‘Instructor’s Name’
Critique Essay about Advertising
Advertisements both create and reflect the values of the viewers. Nobody has a preconceived image about products/brands and advertisements serve as a prism through which audience view a company or its product/service. Most advertisements today unfortunately focus on just promoting what the company is selling. While this is one of the important functions of an advertisement, it is not the only function.
A more comprehensive objective of an advertisement is to promote the brand vision or promise and set the whole direction for the business. The recent Turkish airlines ad, which went viral on the internet, is a perfect example of a successful advertisement campaign. The advertisement garnered a huge response from the audience, mainly because its makers juxtaposed the charm and charisma of two likeable and respected sports stars, with a witty and imaginative script.
The ‘legends on board’ campaign of the Turkish airlines feature, the legendary NBA star Kobe Bryant and the demigod of the soccer world, Lionel Messi. The one minute ad shows both the global superstars vying to capture the attention of a young kid by performing a series of tricks. The kid is torn between the impressive tricks presented by the superstars, but in the end is attracted to the air hostess offering ice cream with a friendly smile.
It is the most viewed travel ad in the year 2012 and it had well over 10 million views in total, with the first 4 million views coming within one day after it was posted on YouTube on Dec 6th, 2013. The Turkish Airlines fascinated the global public by pairing two of the most famous sports idols of our time and on a closer scrutiny, it might be seen that this video ad has incorporated many of basic appeals delineated by Jib Fowles in his essay titled ‘Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals’.
One of the basic appeals listed by Fowles is the need for prominence, which is in abundance in this Turkish Airlines commercial. The need for people to look at us and consider us important is a basic human desire. In this ad all the three main characters, Bryant, Messi and the flight attendant try to make the boy feel he is wanted and important. While the sportsmen are doing card tricks and making balloon toys, the attendant offers ice cream sundae to lure the kid.
They try to grab his attention through various ways and in the process compete with each other in getting his attention. Thus, the central message of the ad is that the Turkish Airlines attends to its customers’ needs, treats them special and pampers them with their service. In essence the ad conveys that if one flies with Turkish airlines, they will be well attended and the airlines would do everything to make their trip comfortable.
The second appeal of this video ad is the need to aggress. There is an open competition among the three adults to attract the young boy. Both the sportspersons are well known and famous in their respective fields, thus the audience, through this ad, gets a mellowed version of the clash of the Titans. We won’t’ see Messi and Bryant pitted against each other in a sporting arena in front of a packed house. So this commercial whereby they try to outsmart each other is a way to appeal to the aggressive drives of the viewers.
Both these sports stars are aggressive and highly competitive in their respective sports and a rivalry, though comic, between them is a very alluring prospect for their huge fan base. It is in a way also a competition between soccer and basket ball, as the ad has the best players of those sports contesting with each other to attract a fan. So, the aggressive appeal of the ad expands even further as the ad can be viewed as a contest between two of the biggest sports in the planet.
The third crucial appeal of the ad is the need to achieve. The endorsees seen in the ad are perfect role models. If the likes of Messi and Bryant, who are achievers and have attained excellence in their respective fields through their hard work and perseverance, prefer to fly Turkish Airlines, then an average fan would also be tempted to imitate his hero. He would also want to do what the achievers do. To add to this, both the stars are trying to prove to a young boy that they are better than the other. They do not want to lose a single fan and they do not miss out an opportunity to assert their supremacy in any given situation, however trivial it might be.
This urge to achieve glory, fame and success, which is inherent in these legends, transcends into the ad and appeals to the viewer. For Turkish airlines excellence in their field is measured by the customer satisfaction, which they symbolically achieve when the young boy choose the ice cream offered by the attendant, who represents the company, over the toys given by his favorite stars.
The ad also appeals to the physiological needs of the viewer. At the end it is not the tricks or the fame of the sportspersons that wins, the winner is the tasty and tempting ice cream. For a kid it is awe inspiring to meet his hero in person and get his autograph, but a tasty treat makes him forget everything else. The ad also features the air hostess serving drinks to her passengers, comfortable seats and a spacious interior of the luxury aircraft. We also see people working, Messi doing ball tricks and another passenger sleeping, which indicates the physiological comforts offered to the passengers in the aircraft.
The interior of the aircraft also appeals to the aesthetic sensations of the viewer. The Turkish airlines ad show a good looking attendant, an innocent young boy and two handsome sports stars. To add to this visual appeal, the makers have shot the plush interiors of the aircraft showcasing the comforts enjoyed by the travelers and other perks they enjoy during their travel experience. The ice cream showed at the end of the commercial which is tantalizingly pleasing to the eyes and the aircraft flying majestically in the cloudy sky, cap the visual treats lined up for the viewers.
Some may argue that this ad did not divulge any valuable information about the brand or offerings, and its popularity is fully attributed to the presence of two of the biggest stars of the modern era. But as Fowles argues, the success of an advertisement lies in the emotional appeal through which it connects to the viewer and the product information can tag along behind.
Through the stars in the ad and a very imaginative script the makers of this ad has captured the attention of the viewers in a big way. Since this, which is the difficult part is done they can now easily talk about the flying experience which they do in the tail end of the video. Two world famous athletes trying to go one up on each other to win the attention of a kid, who in the end is attracted to an ice-cream, had a surprise element, celebrity presence and an emotional connection, which is a perfect recipe for a successful advertisement campaign.
Works Cited
Fowles, Jib. Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals. 1998. Web. 21 January 2014.
YouTube. Kobe vs Messi: Legends on Board - Turkish Airlines . 6 Decemeber 2013. Web. 21 January 2014.
