The Commercial (Discussion)
From Screenpedia
The Polysemy of Commodities
Group 2
- Luxury, leisure and conspicuous consumption
- Individualism
Group 3
- The natural
- Folk culture and tradition
Group 4
- Novelty and progress
- Sexuality and romance
Group 1
- Alleviation of pain, fear/anxiety and guilt
- Utopia and escape from dystopia
The Persuasive Style of Commercials
Group 3
- Metaphor
- Utopian style
Group 4
- Product differentiation and superiority
- Repetition and redundancy
Group 1
- Extraordinary and excessive style: “televisuality” and counter television
- Graphics and animation
Group 2
- Violating reality (special effects)
- Reflexivity and intertextuality
Commercial analysis
Each group will analyze two commercials from a recent episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine. You should first discuss the polysemy attached to the advertised commodity and then you should discuss the persuasive style used to present that polysemy.
Group 4
- Applebee's
- Verizon
Group 1
- Tums
- Aussie hair product
Group 2
- Oreo Double Stuff
- Botox
Group 3
- Tyson chicken
- Woolite pod
Bibliography
- Butler, Jeremy G. Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007.