Style and Form in Television Advertising

Style & Form In Advertisments

In this blogpost I will outline the different codes and conventions you will see under the fields these being the style and form. There are many different styles and forms you can see in adverts and they all have different accomplishments whether it is to make the advert memorable or amusing. The four different conventions under style are: Humerous, Surreal, Dramatic and Parody. I will analyse these different styles and what impact it has on the viewer. I will also do this for the different forms being: Realist narrative, anti-realist narrative, animation, documentarym talking heads, stand alone and series.

_______________________

Humerous:

This covention is where the advert uses comedy within the advert to make it funny this can be either verbal or non verbal, through someones actions being funny or something funny being said. Many adverts use this style to make the advert more engaging and memorable through the humour.
Kit Kat Advert 2013
The advert I have chosen to analyse is the Kit Kat advert which is a new advert for the chocolate kitkat which I think displays a firm sense of humour. The advert uses babies in the advert dancing and singing in a funny sense it has nothing to do with the chocolate in some sense but is funny. This advert is humorous through the babies dancing is in surreal as a baby that young would not be able to dance. It also seems funny as they keep laughing and smiling this makes the babies look cute so when you see them dance the viewers are almost laughing at the cutness of the babies. As babies do tend to make you laugh.

Looking at who the advert is mainly aimed at, I would say it is for the younger generation as they would find something like this funny whereas if it was a grown adult they might find it stupid because we know this is something that cannot happen. So as we have realised the target audience is young children the advert is effective in a way that young children will find things like this amusing espically through the use of the 'dancing babies'. Young children also tend to like babies more and always want to hold them and stuff so they would find this more funny when the doctor realises he no longer has any kit kat left.

The advert is also seeming to be funny with what the babies are saying it is very childlike funny as they are not actually talking english it is just mumbling.
_______________________

Surreal: 
Surrealism in adverts is meant by what is seen in the advert, the context is not typicall real. It is something atht could not happen and is made up and on that note is done to make the advert memorable for a complete unique idea compare to the other adverts.Cadbury Gorilla Advert 2013
The next advert I have chosen which uses the style of being surreal is the famous Cadbury advert with the Gorilla. This advert shows serrealism as it is not possible for a gorilla to play the drums. In this advert the gorilla is given the charateristics of a human through it sitting down on the chair listening/playing the song. It is very effective as this advert doesn't either neccessarily related to the product but its very facinating to watch a gorilla play the drums even with the gorilla nodding his head.

Again looking at this advert I would say this chocolate advert is again aimed towards young teens mainly through a bear playing the drums they would find it cool that a gorilla is playing the drums. The theme tune that the gorilla was playing also had a major impact on the advert as the song was well known and allowed the really explosive drop (in the music). 

_______________________
Dramatic:
Coca-Cola Zero Advert
The convention 'Dramatic' within adverts is meant by how much the advert is dramatised. This can be seen through the advert having a storyline that shows some sense of drama, i.e the advert seeming like a soap (Eastenders). Eastenders is a good example of dramatic as some seen for example the seen where Bradley Branning died. This shows a sense of suspense as the audience are left speechless. This is the same within adverts.

The Coco-cola advert shows an almost series type of advert as it conveys a story line like you might perhaps see in a series of ski fi. The advert shows one man who is late to a date and through the convention they exaggerate everything from the way he travels to the place. Firstly we see throughout the advert subtitles this makes it seem more dramatised as they are introducing characters in the advert. The use of the graphics on the slogan 'The impossible made possible' makes it seem dangerous what the 'hero' is about to do. So the use of graphics here is to suspend the story and make the viewers engaged more.

[IMAGE] 

_______________________

Parody:

A parody can be seen in anything within the media and in generally meant by the hidden meaning behind something for example in an advert they can use in textual references to another or an established film, video or so on. For example it could imitate the characteristics style of an author or a piece of work for a comic effect.

Coco-Cola 007 Advert 
The advert I have decided to use as an example is the 007 coke advert as it gives references to James Bond. The James Bond films are very well known by many people so by using this as a parody makes the viewers instantly understand the advert as it relates to the James Bond '007'.  The use of the James Bond theme also make the advert more memorable as this type of parody is very well known.

The use of subtitles in the advert make it seem more exciting as it creates a suspense feel and also the use of the James Bond song as the background also makes it seem like your watching a clip of the film perhaps. This technique is engaging to the viewers because if they just turned their channel over and this was on they would be intrigue to see what the advert is for. It ay miss lead them to thinking it is for a new episode of James Bond or so on.
_______________________
Anti-Realist Narrative:
The meaning of anti-Realist Narrative within advertisement is purely meant by the content of the advert if it is not realistic. So this could be seen through the characters within the advert, these being cartoons and not real life people. So the anti-realist narrative is almost the opposite of the realist narrative as we the audience cannot relate to it.
Rice Krispies Advert 
The advert I have chosen to outline in terms of using the convention form if Anti-Realist narrative is the Kellogs Rice Krispies advert as it uses cartoon characters of the rice krispies. This showcases the form of Anti-Realist Narrative as this is all made up and is not based on a real narrative.

This type of form would mainly be used when the target audience is a younger generation as they would find this amusing. Cartoon characters would not typically be used in adverts that are for adults as they may not think the advent branding is serious.
_______________________

Series:

The meaning of series within adverts is where a specific branding has a continued series of adverts that all have the same appeal. This could be seen in an advert that always use the same characters for example the meerkat advert is an example of a series advert as it always has the meerkat in the advert and is seemed to be continued adverts. Making it seem like a series of a programme.
Walkers Extra Crunchy 
The advert that I have chosen that has a series of adverts that link together is the walkers advert. This is seen as a series advert because each advert always has the same moral which is to share the crisps but each advert changes in regards to who it is shared with it is most likely always someone famous you would have seen The Wanted, JLS, Joey Essex and many more. This type of advert almost seems like a documentary advert as Garry Lineker is always going to different people like talk heads. The advert also runs as a series advert as it always uses the same character being Garry Lineker as he seems like a presenter.

This type of form of advert is interesting as it makes the viewer want to see the next advert and almost see what adventure Garry Lineker is going on next. Its almost like a never ending story of him showing different people the new walkers. This type of advert establishes the advert so if a new advert if the same series was to come out the audience know what to expect already.
_______________________
Stand Alone:
A Stand Alone advert is basically the opposite to a series advert as a stand alone advert is simply an advert that does not have any follow up adverts from the advert and are just one advert that would stand alone. These types of adverts are most commonly seen during the christmas time as many adverts are made just for the christmas time this could be adverts that show price drops for christmas, or christmas food shopping. As food places like Icelands, Marks and Spencer and Tesco have designed foods that are only made during the christmas time.
Icelands Christmas Advert
The advert I have chosen is the Icelands christmas advert as this is a good example of a stand alone advert as it is completely different to Icelands adverts as they just usually show the food and price drops whereas in the christmas advert they make it seem more fun with a performance by Stacey Solomon. It also shows you the foods that are only made for the christmas time period which shows that this advert cannot be a series advert.

_______________________

Documentary:
A Documentary styled advert is seemed to have the same conventions that a documentary would have this could be a presenter as most documentary do use a presenter that over looks the whole topic. It also involves real people and not actors unless it is a re-enactment. A documentary advert is seemed to have a clear reasoning of the advert which is to sell the product which is why it just conveys the truth about the product and why it is good. A documentary styled advert would mostly be towards the older target audience as young children would find it boring whereas adults would gain the information that want to know about the product directly to them this could be through a voice over or a presenter looking straight into the camera.
Activia Yogurt Advert
The advent I have decided to use as an example of a documentary advert is the activa advert and the main reason I have chosen this advert is because it uses the presenter of his own documentary shows Gok Waan so this sets the tone of it being a documentary. It also seems very much like he's documentary programmes and especially as this advert contrasts with his programme 'how to look good naked' which is also a documentary programme. The advert also uses real people in the advert making it seem like they are just having a photo shoot and by having the active yogurt they feel more good about themselves. This advert is catchy towards the older target audience and can be seen that the product is aimed towards females. This type of form is effective as it makes the audience feel trust worthy of the product.
_______________________
Animation:
An animation advert is an advert that uses the affect of animation, so not real people. This type of form is not widely seen in adverts as it very simple. 
Twinings Tea Advert
The advert I have chosen to look at that uses the form of animation is the twining tea advert, this type of advert has a series of adverts that all use the form of animation and the form is mostly used to make the advent seem simple which ties in with the product. This type of product is aimed towards the older generation and they would most be intrigue to watch an advert like the twining tea because they would want to know what the advert is leading up to; what is the product? An older target audience will appreciate the more simple things rather than the big bold adverts which is why this type of advert really relates to its target audience.
_______________________
Talking Heads:
A talking head advent is simply an advert that only showcases people or one person talking directly towards the camera. This is them usually talking about the product and why it is better. These types of adverts are mainly seen through website adverts as they usually just use a presenter to talk towards the camera for a really short period of time and just speak about all the benefits of the product. These type of adverts are genially for the older public audience as young children would find it boring just staring at someones face talking. Whereas adults prefer to find out the information about the product.
Costa Cofee Advert
The advert I have decided to use as an example of a form of talking heads is the Costa Cofee advert and this is because I find it interesting how it conveys the form of talking heads but in a more interesting way. The advert uses simply random peoples heads where they just sing straight towards the camera. Talking heads can seem to be boring but this product is aimed mainly towards an older audience as coffee is predominately drank by older people. The advert almost seems like a dream swell which makes it effective as it makes the audience feel like they are dreaming about having a coffee from coffee. The talking heads are also different to those normal adverts as the talking heads do not talking about the costa coffee if to be fair the song they are singing does not really make much sense but its still engaging to those adults. 

_______________________

Realist Narrative:
A realist narrative advert is an advert that is a advert that showcases a normal day to day lifestyle narrative, i.e like Eastenders has story lines that many people can relate to. These type of adverts are usually made when the target audience are adults and parents because when they feel like they can relate to the advert it almost makes them feel like they should buy the product. For example the sweet corn advert makes it seem the children will be quiet if the mum buy it therefore it will entice them to buy the product. These adverts are genially more simple and use a voice over. 
Macdonalds Advert
The advert I have chosen to use as an example is the Macdonalds advert and this is a good example because Macdonalds are not allowed to aim their adverts towards young people because the food is bad for you therefore they get middle age people to play the roles. This links to the target audience being middle age people which makes them feel like they can relate. The advert I have chosen of Macdonalds shows a middle age man walking to Macdonalds which is like any other person. The whole advert just makes the audience feel like they can relate this is effective because it makes the target audience feel if he is eating Macdonalds it is alright for them to as they relate.