Final Paper: Analysis of Three Sportswear Commercials

Lydia Sedy          

Dr. Sonia Begert

English 101

8 December 2014

When we think of advertisements, we usually think of companies trying to sell us stuff. A close look at how athletic companies strategize to build a brand and present that to the world reveals how they have done it differently.  Most of these companies use a tactic that focuses on the customer instead of the product being sold. How can commercials that never even mention the product be effective?

Nike produced a commercial with this strategy called “What’s your motivation?” It starts with a view of an alarm clock, turning to 3:00 am, and a few shots of people soundly sleeping. A young man narrates, “At this time, I’m the only one working.” He ties his shoes. “I was told to quit.” Next he’s running down a dark, empty street. He relates to the viewers how his coaches never noticed him. His resolute voice then states, “That was just my motivation.”

The ad continues, showing different shots of him working hard. All the while he quietly tells his story. “What makes me is not in the game, but rather when no one is around.” His face drips with sweat. He finishes by saying, “So just remember, when you’re sleeping, I’m out here working everyday to be one step ahead of everyone else.”

During the events of the commercial, anything having to do with Nike is very subliminal. The boy wears gray sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt, suggesting that what he wears doesn't even matter. His shoes are plain black, and the Nike symbol is hardly noticeable. 

Nike has put more focus on the boy and his story than their product. This is an emotional branding strategy. People relate to the boy and his feeling of not being enough for his coaches. When they see him working hard to overcome that, it inspires them. The ad itself makes them feel good. At the very end of the commercial, the screen goes totally black and the Nike symbol and words, "What's your motivation?" appear. This transitions those feelings to the viewer and perhaps makes them reflect on their own story. 

The way Nike has done this, the viewer associates positive feelings like success and accomplishment with something as small as the "Nike swoosh" symbol. 

Another example can be seen in a commercial called "Find your strong" by Saucony, a sports shoe and apparel brand. It starts with intense music, the first beat of the drums perhaps reflecting a heart beat. We see runners and other sports players amid their tough workouts, breathing hard and sweating. A man narrates, and asks the question, “What is strong? Is it muscle? Or something more?”  As he talks about what strong might be, or how it’s measured, the music slows down. We are brought not to the athletes’ incredible bodies but to their faces, where their utter determination and perseverance shine through.

The narration continues, his voice slightly echoing at pauses to increase emphasis: “Maybe strong is just what you have left, when you’ve used up all your weak.” There’s a moment of quiet after the last sentence, perhaps to let it sink in. Then the music and drums come back full force. Like a gun shot, a sprinter shoots off the starting blocks, and runners bound up a rugged trail. The rest of the commercial is filled with amazing scenes of athletes overcoming themselves and conquering their elements. In each shot, the light comes from an angle, catching and accenting the contours of powerful muscles.  The music builds and the words, ‘Find Your Strong’ appear across the screen at the end.  

The general intensity of the music, imagery, and words in the commercial command your attention. Saucony uses a strategy similar to Nike's, focusing on the athelete's determination and grit. A runner with long hair and a characteristic mustache perhaps reminds of us Steve Prefontaine, a legendary runner in the 1970s. He was an aggressive front runner, meaning he usually ran the entire race in the lead. His character alone exudes perseverance and willpower. Combined with impressive shots of other athletes, the viewers come away with a sense of power and motivation. 

Again, a similar strategy can be seen in an Under Armour commercial. It is called “Protect this house. I will.” Featuring the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, Michael Phelps. It also starts with intense music, and shows Phelps warming up. A quiet voice is yelling in the background, “Michael, you got one last chance! Your competition is one hundredth of a second away. They’re coming for you.”  No one else is present through the entire commercial; the voice is Michael’s conscious. He continues to motivate and push himself, the voice yelling things like, “C’mon! Stay on top of it.” He does pull-ups, pushes weights, and climbs a wall. The music almost stops. He struggles to do another pull-up. He slips on the wall. You hear the voice again, “You gotta work hard to maintain success.”         

Suddenly he jumps back into action, the music getting louder to match his movements. You hear another voice, this time in the music, saying “I will. I will.” The rest of the shots show him working out. The dim fluorescent light of the basement-like gym highlight his muscles. The cameras also focus on his face, catching his look of determination and the resolve etched there. At the very end his mind asks the question, “Are you gonna protect this house?” We see Michael standing in the gym and we hear the only “spoken” words throughout the commercial: “I will.”

The phrase "protect this house" usually refers to when a sports team plays in their 'home' stadium, field or court. This doesn't quite fit Michael Phelps’ sport; he almost never competes in the same places he practices. The expression is transitioned to somewhere else: the top of the podium. The way Under Armour has been flexible with the phrase makes us wonder which house we are “gonna protect.” It makes it personal. 

Most people think of Phelps as some sort of perfect super-human. The way the ad shows him working out, failing, and then overcoming himself makes him seem more real and like us. The experience of failure connects us to the commercial. As we see Phelps overcome this and keep moving forward, it again fills us with inspiration to succeed. 

The connection between the three ads is easily recognized. Each of the commercials has little to almost no emphasis on the products they sell, but instead have placed a focus on the consumer. The purpose of each is to pair positive feelings like personal triumph and accomplishment with the brand. A market research executive, Mark Sneider said, “The brands that succeed on a long-term basis are able to form strong, differentiating emotional bonds with consumers. Without this bond, a brand's relevance and "connectiveness" with a consumer is not sustainable.” Displaying successful, motivating stories of strong athletes, each of the commercials has succeeded in doing just that.

Works Cited

"Emotional Response Remains Key to Advertising." Business Forms, Labels & Systems 42.7 (2004): 14,14,18. ProQuest. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.

Thinking About the Text- Rubin and Advertisements R Us

1. Melissa Rubin offers that we can learn a lot about cultures by exploring the way companies make ads to appeal to audiences. She looks at a Coca-Cola add in great detail, especially at the types of people pictured in it and what they are wearing. By also examining their placement in the add, one might learn of their importance in that society. She has persuaded me to accept her conclusions.

2. She incorporates historical context by explaining where the United States was after Wold War II. She talks about people's work ethics and their respect for the military, which corresponds to the workers and military members at the very front of the ad. Her historical context also addresses the lack of women and other races pictured, as well as the factories and building structures in the background. She uses her own opinion alongside historical information to explain each part of the add, which to me adds credibility and makes it seem more believable.

3. Questions you can answer by analyzing an ad might include, "What elements does the ad use to connect to the audience?" "How have ads in the past helped to change the public's mindset about politics, race, or other current issues?"

4. Ads now-days reflect very different values. Most ads don't have so many people, but focus more on individuals or families. They also include more women and people of all sorts of races and ages. Any words used are put in different fonts, colors and sizes, making them pop out. Slogans and taglines try to make us feel free, independent and happier. Each ad claims to sell the next best and biggest thing to help you in your pursuit of happiness.
 
image from galleryhip.com

Moon Shoes Commercial Lyrics

Here's how we get the gravity shoes: moon shoes!
Jumpin' up and down like a kangaroo! Moonshoes!
Going ahead honey I really fly, me and friends jumping really high.
Man these shoes defy gravity, gotta get those shoes it's a necessity!
Moonshoes!

* Every kid is wearing moon shoes in this commercial

* People have fun watching others use moon shoes

* Kids using moon shoes with ease

* Girl jump roping with moon shoes laughs and points at the camera, involving the audience

* Commercial is similar to various other kid toy commercials attempting to assimilate children into toy culture.

* One of the lyrics state that getting the shoes is a necessity. 

* Also states that shoes defy gravity, obviously don't.

Thinking about the Text - Havrilesky and Mad Men

1. Heather Havrilesky’s main insight about Mad Men can be found after she asks the question, “What’s missing from this pretty picture?” First she describes the change and backwards evolution of the “American Dream”, portrays each of the characters and their stories, and then she goes into what we are left with. She answers the question in the final paragraph, “What’s missing…is empathy.”  She goes into that more deeply and brings up our discontent as a nation, and how perhaps we are losing our souls.

2. Havrilesky establishes her authority to write about this show throughout the article. She uses both exact facts about the show, like the actors and actresses names, as well as precise information. Someone familiar with the show can tell she knows what she’s talking about, but she’s also done it in a way that the unfamiliar folks can understand it.

3. Havrilesky appeals to readers’ emotions by tying the story in with American’s expectations and dreams. The first couple paragraphs have a universal element to them, anyone who reads them can understand and feel what she’s talking about. She closes this section with the statement that we are always falling short, and describing the impact this has on our young children.

4. I was not familiar with the show Mad Men when I read this essay. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of its premise, although it’s hard for me to remember which character is which with having no faces to remember and very complex facts regarding their relations. I might watch this one; the way Havrilesky described each of the characters and their surroundings gave it a lot of depth. I want to see it myself now and find out what happens to the characters. I almost never watch TV shows, so getting me to want to watch anything is quite an accomplishment. 

Difference between paper #1 and paper #2

Between the two papers we had to write, a narrative and a position essay, I learned pretty quick that I like writing narratives better. It's much easier to sit down and just write, than have to do all the research required for a position essay. In a narrative, I'm the boss. Usually I get to be the one to decides how it should be and where the story goes. With my particular essay, I was recounting a past event in my life, which made it really easy to write. I felt like how Ernest Hemmingway puts it, "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typerwriter and bleed." (Except I was at a computer).
The position essay took me a lot longer to write. I needed to find other people who have similar views and have evidence that supported my position. I also needed to look at counter-arguments and do even more research to try and refute them. Looking through all the resources then and trying to decide what was legit, and what I could use was a large task. I became pretty discouraged and ended up changing my topic three times, which wasted even more time. Although it was a bit of a negative writing experience for me, (honestly I'm not too happy with my end result....[but am I ever?]), I did learn a lot about my topic I didn't know before.

Summary of Writing Analytically, pages 141-159

The book Everyone’s an Author spends some time explaining writing analytically. It goes through five characteristic features, which include: a question that prompts you; some description of your subject; evidence drawn from close examination; insight gained as a result; and clear language. Each characteristic is explained in detail and a sample of writing in which you can identify that characteristic is shared.  

The first characteristic is a question that prompts you to take a closer look. The example actually starts with an open ended question, “Who is Barack Obama?” The author points out not every analytic piece has to start out with a question, but there will always be an underlying question to your topic. 

The second characteristic is offering some description of what you are analyzing. This depends on how much your audience already knows about your subject, the subject itself, and the medium you are in. Credibility can be gained when you cite a professional, an academic expert or someone with a firsthand experience.

Evidence drawn from close examination is the third characteristic. This includes looking at each individual part or characteristic of your subject and thinking about how it contributes to the whole. This allows you to build evidence and reason for your main point.  There are four different kinds of analysis. The first is rhetorical, which includes looking at text and analyzing the author's message. The second is process analysis, which examines in detail a set of actions or processes that cause a result. The third is causal analysis, looking closely at why something occurred. The last type is data analysis. This can be analyzing a graph or a bunch of data and finding meaning and results from it.

The fourth characteristic of analytic writing is insight gained from it. This is the purpose, the reason why it matters. The insight you gain should be formed into a clear point and be evident why it's important to you and your audience.

The final characteristic is clear, precise language. Writing analytically is done so that the audience can understand something. Your word choice will depend on how much your audience knows and how intricate your subject is. Using the right words is important so that your meaning is properly conveyed.

Analyzing Websites

Analyzing two consumer-oriented websites:
I chose to do websites selling Ukuleles, since that is something I am actually interested in buying with my next paycheck. Or maybe the one after that... (or the next).

Guitarcenter.com
- Can narrow your search down to specific brands, condition, and price range.
- Doesn't show many details until you click on that product
Once you view the Ukulele:
- Gives specifications in an at-a-glance format
- Has an area for you to read customer reviews

Kalabrand.com
- It groups products into types. You can look at only wooden, only some with designs, or only colorful ones. If you are looking for a particular style this makes it much easier to find it.
- Gives price and product details right at the top of the page.
- Shows pictures of all the different styles
- Actually has a sound clip so you can hear the quality of the music yourself.

It's hard for me to decide which website is more useful, as they are fairly different in style and even purpose. Guitar center sells many brands and products, so if you already know what you want, you can find it very easily. Kalabrand is a specific brand, so they only sell their products. It seems to be more friendly to the non-experienced buyer. I have to say the sound clips of the instrument are the most effective element.