Its a Tide ad - Grade: 96 PDF

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Summary

Deconstruction of a Super Bowl Ad, why it is successful, and how it appeals to viewers...

Description

It’s A Tide Ad No one likes commercials. People tend to advert commercials as much as possible because are very repetitive, relatively annoying, and try too hard to sell the product. However, people pay attention to the commercials aired during the Super Bowl. Companies pay millions of dollars for the right to air a 15-90 second clip, where they must capture the audience’s attention and successfully promote their product. Compared to normal commercials, Super Bowl ads are invested into differentiating themselves from their competitors through distinct styles of advertising, like humor and wit, or serious and inspirational. This year’s Super Bowl displayed multiple types of commercials, some better remembered than others, but there was one company who stood out from the rest. Tide had created a series of spoof commercials to sell their product. After the first Tide ad aired, another was presented after every quarter, each time fooling the audience into thinking it was a commercial for a different product. The commercials are original and hilarious, but its success was due to its ability to engage the audience. Appearing light at the surface, the ads all had depth that required viewers to unravel its meaning, providing a stimulating and entertaining commercial experience. Tide took an alternative approach to their ads. Rather than trying to make their product seems better than the others, it made a mockery of common commercials. The spokesman, David Harbour, appeared in different settings and situations to make it appear to “look simultaneously like a bro-ed out beer ad, an all-American truck ad, a low-budget insurance ad and even an Amazon Alexa ad” (Judkis). The viewers thought for a moment that it was just another commercial, but it suddenly turned into a Tide ad, the common thread being the clean clothes. As more Tide ads appear, the audience looked out free floating signifiers like David Harbor, Tide

detergent, or noticeably white and/or clean clothes. Viewers were actively anticipating the next Tide ad, proving to be an effective and enjoyable commercial. The advertisement designed by Tide is meant to appeal to a sophisticated group of viewers who can appreciate the underlying message presented in the commercials. Tide does an excellent job of advertising in an anticommercial fashion, like how Nike started their famous marketing campaigns in the late 1980s (Crosset). Rather than trying to bluntly promote the brand, Tide allows the audience to interpret each ad, via a signifier, a hint to another commercial, or how the setting emphasizes the product. When audiences can decontextualize the commercials, the commercial resonates with the viewers because they are able to identify the ad’s intent themselves rather than being directly stated (Goldman). During the Super Bowl, Tide aired a series of ads, all that had cleverly engaged the audience diverse ways. The commercial starts with an immediate reference to Matthew McConaughey’s luxury car commercials, but when David Harbour is driving the vehicle, the audience is already tricked by the ad’s intent. After Harbour appears in multiple settings, he states very clearly that it was a Tide ad, his rationale being that the mechanics clothes had no stains and were sparkling white. From that point on, the juxtaposition of setting and content of the commercial not only reinforced that it was a Tide ad but demonstrated the quality of Tide by comparison of product to appearance (diamonds) and touch (soft mattress). Tide’s allusion to the Old Spice and Mr. Clean commercials were noticed by viewers, as it recreated those commercials’ success in past Super Bowls and used that platform to make it a Tide ad. Procter and Gamble owns all these products, which allowed for Tide to use the same characters (Swant). Tide’s ability to connect different elements into an ad created a dynamic commercial that gave viewers the power to decipher their underlying meaning, creating a memorable commercial.

One of the biggest reasons for the commercial’s success was their spokesman, David Harbour. Harbour is a mainstream actor who is most famous for his role as Officer Hopper in the hit Netflix show, Stranger Things. Throughout the commercials, Harbour speaks directly to the audience and maintains eye contact with the camera, effortlessly bringing the viewers into commercial. Narcissism puts the viewers in the picture and paves way for them to be engaged in the material (Crosset), which cleverly fits with the concept of the commercial. Tide wanted the viewers to notice the brightly cleaned clothes in each frame and reinforce its connection to Tide. In each scene, Harbour’s voice changes to fit the type of ad, like a soft and slow voice for the mattress and a gruff masculine “Tide” for the razor commercial spoof. Although Harbour’s tone is very straightforward by stating “It’s a Tide ad”, it is used to mock traditional commercials’ dull advertisements. He acknowledges the audience’s presence by breaking the fourth wall and posing the rhetorical question, “So, does this make every Super Bowl commercial a Tide ad?”, a seanky way to get the intellectual viewers invested in the commercial. Tide needed to produce a strong commercial and dominate the Super Bowl to reinstate their brand after the eruption of the Tide Pod Challenge, where children and adults were eating Tide Pods for social media attention. After weeks of developing a bad public image, Tide used their connection with the NFL as a platform to advertise their commercial. Aside from being the official laundry detergent of the NFL, Tide had “drafted New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski to do a PSA explaining the danger [of eating tide pods]” (Swant). The intent behind the commercials was to make people forget about the Tide Pod Challenge and persuade the audience to believe in the brand once again. The commercial found success because it was able to make its own entertainment by heckling generic advertisements, stimulate the audience with a clever hunt for the next ad, and reverse the negative light on the company following the Tide Pod

Challenge. Tide advocated for its brand and won the commercial war of the Super Bowl. The commercial would not have been as effective if Tide took the traditional route and made the commercial about detergent as opposed to making it about the bigger picture: Tide and its ability to satisfy its consumers with a quality product and orginial advertisements.

Work Cited

Crosset, T. (2018, March 4). Why Do we Watch Sport? Lecture presented at Sociology of Sport 200 in Umass Amherst. Lectures from Crosset's class about different types of viewing pleasures, styles of viewers, and techniques used in successful commercials.

Goldman, R., & Papson, S. (2004). Nike Culture: The Sign of the Swoosh. London: Sage Publications. Found online in Crosset's folders

Judkis, M., & Rao, S. (2018, February 04). Analysis | The five best Super Bowl commercials, from Tide to Tide. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-andentertainment/wp/2018/02/04/the-five-best-super-bowl-commercials-from-tide-to-tide/? utm_term=.448bc219c921

Swant, M. (2018, February 05). Every Ad Is a Tide Ad: Inside Saatchi and P&G's Clever Super Bowl Takeover Starring David Harbour. Retrieved March 24, 2018, from http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/every-ad-is-a-tide-ad-inside-saatchi-and-pgs-cleversuper-bowl-takeover-starring-david-harbour/

Tide Laundry |Super Bowl 2018| (2018, February 04). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gGXnE1Dbh0...