The Burger King Advertisement: The Burning House
Burger King created an advertisement where it showed their restaurant burning, and the title is Frame Grilled Since 1954. It emphasizes that Burger King uses an open flame to cook meats for their burgers, unlike its competitors, such as McDonald’s. In addition, it reminds the fire that destroyed several of their restaurants: in that way, this ad is a sort of black humor and self-irony. The theme is that the flame where burger meat is prepared is so strong that the entire restaurant building is burned down. This ad is quite controversial: possibly, some people were harmed due to the fires, and using this calamity for PR aims may be considered unethical. However, the ad message is not unethical: it shows that Burger King has recovered and continues to work and cook its delicious meat.
The app appeals to emotions and associations: Burger King reminds us about the meeting grilled on the open fire, which is typical for the company, in an unexpected and counterintuitive way. The strategy, thus, is to create as strong an emotional response as possible and, after that, create a solid associative connection with Burger King. This ad may seem inappropriate for some people, as it shows the burning restaurant, which may be considered unethical, despite the creative approach of the ad designer. The inappropriate ad, such as those containing violence, may inhibit the advertisement memory, decreasing the ad’s efficiency (Kwon et al. 99). Along with that, the ad’s strong sides are its strong emotional charge and the associations invoked by it. An advertisement that evokes emotions that are connected with the company’s product, in this case, Burger King’s meat, will usually be remembered well, which is crucial for the ad (Rosengren et al. 55). As the ad’s success is measured by its overall impact, it is very successful, as it shows clear associations with Burger King, strongly evokes emotions, and creates a social resonance due to the controversial theme.
Thus, the target audience for the Burger King ad is those who love black humor and, thus, can understand the self-ironical message of the company. Marketing strategy emphasizes the grilled meat, the central quality of Burger King, using the burning building of their own restaurant. Emotions are dark humor toward the fire that destroyed their restaurant: it shows that the company recovered after the calamity and continues to work, which is the main theme of this ad. It is communicated via the combination of self-irony and associations between Burger King and delicious grilled meat. The ad is appealing, as strong emotions expressed in the advertising are connected with strong associations and, thus, are remembered well. To summarize, the ad is probably effective and attracts new customers to the restaurant, and even those who reject this type of dark humor ad, are impressed and help Burger King to propagate.
Squarespace Advertisement: Sally’s Seashell
Squarespace, a company that provides a platform for online shops and marketing, created an advertisement that illustrates the platform’s usefulness and how it motivates its users to create more stuff to sell. In addition, the advertisement emphasizes the usage of the letter “s,” as many words used in the ad start from this letter. Probably, it is due to Squarespace’s first letter, and people are more likely to remember it and associate it with the platform. The word Shucks is used several times in the ad: firstly, as the expression of disappointment and displeasure, and then, on the contrary, as the expression of satisfaction and success.
The theme is communicated using associative memory and showing large perspectives that may be realized using the platform. The successful ad creates connections between people’s associations and the brand (Kwon et al. 115) Squarespace’s ad shows the young woman Sally who wants to sell various stuff created from seashells, but traditional business is unsuccessful. Sally learns about the online platform for selling handmade stuff, and then her business becomes successful, and she starts to scale it and create new goods from her favorite seashells. Many people, who are the target audience for Squarespace, will find themselves in Sally and, thus, will likely use the platform.
Thus, the target demographics for this ad are people, mostly young, that are interested in opening their business, handcrafting, or selling their art, similarly to the young women Sally in the ad. Strategy displays and tells the story of Sally, who successfully grows and expands her business using the Squarespace platform. In addition, as many words as a possible start from the letter “s” to provide more associations with Squarespace, including the specific word Shucks used several times in different contexts. The main theme, thus, is that every creative person may use Squarespace to sell their works and then scale the business by adding even more goods to the online shop. The narrative communicates it by telling Sally’s story of success. Expressed emotions are excitement, passion, and motivation, based on the story of a successful enterprise. The ad is appealing, as young people who want to create personal business become motivated by the success story and may seriously consider using Squarespace to realize their dreams.
Stella Artois Advertisement: Buy a Lady a Drink
Stella Artois uses a social theme for its advertisement: it shows the company’s partnership with the organization Water.Org, which helps people from developing countries to access water. When one buys a Stella Artois bottle of beer, their money will reach Water.Org and help to provide access to drinking water in developing countries. In that way, the company uses charity as a way to actually help people and, simultaneously, promote its production over the world.
The target demographics for this ad are people who are concerned about ecology, global poverty, and similar topics. They become increasingly popular as the world realizes the necessity of reducing global problems, such as poverty, and often are ready to pay their money for that. The main theme of the ad is to show that Stella Artois is involved in that important activity and invites people to be involved with them.
The ad is serious: a man in the video talks without a smile about important themes of poverty and lack of water access in developing countries, creating the feeling of responsibility. He emphasizes that Stella Artois helps to solve this problem, and it is shown visually by moving pictures on Stella Artois’s goblets. In that way, the brand strategy there is to accent attention on serious topics and ensure that by buying the company’s goods, customers help in solving those problems. The title of the video, Buy a Lady a Drink, is a wordplay: an invitation to buy a Stella Artois beer and, by doing this, buy water for women in developing countries. People are more likely to buy goods when they feel their involvement in something valuable (Rosengren et al. 44) It indicates the efficiency of the ad, as people feel involved in poverty reduction when buying Stella Artois beer, which is extremely important.
In that way, the ad is appealing, as it emphasizes the global world problems and ensures that buying the product will help to solve them. Expressed emotions are seriousness, a feeling of responsibility, and the readiness to help. However, the ad may be considered boring due to its excessive seriousness, which is one disadvantage of the advertisement. It is appealing as it promotes the message of consciousness, but it is effective only for those who are already conscious enough and want to help others. Those people are motivated by the knowledge that their money will be used to provide clear water access in developing countries.
Coca-Cola Advertisement: I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing
The advertisement of Coca-Cola, created long ago in the 1970s, shows the brand as the idea that unites people together. Thus, it is positioned not as a drink but as the atmosphere of unification, friendship, and relaxation, created when drinking it. The video clearly shows the presence of people of various races, classes, and genders: men, women, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians, and all of them singing together.
The main topic of the Coca-Cola ad is diversity and unification: the song’s main phrase is I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, meaning that singing unites various people and make them happy. Other phrases from the song, such as I’d like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love, emphasize that the main idea is love and mutual understanding between people. The target audience is everybody, regardless of their age, gender, race, views, and other factors: it is highly emphasized in the video and the song words. Everyone is welcome to buy Coca-Cola and drink it together with friends and even random people, motivating them to forget about differences and be open to everyone. Thus, the ad has a strong idea that influences and inspires people, which is its advantage (Kwon et al. 102). However, the weakness of the advertisement is that it focuses on all people and proposes to them no more than a simple immaterial idea of unification, which may be vague and create no trust.
To summarize, the target demographics are all people that will view the ad. Advertisement strategy uses the song as a marketing tool and shows Coca-Cola as the idea of unification, rather than a single drink. The ad appeals to the people’s desire to be connected, socialized, to live in a society where everyone’s rights will be considered, and Coca-Cola promotes this idea. The main ad’s theme, thus, is diversity and connection between various people. As Coca-Cola drinks are present almost in all countries worldwide, one may see that their strategy was successful. The theme is communicated via the song, where the importance of connection and love is emphasized, and via the video, where one can see people from various backgrounds peacefully singing together. Emotions used in the ad are positive, such as love, trust, and tenderness, and the ad focuses on them and associates Coca-Cola with them. The app, thus, is appealing to everyone and quite effective, as everyone wants to experience positive emotions, despite the weak side is the ad’s vagueness and reliance on simple immaterial ideas.
Works Cited
Kwon, Eun Sook, et al. “Impact of Media Context on Advertising Memory.” Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 59, no. 1, Apr. 2018, pp. 99–128.
Rosengren, Sara, et al. “A Meta-Analysis of When and How Advertising Creativity Works.” Journal of Marketing, vol. 84, no. 6, 2020, p. 002224292092928.