Analysis
of the Mercedes Benz Chicken Commercial
The commercial which Mercedes Benz created
upon announcing the ‘Intelligent Drive’ contains a number of different techniques which introduce the
new suspension system to its audience and develop desire. The advert is
simultaneously persuasive and comparative. It sparks an interest right at the
start and only towards the end develops the desire. The commercial grabs the viewers attention by using
contrast and develops interest by interpreting humour and hooking music.
Firstly the commercial sparks an interest
amongst its audience by opening the add with a chicken starring into the distance.
Not only does this increase intensity but the silence the commercial opens up
with provokes the viewer to stay and wait to see what will happen. The unusual
sight of the chicken in a lab already makes the audience wonder what purpose it
has. The silence is then broken by the start of an almost addictive song which
begins with the vocalist whispering. ‘Three, two, one’ The countdown can be heard within the
first second of the add, grabbing the attention of the remaining few people
which were not moved by the sight of the chicken. No person would quit a video
after a second of watching it and once the add reaches the countdown I
guarantee 99% of the people watching the add will stay to watch the whole
thing, as human curiosity is not
overcome easily. This gives the commercial time to play out completely and
create that desire amongst the audience.
Secondly, after the advert has the
audiences attention it moves onto
developing interest. Again the creators have used the song to their
advantage. ‘’Upside down, boy you turn me.’’ They have lined up the movement of
the chicken on the screen with the lyrics in the song. The chicken was
positioned directly in the middle of the screen. Using the rule of thirds which make the chicken seem less
significant. This gives the movement of it more power and it also makes the
lyrics really stand out. This develops interest because the audience will start
wondering what the purpose of it all is and what the meaning behind the chicken
could be. Besides that, the audience this car technology was aimed at is people
of the higher class, most of which have never lived among chickens in their
life. Adding to the wonder and connecting with the theme of almost magical
stability. This is because most people would not have known that a simple and
dumb animal could do something amazing like that, which makes it funny.
Lastly the desire
is developed towards the end of the advert where we see the slogan and lastly,
the logo appear. The slogan ‘’
Stability at all times. Magic body control.’’ Is placed on the top right side
of the frame, which brings me back to the rule of thirds. Because the slogan is positioned on the
left it means it has the most power, besides that it is also placed slightly
upwards, again, portraying power. Making the words really stand out. The
juxtaposition of the word ‘’magic’’ and ‘’body’’ connects with the idea of the
chickens (something natural) and the laboratory. It becomes clear after the
Mercedes logo appears that the chicken was a representation of their cars. It
also reveals that Mercedes took something natural and used it to create something almost magical, which is
their new suspension system. The use of chickens as a comparison simplifies the
new suspension system and how it works for the audience which are not car
engineers, helping them picture what this technology is all about. This
understanding develops desire because this is something completely new which
seems to be almost fictional and if you have a Mercedes you can experience it
yourself. It would be like experiencing the supernatural.
In conclusion, the designers of this add
caught the viewers attention, developed interest and lastly desire. All of
which will lead, not only their old customers but new ones to go ahead and buy
their car to try out the new suspension system as they now believe it is what
their driving experience is all about.
No comments:
Post a Comment