Gottschall writes that "The emotions of fiction are highly contagious, and so are the ideas. . . In fact, fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence" (150). Consider the case of television commercials that tell very short stories--some funny, some sentimental, some inspiring. How do you account for the way corporations to spend vast sums of money on commercial advertisements that say so little that can be characterized as "non-fiction" about their product?
Consider the examples below:
What reasoning can explain why commercials like these would convince potential customers to buy the products or the services offered by these companies?
Also: post links to YouTube videos of your favorite "story-telling" commercials.
This is actually something that I think about often--is that odd? Why would anyone fund a commercial that simply repeats the phrase “Headon! Apply directly to the forehead.” a dozen times? That doesn’t make me want to buy the product. It makes me want to punch my television screen. However, that I can remember the product and its slogan at all expresses that the commercial made its point. The purpose of the advertisement in this situation is not to make people want to buy the product; the commercial doesn’t even state the purpose of Headon. It’s product recognition. I may not know what Headon is for (Migraines? Hair growth? Sinister mind control?), but I know what it’s called. The creators hope that one day I will go to Walgreens and see their product. I’ll think, “Hey! This is that thing from the commercials,” and I’ll buy it.
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The same principle is used in creating the above commercials. Jack Link’s Jerky commercials don’t aim to make people want to buy their product; they aim to make people remember it. What’s more, they go one step further by making people associate their product with a feeling of happiness, which is where the ideas proposed in The Storytelling Animal apply. The story of the commercial seeps invades the viewer’s mind like he just applied some Head On mind-control paste. Someone, somewhere, right now, stands in line at Walmart. His gaze wanders. It lands on jerky. He smiles, maybe mumbles something about his day being brightened. He buys the jerky.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_SwD7RveNE
The answer lies in the question. Why would businesses not spend millions of dollars on informative commercials containing nothing but facts and statistics? That's easy - the product wouldn't sell. Fiction allows two key things to take place. First, the product is sold in a way that is memorable and recognizable. Take Progressive's "Flo." She is the face of the company and sells insurance to viewers through witty banter with fictional customers. Second, facts aren't always flattering so revealing all of them could be detrimental to sales. These short stories allow businesses to get their point across without risking harm to their revenue.
ReplyDeleteMy all-time favorite commercials have to be for Priceline. The "Priceline Negotiator" is the company's famous figure. Through those short 30 second stories about all the money Priceline can save you, I kind of grew attached to him. He was a familiar face, and I'm being 100% honest when I say that I cried after this commercial: http://youtu.be/MYRmjwSpuD0 and rejoiced when I witnessed his resurrection. (http://youtu.be/hgOK2hEORDQ) Furthermore, Priceline was on my mind for several days just as the company would have hoped.
Commercial advertising could be considered a type of science. The way companies attempt to manipulate the human mind, and sometimes human sympathy and/or empathy, shows that these advertisers have done a large amount of research to learn the best way to market their products. A fictional commercial, though relatable to the average family, does not catch the viewers’ attention. If an Advil commercial was filmed live at the house of a sick parent, the effect would not be the same because it would show that after the medicine is taken, it still takes time for it to get into the body. By making commercials fiction, advertisers are able to make it look like Advil starts working right away and gives immediate relief, which is obviously not the case. Advertisers attempt to connect to certain sides of human emotions. In the first video, the commercial appeals to the ethical side of humans; it also gives the lesson that a small act a kindness could go a long way. In the Sasquatch commercial, advertisers attempt to appeal to the troublemaking side of humans. Most everyone finds the occasional joke satisfying. Also, by including something like “Messin’ with Sasquatch” in marketing a product, advertisers are able to give their product an image is easy for people to remember when they are shopping at the store; it makes the customer more likely to buy the product because the brain remembers the comical scene on TV and leans the customer toward the impulse, or maybe even planned, purchase.
ReplyDelete-Talor Stewart
I think that companies spend millions of dollars on crazy and fictional advertisement for many reasons. The first is to pull on our heart strings. Watching the first commercial made me cry! That is the point. After watching just for three minutes, I felt so connected to the characters that I felt real emotion for them. Real sympathy. Then, when the commercial ended, the heartwarming feeling of the old man getting the treatment he needed, made we want to do something about it. It made me want to change lives and give back. The fiction of the commercial is what makes it so effective. The second commercial is a little bit different, but generally tries to do the same thing as the first. It is trying to make you feel something. Messing with Sasquatch is something that makes you feel happy and makes you laugh. I think the human brain is a crazy jumble of wonderful and confusing things. In my mind, I associate beef jerky with happiness and laughing because of the crazy commercial and of course that makes me want to buy beef jerky. That is why corporations spend so much money on producing mini emotional roller coasters and hilarity. They capture the attention of the human mind. They make you FEEL something.
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