Archive for December, 2009
Intel commercial- Ajay Bhatt
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Intel has recently started running a new campaign in which it remakes the company’s top researchers into ‘rock stars.’ The man they show in the spot as Ajay Bhatt is really just an actor, however there IS a real Ajay Bhatt who, while working for IBM in the early 1990’s, played a key role in inventing USB (Universal Serial Bus). Intel had originally approached Ajay to ask for permission to feature him in their latest campaign, but according to Mr. Bhatt, he never really paid attention to what they were doing until he finally saw the completed promo on TV.
I like this Intel commercial which shows Ajay Bhatt – the co-inventor of USB – with a rock-star like following.
At first glance the advertisement appears to be a humorous spot that attempts to redefines the American definition of a male hero as an Indian American computer engineer. In this 30 second ad, on one hand, the ad suggests that we should be rethinking who we see as the heroes of our generation. In slow-motion frames, people scream, men point to his image on their t-shirt, women swoon, and others take his picture with their phones and cameras as the fake Ajay Bhatt nods, winks, signs autographs. But on the other hand, this exaggerated behavior creates a comic moment because the visual of the actor playing Ajay Bhatt defies American audience expectations of who represents a rock star. I wonder has an Indian American man who looks like the stereotype of a smart computer geek really replaced Michael Jackson, and Adam Lambert in the American imagination?
Moreover, I think the ad actually doesn’t redefine the American hero but in fact reinforce the idea of Asian American men as a minority who are rarely seen as rock stars in “our world.” The message behind the humor separates Indian Americans from everyday American popular culture icons and instead confines Ajay Bhatt and anyone like him to a single image.
In the end, I feel while the advertisement promotes a different world where the professionals are Indian Americans or Asian Americans who are boxed in by the continual replaying of stereotypical definitions, the Campaign of the Sponsors of Tomorrow still attempts to turn the traditionally negative stereotypes of Asian males as smart, studious and hardworking into positives.
City Harvest: Bushels Beat Hunger in the Big Apple
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City Harvest, whose mission is to fight hunger in New York City, NY, is the only food rescue organization in the world. It links agencies, individuals, corporations, and foundations to unite in fighting NYC’s hunger. City Harvest provides free deliveries of food to nearly 600 emergency food agencies, and feeds 260,000 people suffering from hunger on a weekly basis. Its “Food Council,” made up of top chefs, restaurateurs, and food industry professionals, donate some of the city’s best food and raise funds for the organization.
The PSA City Harvest released raises awareness and interest in helping feed New York City’s hungry. The advertisement is well done in that it attracts the viewer’s attention (which is limited, selective, and divided), by making the issue personally relevant, surprising, concrete, and easy to process. The ad is framed by a realistic interaction by what seems to be a couple, with the man filming the woman with his iPhone (the PSA was actually filmed on the iPhone). They start to board the subway train, but as the doors open, thousands of green apples burst out. A voice informs us that “every day, 470,000 pounds of food is wasted in this city…Help City Harvest rescue food for New York’s hungry.” City Harvest used 500,000 CGI apples in the PSA to illustrate New York City’s daily food waste. By using the framework of a realistic couple in the NYC subway, the PSA is made personally relevant; moreover, it is surprising and unexpected, as the viewer does not expect hundreds of thousands of apples to come pouring out of the train. The green apples are a contrasting stimuli against the gray subway station. The abstract notion of the hunger and of food waste is made concrete with the sheer number of apples and the booming voice, making the message easy to process as well. Finally, the use of apples is fitting due to the association of apples with “The Big Apple,” i.e. New York. This could perhaps prevent the sleeper effect, as well as support the match-up hypothesis, as viewers will readily remember City Harvest, whose symbol is also the apple, and that its mission is to feed the hungry in The Big Apple.
Coke Recycles
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In the recent years, Coca Cola has been pushing its recycling program. As one of the biggest beverage companies in the world, Coke sells millions of plastic bottles every year. Coke has recently released this ad where they highlight their recycling efforts. As many people may remember from the Sustainability Fair in the fall, Coke is going to great lengths to inform consumers of the company’s recycling efforts.
This message portrays many instances of consumer acquisition, use, and disposition of Coke products. It is able to appeal to consumers’ environmental values of preserving resources. By showing how every person that drinks a Coke product contributes to the company’s recycling efforts, Coke is able to address the perceived consumer effectiveness. This is also a very relevant message to consumers with the big cultural push of sustainability. With Coke showing how individual consumers can have a virtually effortless effect on sustainability through how they choose to dispose of Coke products, the company is able to portray a favorable brand image and company reputation to its thousands of consumers.
