The Kia Optima 2012 Sandman Commerical: Rhetorical Analysis

Transcription

1 Chernoff 1 Avi Chernoff Professor Bensel English 015, Sec. 85 1/29/13 The Kia Optima 2012 Sandman Commerical: Rhetorical Analysis Television commercials of today display many technical advances, but the commercials can still be described and classified with regard to the way they use basic rhetorical devices. The three main devices are: Logos, the appeal to logic; Ethos, the appeal to credibility; and Pathos, the appeal to emotion. Contemporary technology, particularly computer-generated imagery (CGI) has allowed advertisers to rely on powerful imagery that has a exciting and entertaining impact on viewers. Instead of commercials that use Logos to inform consumers about the advantages of products, advertisers use CGI to increase their ability to associate their products with positive emotional appeal to consumers. Such a rhetorical strategy relies more on Pathos. The Kia Optima 2012 Super Bowl commercial is an example of how CGI technology has affected rhetorical strategies toward emotional impact by stretching the imagery of commercials into exaggerated realities. The Kia Optima commercial is not unique. Other examples are the Old Spice commercials featuring a handsome former football player, Isaiah Mustafa, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, who delivers his message while reality changes around him. There are also car commercials such as The Reinvented Toyota Camry and the Honda CR-V commercial featuring Matthew Broderick's Second Day Off, a reference to Broderick's popular film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. During the 2012 Superbowl, Kia released a commercial so farfetched that it was sure to catch the eyes of all viewers, although the main audience was probably men from the ages of eighteen to forty. The commercial's rhetorical strategy was based on Pathos, but it also included Ethos, while it ignored

2 Chernoff 2 the possibilities to incorporate Logos. The theme of the commercial was A Dream Car. For Real Life. The commercial begins with the heart-warming song Mr. Sandman by The Chordettes: Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream, We see a tiny Sandman tip-toeing into a couple's bedroom with his oversized bag filled with golden, glowing dust. He sprinkles a few grains on the woman, and the image dissolves into a fantasy of green, luscious fields and open blue skies. The wife is on a galloping white stallion, riding with a handsome Prince Charming toward a rainbow. They exchange looks of pure bliss, and the commercial cuts back to the Sandman tip-toeing toward the sleeping husband. Suddenly, the Sandman trips over the husband's slippers and spills all of his dream dust onto the husband's face. Immediately the lovely Chordettes' song is replaced by the sound of screeching tires and a racing engine. We see the Kia Optima's spinning tires, then the Sandman's surprised face, then the stunning supermodel Adriana Lima, dressed in eye-popping attire and waving a checkered flag. The husband sits behind the steering wheel and grins. The supermodel smiles coyly and waves him onto the track. As he pulls away, we hear the famous electrical guitar riffs of the song Kickstart My Heart by Motley Crue, who appear with fireworks on a concert stage. As the music rocks on, Vince Neil, the lead singer of Motley Crue, raises his hand to point at the husband, who nods back nonchalantly. The Optima races past a grandstand full of cheering, beautiful women, all dressed in bikinis. We cut back to the Sandman frantically trying to brush away the dream dust, while we are bombarded with outrageous images of celebrities who look at and acknowledge the husband in his racing car: champion bull rider Judd Leffew riding a giant rhinocerous; an hoagie sandwich so large that it is being sawed by two lumberjacks; a explosive mixed martial arts ring with famous fighter Chuck Liddell. The Sandman runs away, and as the celebrities watch in wonder, the husband runs the Optima into the raceway wall, blasting through, and enters the world of his wife's dream. Her horse rears up and throws her into his arms, and as a frustrated Prince Charming rides away, the reconnected man and his wife drive off in

3 Chernoff 3 their Optima through the lush green landscape. As the rock music fades, they exchange looks, and we see the message A Dream Car. For Real Life. The rhetorical strategy of the commercial is based mainly on Pathos: the exciting imagery and music appeal to to our emotions. The approving presence of the celebrities and the beautiful women represents a degree of rhetorical Ethos in conferring credibility to the product. People who might recognize Vince Neal and Motley Crue, Adriana Lima, Judd Leffew, or Chuck Liddell will better remember the commercial, which is also associated with the hit music played throughout. The commercial makes no appeal to Logos, or the logic of why one might buy the Optima, apart from showing it in an attractive manner. The emotional appeal of Pathos is clearly evident in the cute figure of the Sandman and in the opening song, which evoke nostalgic happiness along with the fairy tale imagery of the wife's dream. After the slapstick overdose of dream dust, the man's exaggerated dream becomes an adrenaline rush: loud music, a loud engine, a fast car, beautiful women, rock musicians, fireworks, images of manliness and immense appetite. The ninety-second commercial for a relatively inexpensive car begins in a quiet bedroom and becomes a wildly transforming dream. The commercial is entertaining and funny, and it appeals to consumers based on the good feelings and admiration it inspires. The Kia Optima Sandman commercial deserves its reputation as a great advertisement. I find it instructive that the commercial makes so little appeal to Logos. Some car commercials rave about safety statistics, price and financing, gas mileage, or luxury features. The Optima commercial totally ignores these aspects of the product. If I were buying a car, I would pay attention to such features when I was actually shopping and taking the car for a test drive. I believe that most cars are reliable and adequately equipped, and an effective rhetorical strategy should make an advertised car stand out from its competition. The purpose of the commercial is to put the Optima into my mind with positive associations. The rhetorical strategy of the commercial had little to say about the actual car, but it

4 Chernoff 4 would encourage me to go to a Kia dealer, and it would help me see myself driving a Kia. The Kia Optima Sandman commercial is an example of an extremely effective rhetorical strategy Lastly logos, the appeal to logic, does not appear in this commercial. Most car commercials will rave about how their car is top on safety, or miles per gallon, or luxury, but Kia does not talk about those features in any part of the commercial. In some sense, it's quite genius. I've never been someone who believes everything they see on TV. Therefore when I watch car commercials, I don't care about the safety features, or the miles per gallon, or the luxury. I would rather talk to a real person about car features. I don't think that many people would buy a car immediately after seeing the commercial's statistics about the car, therefore I would say that logos is unnecessary to the rhetorical strategies of car commercials. My purpose for this analysis is to inform males between the ages of eighteen to forty about the tactics and strategies advertisers use to get customers to buy their newest and most expensive vehicles. The ridiculousness of today's car commercials has become a completely different strategy than commercials of the past. Most of these car commercials today have nothing to do with the actual car. The audience is presented with one aspect of the car that is somewhat appealing. Normally this aspect is some new and unnecessary technology. As of the rest of the commercial, it only uses famous people and persuasive dialog. Kia, Honda, and Toyota, are all popular car companies who utilize these rhetorical strategies. My hope is that my analysis will help males realize that they don't need cars like

5 Chernoff 5 the Kia Optima to live a utopias lifestyle. to have we live in today has changed dramatically from the past. In the 1950's, the technology available resulted in minimal exaggeration from the truth of commercials, therefore Logos was often applied. However in today's commercial world, we see his extreme exaggeration of the truth recently started with the S, gaze with attention spans that no female thought possible. labeled sweet dreams, we begin to imagine what will happen to the sleeping couple. another male, is riding off over the hills on. She and her prince charming exchange looks of pure bliss. While in the bedroom, we are about to see how the husband's dream will transpire. nd This causes the dream to sporadically transform into what some people may describe as a man's uatopia. with appealooks at on the track, It begins with the screeching tires of the Kia Optima, immediately shrouded by As he feels empowered, driven, and pumped with adrenaline. TThe audience then feels the thrill of driving alongside the husband. We are bombarded with images of Stricken with a sea of beautiful women, logically all dressed in bikinis. Tempted with Fixated upon the ring by Chuck Liddell, famous MMA fighter. These along with other outrageous images make up this utopia. Nearing the end of the dream, the husband drives into the side wall somehow breaking into his wife's dream. He heroically claims his wife, and the two rekindle their love while driving off into the sun. As said by the commercial, it's A dream car, for real life. A rhetorical analysis of this essay can be broken down into pathos, ethos, and logos in that order by magnitude. Rhetorically, we see a lot of images that appeal to our emotions, as well a variety of

6 Chernoff 6 famous people that appeal to any credibility. Unfortunately, we don't see any sort of logic put into buying the car. As the husband's dream starts Pathos, the appeal to emotions, is clearly evident in this commercial. It is the main rhetorical strategy used in car advertisements. Right off the bat we are filled with a sense of joy by Mr. Sandman, a song that clearly evokes feelings of happiness and joy. As we transition into the husband's dream, we are immediately given the sense of thrill from the screeching tires of the Kia Optima. While the engine revs and the tires screech, we gaze upon a beautiful women dressed in sexy clothing waving her checkered flag. Here we see the commercial taking advantage of a man's desires. Also in the commercial, the husband drives by the stands which happen to be filled by a sea of gorgeous women in bikinis. Again, the commercial attacks a man's desire to attain such beautiful women. Soon after we glance at a short clip of a cowboy riding a giant rhino. This is an example of the desire of adrenaline, and the idea that bigger is better. The events presented in the next few scenes evoke feelings of hunger and once again adrenaline. A sandwich so big that it takes two lumberjacks to cut is something that a man could only dream about. The husband then looks upon a boxing ring with giant competitors and miraculous explosions. Here we see the recurring idea that bigger is better. Finally, when the husband burst through the wall in his new Kia Optima, the feelings of possession are presented when he steals back his wife to ride off into the sun. Ethos, the appeal to credibility, appears less in this commercial. Nevertheless, we the audience find credibility in this commercial based on the number of famous people are recognizable. In the beginning, super model Adriana Lima is presented as the flag girl. As well as Vince Neil, lead singer of Motley Crue. Kia has taken advantage of this appeal and currently uses it still. Have you ever seen the commercials with Blake Griffin? He has absolutely nothing to do with the car commercials

7 Chernoff 7 themselves, but he is someone that the viewers can relate to. This gives these commercials credibility. Kia also uses famous MMA fighter Chuck Liddell to influence credibility. The same concept is applied when any famous person is placed in an advertisement. As long as they're recognizable, then a viewer will be able to remember that commercial better.