Furguson 1

Haley Furguson
Professor Olivia Rines
UWRT 1101-02
4 February 2015
Commercials

Comment [O1]: What is the main purpose of this

essay? That should be indicated in your title.

Whether in the car listening to the radio, watching your favorite television show, or at the
movie theater it is almost impossible to avoid the things that interrupt our viewing and listening
experience; these interruptions are called commercial breaks. In the world today, there is a high
impact of multimedia on society. People are constantly being surrounded by television, radio and
videos. This technology allows not only individuals to communicate, but businesses and
companies. The communication of businesses through videos and/or sound clips is called
commercials is made through commercials.
Typically, the purpose of every commercial is to persuade and inform. There are many
reasons why a company or organization would want to persuade viewers. When watching

Comment [O2]: What is the main purpose of this

essay? You seem to be missing your thesis.
Comment [O3]: According to who?
Comment [O4]: I feel like this is not exactly true.
Isnt the purpose to make the audience buy the
product or service?

television, movies, scrolling through the internet or listening to the radio, commercials can come
on at any time. These 30-60 seconds of video or sound clips will include a message that involves

Comment [O5]: I would not try to talk about

both radio and tv commercials.

the company logo and or name, something that attracts attention and also an emotional appeal.
Nonprofit organizations may use commercials to inform viewers, like animal shelters that may
show pictures of lost or abused animals; this appeal to emotion may push the audience to want to
help by donation or even an adoption. This is just one example of many that exemplifies the
different purposes to commercials. These different parts of commercials all create a sense of
relatability, which are a high influence on viewers persuasion. Since persuasion is the main
purpose of a commercial, relatability and its elements are all around important in commercials
not only todays commercials, but commercials throughout history.

Comment [O6]: Again, according to who?

Furguson 2

Most people are aware of all commercials today. As Linda Alwitt says, Today's

Comment [O7]: What evidence do you have to

support this claim?

television audiences are sophisticated viewers. They know what to expect from television
programs and commercials because a lifetime of viewing has made them familiar with a variety
of television formats, content, and film techniques (Alwitt 35). This familiarity underlines the
definition of genre. When commercials have the same format or similar formats, it is the
repetition of a certain idea or genre. Alwitt says that since consumers and viewers have become
so familiar with commercials and its contents, it has become harder to surprise and entertain
audiences (Alwitt 35). Since it has become harder to entertain, the need to analyze different
aspects of commercials has become more important.
There are several discourse modes in the genre of Commercials, although some depend

Comment [O8]: Good point!

Comment [O9]: Does not need to be capitalized

on the type of commercial. The discourse modes involved with commercials are description,
information and argument. When description is involved with commercials, there are usually

Comment [O10]: How do you know this?

descriptions of products and or messages involved with the organization of the

commercialcompany sponsoring the commercal. For Example,Tthe description may be about a
food product, which may appeal to hunger, describing the food that is displayed. All descriptions
include the product that is being sold whichand is a biased description because it is from the
companys perspective, building the product up reassuring the product to be something amazing,
andamazing, and increasing the amount of product purchased.
Information is involved with commercials because companies are supplying information

Comment [O11]: This is an important point that

needs to be expanded upon even further.
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"

about different products or ideas. An idea that is informed could be one ranging from
information about a certain medicine product and the side effects of the product to information
about a simple clothing piece. Information is the main discourse mode of commercials because
their its main purpose involves communicating information locally, nationally and globally.

Comment [O12]: Im not sure I agree with this

point.

Furguson 3

The last discourse mode, argument, relates to only a few commercials. An example of a
commercial using argument would be a campaign commercial arguing why a candidate of a
campaign should be nominated. Arguments generally are biased just like descriptions in
commercials are.

Comment [O13]: I think argument plays a much

larger role than you are indicating here.

The purpose of commercials being persuasion is accomplished by convincing viewers a

product is something that is worth purchasing. A main way a product is convincing is through

Comment [O14]: Commercials sell more than

just products.

emotion. When someone is connected to a piece of entertainment it is because they connected

through emotion. The consumption experience includes major emotional components that might
be summarized colloquially under the heading "fantasies, feelings, and fun" {Holbrook &
Hirschman, 1982). Research cannot guide advertising strategy effectively unless it considers how

Comment [O15]: This is not a correct MLA

citation

the brand or product fits into the emotion-laden experience of consumption (Holbrook &
OShaughnessy 46). This supports the claim that emotion does influences the purchasing and
consuming of products shown in television advertising. When a commercial becomes successful
and the purpose of the product is accomplished the rate of consumption will increase greatly.
Purpose is shaped by the core features of a genre. The core features of commercials
include the emotional appeal, something that makes the commercial memorable or relatable, a
company name or logo and also the main feature, the product. Emotional appeal highly links to
the commercial being memorable and relatable. When a commercial is memorable, they are
usually funny, annoying, sad, and the list goes on. A commercial is seen as memorable
whenbecomes memorable people start talking about the commercial and its different
elements.when a person talks or communicates about the commercial. Having people talk about
a commercial means there is talk about the product which ultimately means the product is a
success. The product is the main focus in the commercial, everything about the product is

Comment [O16]: According to who?

Furguson 4

highlighted. Whether the product is being held by a supermodel, with an audience of mainly
men; men will be looking at the product because they are looking at the supermodel holding it.

Comment [O17]: Just because a supermodel is

being featured does not mean that the audience is
solely men.

The product then links to the company name and logo, who are the sellers. If the company ends
up being the talk of the commercial, they then have an array of products that may be purchased.
Eventually, persuading people to buy a product and achieving the ultimate goal of the
advertisement.
In the commercial Terry Tate, Office Linebacker, Terry Tate, a famous lineman for the
NFL becomes a linebacker of an office for the company Reebok. Throughout the commercial,
Terry Tate is constantly tackling office workers to increase work ethic and sales. This slapstick
humor and the use of a famous football player make the commercial memorable. The intended
audience is those, usually men who wear athletic shoes. Being aired during the Super Bowl, the

Comment [O18]: How do you know this?

intended audience is about the same as the actual audience, because a majority of the people
viewing the Super Bowl is men interested in sports. The bias in this commercial is that an office

Comment [O19]: Where did you get this

statistic?

linebacker will increase success of business in an office workplace.

Comment [O20]: This analysis needs to be

extended further.

In another commercial called the Jogger, made by Nike, an out of shape adolescent boy
is successfully running to find his greatness. This appeals to emotion by motivating people to
Find Your Greatness, which makes people feel like they are meant to be great. The intended
audience are those who are either out of shape or self-conscious about their body image and
pursue to start working out. This commercial is mainly played on online ads when scrolling
through websites, so some of the actual audience is the intended audience because a lot of people
who are surfing through the internet are more sedentary. The bias in this commercial is that if

Comment [O21]: Where did you get this

information?

people buy Nike shoes, they will find greatness and begin to work out.

Comment [O22]: This analysis needs to be

extended further.

Furguson 5

The last commercial, Kit Kat TV Commercial made by Kit Kat, employees in an office

are eating Kit Kat bars to the popular song by Kit Kat, Give Me a Break. This commercial
becomes memorable by playing a catchy song that will get stuck in viewers heads. The intended
audience is both those who work in an office and those who are hungry. Some of the actual
audience is the intended audience because the commercial is played on general television and
some people of the intended audience may be viewing it. The audience are usually persuaded to
buy Kit Kats because they are either hungry and watch the commercial, craving the product or
the products catchy jingle gets caught in their head. The bias in this commercial is that Kit Kats
are great tasting and will create a great break experience.
Commercials will always include the same aspects. Although products may change, the
link to emotion and psychological features persuading people will probably never change. It is

Comment [O23]: This analysis needs to be

extended further.
Comment [O24]: Im not sure I agree
Comment [O25]: Why do you think this?

possible that commercials may end up in different forms but the genre itself will hardly evolve.
Commercials are ideal when it comes to increasing the consumption of a product. Productivity
will always exist and people will always be buying, selling and making items. Without
commercials, companies would not have the convenience of informing and persuading people to
buy their product. There should be more of a look on the emotional aspect of commercials and
understanding the effects emotion has on the influencing of purchasing an item. I have learned
that there is more to a genre than what it seems. Genre has many components that add up to what
the genre may be. Without applying audience, emotion, product, company and market to a
commercial, a commercial would not be considered a commercial. Genre has great impact on
everyday lives, just like a commercial has a great impact on a person purchasing a product.

Comment [O26]: Be careful with words like

always. They make your claims too extreme and
too absolute.

Comment [O27]: What about billboards,

newspaper ads, magazine ads, word of mouth,
strategic product placement etc.?
Comment [O28]: Why?

Furguson 6

Works Cited
Alwitt, Linda F. Suspense and Advertising Response. Journal of Consumer Psychology: 35-49.
JSTOR. Web. 8 Febuary 2015.
Crazydesiman. Reebok Terry Tate Superbowl Commercial. Online video clip. Youtube.
Youtube, 30 August 2007. Web. 24 January 2015.
Holbrook, Morris and John OShaughnessy. The Role of Emotion in Advertising. Psychology
& Marketing Summer 1984: 45-64.Wiley Online Library. Web. 25 January 2015.
Now. Kit Kat TV Commercial. Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 21 September 2009.
Web. 24 August 2015.
Sportsliveinfo. Best Nike Find Your Greatness Commercial - The Jogger. Online video clip.
Youtube. Youtube, 1 August 2012. Web. 24 January 2015.
This is an excellent draft. However, there are a number of issues that, if resolved, could
substantially improve your paper. First, a number of the questions on the assignment sheet

Comment [O29]: This should be at the top of

the page.

Furguson 7

(please see rubric below) were not fully answered in your paper. I also indicated a few places
where you need to extend your explanation/analysis. Second, please make sure that every claim
that you are making in this paper is supported by evidence and/or citations. All facts, unless they
are commonly known by the general public, must be supported by evidence/citations. Finally,
please be careful about the assumptions that you are making. I think that further research into the
nature of commercials could be highly beneficial, especially in terms of bias.
The following is the rubric for the assignment, including what you would have received had this
draft been your final draft. This grade will not be recorded anywhere. It is simply a chance for
you to see where you stand.
Category

Content
(60 points)

Organization
(10 points)

Style and
Conventions
(30 points)

Score

Scoring Criteria
Is focused, clear, purposeful, and meets the needs of the audience
States the main function/communicative purpose of the genre and how
the purpose is accomplished
States the discourse mode(s) commonly used in the genre
States the core features of the genre and how the features are shaped by
the communicative purpose
States the context, intended, actual audience, and biases at play for each
text
States if each text fits the genre
All claims made are supported. Writer uses specific references to sources
to support claims.
Introduction establishes a framework for the rest of the paper and
includes a thesis statement.
There is an obvious conclusion summarizing the paper that discusses the
evolution of the genre and what the writer learned
Utilizes a strong internal structure and purposefully moves the reader
easily through the text.
Vocabulary and word choice are precise and varied.
Sentences are all well-crafted and consistently varied in structure, length,
and beginning.
The writer demonstrates a firm grasp of the conventions of written
English (spelling, capitalization, punctuation etc.). There are no typos.
Is formatted according to the conventions of MLA
Is 1500 2000 words
Total Points

Total
Points
5

Score
5

10

10

10

10

10
5
100

8
4
71