V RIJE U NIVERSITEIT B RUSSEL

F A C U L T Y O F E C O N O M I C, P O L I T I C A L A N D SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SOLVAY BUSINESS SCHOOL

Strategic Marketing (VUB16978) Marketing Seminar (F.R.I.E.N.D.S)

Author: Lara D OUMET F RANGIEH Shatha A BDULSAMAD Shereen M ANI Mohamed A BUGAMMAR Supervisor: Prof. Manon J ANSSEN

Paper assignment submitted in partial fulllment of the requirements for the course of Strategic Marketing (VUB16978) Academic year 2011-2012

Why We Love Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe

The success of TV sitcoms, according to researchers[1], is our degree of connectedness with the show. How does Friends show keep us engaged in between situations? What keeps us tuned in?

haracters are what we connect to, they engage us at a completely different level than situations. Characters create emotional bonds and that why we care what happens to them. These bonds keep the situations consistently interesting. We build a bridge between our reality and Friends characters. Love and building relationship are the mother of all entertainment situations. But the truth is, however, that we would have never stuck it out if we didnt care about Ross and Rachel, Chandler and Monica, Joey and Phoebe. The appeal of Friends was the appeal of the characters, not the situations. F.R.I.E.N.D.S had a scalable model. It focused on the lives of all of its lead characters and left enough room for them to grow. Everyone had a distinct personality and lifestyle that coupled with imperfections that make you want to nd out more about them. How I Met Your Mother? has Barney, The Big Bang Theory has Sheldon, The Ofce has Michael Scott, Two And A Half Men has Charlie Harper, but the other characters in these shows have grown to be redundant and boring. Does anyone even care who the mother is, in How I Met Your Mother? Everyone loves Barney Figure 1: Friends characters. Front: though. But a single great character Monica, Rachel. Back: Joey, Phoebe, can drive a series alone. FRIENDS Ross, Chandler. spin-off Joey is a brilliant example. People loved Joey, but they loved him along with Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Monica and Phoebe. Thats what makes Joey sitcom overshadowed and stopped after 2 seasons (2004-2006), while Friends last for 10 seasons (1994-2004). Each one of audience sees himself into one of these 6 lead characters. Each personality of the 6 lead character offers an personalized style for a huge number of audience. When these six people combine they do silly stuff that friends usually do and the show revolves around how their life carries on. It is a story very close to normal life, to our life. Everyone wants to be one of the beautiful, funny Friends. And thats what made it a great show. But what character are you? Monica is an organized female, who loves to cook and keep her house clean. Rachel is a spoilt brat daddys girl, she has also been described as being a 1

pushover but frequently shows she can be independent and stubborn. Phoebe is childlike, innocent, and considered the weird one of the group. Ross is noted for being geeky, charming, love lost, witty, and somewhat artistic. Chandler is the one who has difculties with women and loves cracking jokes. Lastly the Casanova of all, Joey is the best friend a person could ever ask. He is characterized as a simple-minded but good-natured womanizer who loves food.

References
[1] Cristel Russell, Andrew Norman, and Susan Heckler, Chapter Fifteen People and their Television Shows: an Overview of Television Connectedness, The Psychology of Entertainment Media: Blurring the Lines between Entertainment and Persuasion, ed. L. J. Shrum. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004 [2] [3]