6 February 2008: Herbal Essence, an Orgasmic Experience?

As I was showing today, I realized that I was unhappy with the Suave conditioner I was using. I recalled that I had Herbal Esssence in my cabinet. I stopped my shower and pulled out Herbal Essene body envy volumizing conditioner.

At the store, I had several options when making my purchase. However, I knew I wanted to purchase Herbal Essence. My first memory of Herbal Essence is the Herbal Essence ad I saw as a late teenager of the woman in the shower having an 'orgasmic' experience. Granted, the actual orgasm aspect didn't arrest my senses. However, the concept that this was a shampoo that was going to make you shout out and make showers more fun did. The flowers in the commercial indicated a flower bouquet. As somebody with a very sensual memory, shampoo smells remind me of very specific periods of time in my life or very specific people. I also pick shampoo primarily due to the smell. I first used Herbal Essence in college and I remember feeling very 'upscale' using Herbal Essence instead of Suave. That I was moving up in the world because I could afford Herbal Essence. It also had functional benefits and did make my hair smell and look better. As I purchase shampoo while under budget constraints, Herbal Essence is a way that I can feel that I have splurged and that I am still moving upward, like I felt in college.

The color of the bottle is an orange with a spring green cap and an emerald circle at the top. Orange indicates energy and morning to me. It also indicates a feeling of heat and the summer. As the weather continues to get more cold, a little heat might be very nice. Then, the emerald circle reminds me of jewelry and flowers. This bottle could make something bloom that would be a very special treat. Then, the captions, body envy. I am always concerned about my perceptions in the world. What do people think of me. I have very long blonde hair and it has always identified me. People have also always admired it. I want people to envy the way I look and I never am able to get that. Next, the shape of the bottle is wavy, like wind through summer flowers. It is creative and expressive, just as I like to portray myself.

On the back it says "do you want to feel uplifted? Love you body with my light, lush formula fused with white nectarine & pink coral flower. I leave a life in all the right places and rinse clean to leave you with volume that minds and lots of balance for the ounce." The product has come to life, just like a flower. I can leave my life in all of the right places. The smell of nectarine reminds me of summers home from college. The refreshing yet invigorating feel of a cool shower washing away the work of the day and leaving you ready to go.

5 February 2008: Cartwheel with Vodafone

As I assemble my portfolio on Vodafone, I found myself returning back to its mobile internet ad entitled 'Cartwheel.' Every time that I watch this ad, I find myself captivated, intrigued, and happy. My first memory of Vodafone was when I participated in the Notre Dame Dublin program in the spring of 2003. It was the first week in Dublin and I required a mobile phone. I missed home and felt exceptionally disoriented, but purchased this 'new' mobile carrier because it had the best text rate between carriers. It's red logo arrests attention and the encircled apostrophe represented a conversation within a circle - a circle of friends. At that time, that is what I needed. When I view this Vodafone ad though, it arrests my other lense - that of an art film lover.

The ad starts with a woman in red tights laying on a couch. She draws my attention, reminding me much of a mime that one might see in Paris. Mimes are associated with entertainment and silence. As the lilting piano music plays, it reminds me of the adagio movement of a piano sonata. The piano plays on my musician heart, making me immediately feel both relaxed and engaged. This feeling is further supported by the fact that I use to swim every morning and the lifeguard would turn the radio to a classical station that always played piano music during that time. As the ad continued, the woman continues to go to a variety of places, the store, the bus stop, the ATM, the bus, and the coffee shop. She looks very lonely and quiet. I feel her loneliness and sympathize with her waiting. When living in Ireland, you wait for everything. This ad reminds me of that time in Ireland (which I have addressed before), so now I have attached my love of music and my happiness of Ireland, despite its faults, to this ad. The woman continues to travel throughout the city, on the bus, swinging around a street pole (reminding me of Gene Kelly in singing in the rain, which is the climax of that film and one of the happiest moments, and seemingly a turning point in this ad), and waiting on the upper story of a building at sunset (I love sunset and have always seen this as a fantastic way to spend an evening, especially when you evoke my happiness of international to the ad). I feel that she is getting happier. Dame Judy Dench's voice over during this moment reads like poetry.

"Its the rest of the time. The hours spent not really doing anything. The hanging around time. The A to B time. The bits of time that sit between the more interested bits of time."

As an art lover, my intellectual sentiments are intrigued. The mime, the exoticism, the cinematography. This ad plays like an art film, which I started attending also when I lived in Dublin. Art films make me feel engaged and I always leave them feeling more educated and that I am a better person in the world because of them.

Suddenly, the ad stops with a low piano chord and makes the 'rewind' noise from a VHS tape. You see everything reverse. The piano music then speeds up and the orchestra is added with sixteenth notes and a chance in key from minor to major, which indicates motion and happiness. The clips of the woman doing all of these things are truncated and spliced together such that as the music speeds up, so to does the fast forward of these spliced moments. It looks like the woman is doing a cartwheel. Never having been able to do a cartwheel myself, I have always wanted to do one. However, it indicates the joy of childhood. A time when time doesn't matter.

"What if you could take all of these moments, all this ordinary time, and turn it in to something extraordinary? The internet is now truly mobile so that you can use it whenever you want. Vodafone. Make the most of now."

I leave feeling like I am a better person in this world because of this ad. That Vodafone can turn something that is exotic and silent into something that is moving, creative, active, and child-like. I think I shall go and watch the ad again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Vy-uXBE6M

4 February 2008: Chevron & the Environment

As I was on the elliptical this morning, a Chevron ad on CNN caught my eye. It caught my eye because it related to the physical world. The ad's music is that of a quiet forest as it pans through pictures of Sir Edmund Hillary, the man on the moon, fast motion lights of cars driving at night, students running through a playground, students learning science, then, scientists studying geothermal images on a computer and going outside, people boating and exploring by the water, a mother and child riding on a bike. Finally, the red and blue inverted triangles of the Chevron Logo, saying "human energy." I do not have a first memory of Chevron except that it was not a station my family typically went to. It was often too expensive. As a result, I still do not go. However, in the face of the oil crisis, what struck me about this ad was that uses the American code for car (freedom), but explores it using the physical world. Many of the images it shows uses utopian cartography to get the consumer to understand what they really want. The quiet images of Sir Edmund Hillary & the man on the moon play upon the American drive for idealism, that we as a nation assume that the nation should stand for something. These historical events mark that stand. Then, one sees the fast past movement of cars that draw us to modern time. Movement is healthy. Children learning bring us back to the simplicity of our childhood and then the ad takes us outside. Most people remember the outdoors as being a fun place where life was simple and peaceful. Mountains represent exploration. The water represents transquility. The ad takes us to all four corners of the United States and then shows us the image of a mother and child on a bike, with a look of peace. Overall, this ad appeals to the viewer because of our intert desire to create a peaceful environmental Utopia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XlqPq2bvv0

3 February 2008: Super Bowl

Watching the Super Bowl with MBA and graduate students creates a different advertising viewing experience. My first memory of the Super Bowl is that of the commercials. The Super Bowl itself bored me; however, the commercials engaged me. At fewer times in the calendar year do brands play part in more secular of a ritual. The brands contribute to the Super Bowl experience. However, I have not felt that the Super Bowl ads are as playful or as effective as they were in years past. As I analyzed the ads, I realized that they were not effective on me. They often tap into a cultural biography and semiotic choreography that I did not have. Those ads that did impact me, despite my exclusion from their target market, were those that were on code.

Hyundai created a simple sleek commercial that emphasized the "it works" American code for quality and played upon our "movement" codes for healthy and "beauty" codes for man's salvation. It opens with modernistic piano music as a silver car rotates in a display room. The camera examines all angles and then the voiceover comes on as the car drives through a modern tunnel. "We're not sure what the USA Today will think about this on the AdMeter tomorrow, but we are fairly sure our competitors aren't going to like it. Introducing the 375 Horsepower Hyundai Genesis." The ad combines these codes with our mythological knowledge of Genesis. In the beginning. The simplicity. The beauty. All of these convey the simple revolutionary design of the Hyundai Genesis. The ad broke through the clutter due to its simplicity, but I am unsure as to its AdMeter effectiveness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTg-C1yAzCc

Doritos made one of the best ads that played upon the cultural code of food equaling fuel and the American desire for equality, especially in regards to David Brooks' cosmic bimbo. The ad begins with music from Bizet's Carmen as a gentlemen in a black suit enters the room, carrying a paper bag. Out of it, he pulls a bag of Doritos. He slices a chip with a knife and places it on a mouse trap and sits on a chair, bag of Doritos in hand to watch this mouses' demise. As he sits, suddenly, out of the wall, a giant man dressed in a mouse costume bursts and knocks him over. The ad appeals to stereotypes of dislike of the upperclass that stems from our Puritan days. The humor is that the cosmic bimbo of success gets beat up by a mouse, illustrating that any of us can do that as well. Plus, in the end, the Doritos may be a motivation factor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE9QA3bICF0

Bud Light also related to philosophical concepts as it illustrated and then destroyed man's ultimate dreams. Man dreams of flying or of breathing fire. It is something that relates back to early childhood. However, beer is a memory of teenage or college years. The two humorously fuse together, as the man breathing fire destroys his date's house and the man flying flies into the jet engine or an airplane. It is brewed to give you everything you want in a beer, however, Bud Light no longer provides these things. However, it can still provide you with a good time. It plays upon American ego and desire for abundance and it is in that that is is most effective. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51V3h_LL3H4, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAl69Yfjzs

2 February 2008: The Comfort Zone

Lost Season 4 premiered on Thursday night and as I am busy on Thursdays, I must watch the show online. A show's engagement level indicates one's reaction to the ads that sponsor Lost. Lost reminds me of living in Ireland with my ex, merging American association and my love of the things I was missing in the U.S., with the foreign country in which I was living. It creates an exotic combination of familiar and unfamiliar. This curiosity to know both better and enjoy the show translates to these sponsored ads. The first I saw was that for "The Comfort Zone" for Comfort Inn. It plays on this concept of unfamiliar saying "get in your comfort zone." It uses yellow bright vivid colors to create a sense of surreal happiness. Its slice of life attitude examines the suburban core that Brooks mentioned in Paradise Drive. The scene is as follows: Two women stand on either side of a fence with flowers growing on to it. The woman on the right picks the flowers and stands admiring the flower, only to see that the other woman is staring at her, clearly the true owner of the plucked flower. The plucker then says "beautiful flowers." The concept of flowers indicates growth and one always says that you should expand (or grow) your comfort zone. Secondly, it plays off of the suburban influence of golf. That the golfer wants to defeats his normal competitor of 'anxiety.' The humor is that the suburban knight wants to achieve mastery over anxiety, tension, hurry, and disorder. This is why the tagline "get in your comfort zone" works so well. It also associates the difficult that the characters have on the island over mastering these same suburban concepts.

The logo uses the 3 squiggly lines to create an image of waves. These waves can be mental waves, as in a dream, or those of ocean waves crashing upon the sand. Both are complete states of nature. The four descending colors of yellow, mustard, orange, and red, make people think of the setting sun. The blue background reminds people of the sky. The result creates great levels of comfort based upon personal experience.

1 February 2008: Vegetarian or Turkey Panera Sandwich

I debated over my Panera lunchbox choice for at least 5 minutes before selecting the Vegetarian sandwich. My first memory of Panera is of taking a break in college to go out for lunch with friends. The smell of fresh bread overwhelmed me as I surveyed the menu options. My friend ordered soup in a bread bowl and I followed en suite. Very few soup in a sour dough bread bowl compares to that of Panera. Eating soup reminds me of being a sick child in the wintertime. Soup is what mom made when I was not feeling well. Panera soup in a bread bowl combines my association of soup with care with enjoying the company of friends. However, since I have returned to school, Panera lunchboxes remind me of meetings, some boring, some interesting. My association of care and fun with Panera overrides the tedium of meeting tasks.

Turkey sandwiches are sandwiches of my teenage years. It made me feel more sophisticated than peanut butter and jelly. However, vegetarian sandwiches remind me of the past year of my life. I have been trying to lose weight and vegetables are very good for you. That memory reflects my mother's saying and constant pressure to 'eat my vegetables.' My ex was a vegetarian. San Francisco has many vegetarians in it. However, I love meat. I am from the Midwest where to own a cow means that you have community status. Turkey is the healthier alternative to beef. To eat turkey is to be a Midwesterner and to eat vegetarian is to be a West Coaster. My selection of a vegetarian sandwich marks my conversion from being a Midwestern teenager to a West Coast adult.

Panera should analyze which sandwiches are more popular where and analyze the cultural reasons for that popularity. If Panera understands that vegetarian sandwiches are exceptionally popular because of the health and adult life-style connotations, it can market to those consumers accordingly. If Panera understands that turkey sandwiches symbolize growth and a yearning to find one's place in the world (as one feels as a teen), it can market to those consumers accordingly.

31 January 2008: Burger King = Men

Today a group of my male friends and I discussing the BK King NFL ad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An7Uv2xa614. The men could not understand that I do not understand this ad. As a result, I decided to investigate it more fully. The ad flows as follows:

It is before the snap. The camera pans to a tied scoreboard. The quarterback takes the snap, draws back, releases, and then, suddenly, from out of nowhere comes an interception made by the BK King. He runs towards and dives into the end zone. As he celebrates, a voice over says: "The King is going all out. Laying it on the line with BK chicken fries. Score the new all white meat 12 piece today." End commercial with the BK king doing a celebratory strut.

First, my first memory of Burger King occurs as a child playing in the Burger King giant play hamburger. It was fun, but not as fun as the McDonalds playground. It also did not have as good of a happy meal toy. As a child, the happy meal toy and the playplace is critical to fast food success. As an adult, Burger King was where you went to have a slightly higher quality of food than you would find at McDonalds or if you had a taste for a Whopper instead of a Big Mac. However, my family primarily went to McDonalds, because my mother liked Big Mac more than Whopper. Furthermore, at that time, McDonalds had better fries than Burger King. As an adult, Burger King was the only fast foot option on my college campus. I distinctly remember living off of fries every Thursday. Burger King became my preferred fast food choice. It infused my joy of being busy with music rehearsals and college.

The Burger King logo uses a large rounded font with increased font size on the word King. Burger reminds me of being a child and eating outside during the summer. Fast food burgers remind me of a special treat. As a result, I am very attracted to the word 'burger.' However, the word 'King' can have multiple meanings. For me, traditionally, it takes a historical connotation as a 'ruler.' This is the ruler of burgers. To take that a step further, in mythological, king's were Gods on earth. This burger then is a god on earth. However, for many men, take that concept to refer to masculinity. This masculinity is further represented by the large words sandwiched between two round bun halves. The size of the logo represents the size of the meat. This is a real sandwich. Men might take this logo to mean that it is a man's sandwich. Finally, the blue arc that surrounds the sandwich on the right side serves both as a symbol of royalty (the royal blue), as an indication of speed, and finally, of a wrapper that holds the entire sandwich. This sandwich is one that you can hold in one hand. Men may feel that holding a sandwich in one hand is more masculine.

How does this relate to the ad? When I see the aforementioned ad, all I see is a 'stupid' guy dressed up as a king with a funny mask. The mask of the BK king reminds me of films I use to see as a child. The football game reminds me of changing the channels from football as a child. I just do not understand it. One of my guy friends told me that this is because I am not suppose to. He told me that this ad plays upon guys' memories of stupid things that they have done, especially when drinking. "Don't you remember that time when we were drunk and decided to shave our heads?" "Don't you remember the time when we put masks on our heads and decided to streak across campus." This ad plays upon the emotion of masculine initiation. As 'On Paradise Drive specifies, "90% of Americans have way too much self-esteem." We also live "in the world of self-reinforcing clique communities. . . . to "overrate thyself." That is why this ad is unique to American males. The rest of the world lacks the same initiation concept of America as American immigrants often had to 'initiate' themselves into American culture. The rest of this ad plays on the masculine initiation of 'laying it all out' all while selling a new product. Perhaps I do not understand this ad, but at least I have more insight into the persona of men.