Introduction
The media is filled with advertising from various businesses wanting to show and sell their merchandise to existing and potential consumers. Some of them are very effective, while others are tedious to the point that they make one abandon the TV channel, close a web page, or click on another video. This paper will discuss one specific video ad from the first category and analyze its persuasive ability.
Visual and Audial Persuasion
The video ad that will be reviewed is “The Expert | Old Spice GentleMan’s Blend Body Wash,” and Old Spice made it. The company successfully convinces the viewer to purchase their male skincare product by influencing their two senses, namely vision and hearing. To paraphrase, the ad’s imagery, characters’ phrases, and motto make this advertising content compelling, especially for men. For example, the opening frames are three persons in a beauty salon, and one of them, a woman, admires a man’s skin in the middle (Old Spice, 2023).
Moreover, all this is accompanied by the phrase “men have skin too” (Old Spice, 2023, 0:00-0:02). It has an incredibly compelling effect on men as it instantly attracts, pleases, inspires, and reaffirms them via two sensory channels. There is also a step-by-step audio-visual persuasion of the audience. It happens when the actor presents GentleMan’s Blend Body Wash, after which his friends touch his skin. The convincing potential of this advertising amplifies with every micro-scene.
Conclusion
This work reviews and deconstructs one of the Old Spice advertisements released about six months ago to comprehend how it compels its viewers to focus on and buy its merchandise. As one can see, a successful video commercial ad convinces using various means and influencing multiple senses; it also considers different modes of perception. It consciously builds on every previous micro-scene and narrative element and utilizes the comedic atmosphere to amplify its marketing message.
Reference
Old Spice. (2023). The expert | Old Spice gentleman’s blend body wash [Video]. YouTube. Web.