Right. With all the discussion regarding the ads and how these ads appeal to the emotions of the viewers, and how certain ads just, well, simply have taken on a new age outlook towards advertising, entertaining the viewers rather than actually advertising anything. Gone were the days when adverts simply spewed out information a la the merlion, the "Blah blah miracle product, buy because it's so good! bye!"-type advertisements. Today I'll touch on the neglected "famous face" advertisements.
As we remember those days of old where we used to sit home, sick from school (or in some instances, work) and turn on the television to watch the ONLY show that always seems to be on, SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY. This show has medicinal value and it wants to heal you. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that show is none other than "The Price is Right". (I'm deviating) But there's also one other program that also pops into the head - the classic informercials.
Informercials used to be a proving ground for once-famous celebrities to use their faces and sell products that they "endorse". The classic example of how ethos plays a part in advertising.
For the old days where George Foreman used to come out and endorse a portable healthy griller, to the new day's examples (discussed later) of new, entertaining and yet classic ethos-esque styles of these advertisements. Getting viewers to think: "Wow. Just because so-and-so (insert name of mildly famous celeb here) says it's good, it must be."
Here's a Nike viral advert for your consideration:
Kobe "jumps" the Aston Martin. Impressive? Fake? You decide. Just to clear the air a little, this video was rather obviously a Nike advertisement for their new hyperdunks. Rather than have Kobe come out in some cool fashion and encouraging us to buy hyperdunks, Nike has come out with this viral advertisement.
Wikipedia (our best friend) defines "Viral Advertisement" as (quote): "Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses."
By generating enough "wow" factor, people would generally talk and spread the message about this guy who jumped over a car with Nike basketball shoes. If it were some regular guy, probably no one would care if he lived or died trying. But just because this was KOBE BRYANT jumping over a flashy sports car, everyone's raving about it. Also, do note that in the first 10 seconds of that video, I was totally NOT interested. It was dead boring! But just because it was Kobe Bryant, you continued watching, right? Ethos, right there.
Here's another follow up video, this time with more celebrities, the Jackass guys, to pump up the hype over these "Hyperdunk" shoes. I can't confirm if it's another viral advert by Nike, but it's good to note that Kobe's wearing Nike aparrel, carrying a Nike ball and the wee-man helium snorting "Hyperdunks" pose at the end.
More? Yeah. This video was added in December 2006. I remember watching this one quite some time ago. Do we care what happened to this guy? Not really, I didn't. I thought it was just some cheap computer graphics edit at the end. If Kobe was the one in the video, would we want to find out whether he was okay or not? For me, definitely!
Well, the above examples just show Ethos at work, whether we realise it or not. We think that we're just seeing celebrities show their faces "just for the sake of it" and for the ,ka-ching, money. But in reality, it does something to us, where just as the poor Brit who was flattened by the car, we just didn't care as much. As compared to Kobe goofing off, jumping over an inflatable pool filled with snakes.
There are many ads which uses Ethos, the persuasive approach, by invoking interest and to assure the audience that they are buying a product that is often "Recognised/Endorsed" by celebrities.
For example, Breitling approached John Travolta (Hollywood Actor and certified pilot) for their watches ad, why? They wanted to attract not only pilots, but also men who are in pursuit of luxury and charismatic outlooks. At the end of the day, it still boils down to consumer preferences. What ads need to do is to shift the attention to the product/service.
of course, there're bound to be umpteen of commercials and advertisements out there that apply Ethos as one of the three artistic proofs modes of persuasion since most of the time, it induces a desired effect on its audience. take note that the key phrase here is 'most of the time.' because in all honesty, 'gimmicks' as such hardly ever convinces me into believing that a certain product does indeed work miracles. from the way i see it, all it does is merely churning out a truckload of crap. perhaps it's just me since i hold absolutely zero tolerance for bullshit. no offense, dude. :)
Valid, valid points. It's true what you guys have mentioned, Mark and Ari! It's one thing to put a famous face behind a product and market it, and another thing to a famous face behind a product and market it PROPERLY. If you get what I'm saying. While trends have shifted from ads being information orientated to ads being entertainment oriented, we have to realise that sometimes, going all out to gather attention and providing practically only crumbs of information or in some cases, none whatsoever about the product can also piss consumers off.
Honestly, if the Kobe video did not have the title "Kobe jumps over an Aston Martin!", i would not have watched it at all.
Seriously, we are all very "busy" people. Busybodies. Humans have that tendency to stick their noses in other people's businesses. That's human nature. And it is also due to human nature that companies make use of and try their best to obtain our attention.
If a headline were to say "Britney Spears dead!" but the article content were to be on how she might die; I might still read it. Reminds me of that anti-smoking campaign - "Look here."
ads have bombarded our lives in almost every aspect. even when an 'aunty' goes to ntuc to buy stuff, most of the time her trolley will have an ad. In taxis, the back of the front seats will contain an ad. EVERYWHERE! but whethere there is an impact and to what extent is all that matters.
"have a break, take a kit kat", probably the best ad since its so old yet ppl rmb it
There are many ads which uses Ethos, the persuasive approach, by invoking interest and to assure the audience that they are buying a product that is often "Recognised/Endorsed" by celebrities.
For example, Breitling approached John Travolta (Hollywood Actor and certified pilot) for their watches ad, why? They wanted to attract not only pilots, but also men who are in pursuit of luxury and charismatic outlooks. At the end of the day, it still boils down to consumer preferences. What ads need to do is to shift the attention to the product/service.