to be splashed on all of the buildings. The crew also
cleaned up the paint within a week of finishing shooting the advert.
Describe and explain the techniques of the advert:
This advert features an overt message
which is directly referenced right at the end. The overt message is that Sony
Bravia televisions have better colour than any other television. This makes the
advert make sense in a way as the advert features a large spectrum of colours, the
viewer may think that the colours looked good on their own TV so they may want
to experience the colours on a Sony Bravia TV as it claims to be better than
any other TV in terms of colour.
I also felt there was a hidden message
in the advert. The hidden message implies that having a Sony Bravia TV could
bring colour to your life. This is proven from the way the advert shows the
building in their normal, bland, colourless state, after which they are
bursting with colours inside and outside.
Who is the target market? How are they targeted by the advert?
The product itself is aimed more
towards men as it involves technology which men would usually be more
interested in. The advert, however isn’t aimed towards a particular gender,
women and men will both like the advert for the visual effects. The advert
seems like it may appeal to any age range as children would also like the
advert for all of the colours shown. However the product itself is aimed more
towards an older market, this is because the Sony Bravia ranges of TVs are typically
expensive. As I mentioned before, the
Bravia range would be aimed more towards the male gender as men are more into
technology. Sony Bravia’s would be aimed at around 25-40 year olds, any younger
may not be interested in the technology and most people above 40 years old may
not care/understand the technology. On top of that, eyes get weaker with age
which means that elderly people may not be able to see the colours as well as
it would appear on the actual screen.
In terms of social class I feel the
product is aimed more towards the lower middle class (C1), middle class (B) and
upper class (A). This is due to the fact that the Sony Bravia range of TVs are
typically quite expensive which means that it would be quite hard for the
working class to purchase one without careful consideration, they may just
purchase a different brand as it would be less of an investment. The lower
middle class are capable of purchasing a television however it may still seem
expensive to them, they may just purchase smaller sizes of the TV therefore
saving money. The middle class would easily be able to purchase a Sony Bravia TV;
the income would easily suffice for a purchase of quite a large TV. The upper
class would be able to purchase a Sony Bravia TV without even considering other
brands, even though the TVs seem expensive, they are still usually a one off
payment and typically last more than five years. The upper class may also have
the time to watch TV more often than the other social classes (excluding the
unemployed, social class E), therefore they will be able to appreciate the main
selling point of the product which is the colours on the screen.
Identify and explain the characteristics of the product or service:
Sony is a well-known electronic
corporation, they are known for delivering quality products from their TVs to
their game consoles. The fact that Sony has chosen to stray away from
advertising the TV as a product directly only makes the product more unique.
Throughout the advert we are shown colours however the TV is only seen right at
the end for a few seconds. Sony differed from the norm as rather than
advertising a new feature, they have decided to advertise an improved form of
what the viewer already has, in this case the vibrancy of the colours of the
screen.
Sony Bravia TVs are among one of the
most recognised brands of TVs. It follows behind Samsung which is advancing in
the technological and aesthetic aspect of TVs; this makes Samsung one of Sony
main competitors. Sony also rivals against Samsung when it comes to mobile
phones in which Samsung’s phones are more popular. Along with Samsung, Sony has
many other competitors when it comes to TVs, Phillips, Panasonic and LG all
compete with each other and Sony and Samsung for the reputation of best TVs
which will drive their sales higher. The competitors of Sony are the ones that
have the most similar products as they add features constantly in an attempt to
compete with each other.
When the advert was broadcasted on TV,
it received at least two complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency. The
complaints were from viewers that felt the advert was too reminiscent of the
9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Sony and the creators of the
advert (Fallon) claimed that the housing estate where the advert was shot
(located in Glasgow) was empty and the buildings were scheduled for demolition,
the paint used was environmentally friendly and the paint on the site after the
shoot was cleaned up within a week after the advert was shot. The ASA
considered launching an investigation into the complaints and the advertising
campaign, however no action was taken.
