The 2017 Audi Superbowl commercial appeals to the viewers’ emotions through the use of narrative elements and the manipulation of the background music in accordance with the purpose statement. The tones serve as indicators of the creator's belief on the content being narrated. The concerned tone of the narrator, the father, in the beginning as he questions how he will reveal to his daughter about the unfair gender related systems of the society aligns with the creator’s motif in denouncing such inequalities. In contrast, the shift in tone to more lighthearted and hopeful as the father digresses from the worries and realizes that he could tell her something different conveys the creator’s endorsement for equal treatment and respect towards women. Background music generates a similar effect. The music changes from intense to slightly more upbeat at the end of the commercial as it closes with its position on the gender equality issue. Both tone and music help arouse emotions that are consistent with the father and the creators in the viewer. Furthermore, setting the girl, the daughter, as the protagonist in this short film of track race automatically sets the audience to be inclined to root for the girl and even to identify with the girl rather than with the competing boys. The visually less appealing, overly competitive boys are used to juxtapose the intelligent and determinant characteristics of the girl, thus, again, making the audience feel like they belong on the girl’s side; however, for this very reason, these appeals to pathos is being criticized as being too heavy and biased.
Not going to lie, that commercial DID make me feel a little warm and fuzzy, and it's DEFINITELY because of the appeal to pathos! I think you bring up some excellent examples here, especially in regards to the music choice for this ad. I didn't even notice the sudden shift that matched with the narrator until you brought it up!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job analyzing the emotional appeal that was in the commercial. The music behind the narrator's voice over definitely added a lot to the impact of the message. When it changes in the end from a sad, hopeless sound into a sound that gives hope for equality. It's definitely important that they made the main character in the commercial a girl when giving this message or else it would be a lot less impactful.
ReplyDeleteNice job picking up on the more subtle appeals. I would've never thought to analyze the music in a commercial, but you did so very well. It was also interesting how many of the emotional appeals in the advertisement were more indirect, as even the POV they chose created a pathos appeal. Dakota
ReplyDelete