By:Connor Lo
TV Advertising
The first TV ad aired in 1941 before the first pitch between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies at Ebbets Field in New York. It was broadcasted by NBC-owned WNBT (now WNBC). The ad was a short and simple ad by Bulova Watch Co.
Although this ad only has one spoken line, there is something important to note. The background is a picture of a Bulova clock with the U.S in the background. This creates a "connection" with the country which gives it false sense of approval, as if America approves of Bulova watches.
This is a Bulova ad 10 years later. This ad focused a lot on showing their own products. They used multiple celebrity testimonials to give the watch more worth. They also made a connection which states that giving a gift of a Bulova watch is tantamount to getting a high school diploma. This could also be seen as an example of the transfer persuasive technique. In this case, the satisfying feeling of receiving a high school diploma was being transferred to getting a Bulova watch.
This is a coke ad from the 1950s. This ad focused fully on explaining the qualities of coke. The most prominent persuasive technique in this ad is gliterring generalities. Words such as refreshing, bright, and ice cold were used multiple times throughout the ad to make the product sound more appealing.
Almost seventy years later, we see another ad for coke. However, this ad was more of a skit than a commercial. There was one persuasive technique used here. Coke used their new line "share a coke" to create a correlation between drinking coke and friendships. This is a correlational fallacy. When the notification of an accepted friend requested shows up, they are saying that friends can be bought by coke.
Conclusion
Ads in the 1950's focused a lot on the the positives of a product. They would often use descriptive language to make their goods sound better. This can be seen as an example of snob appeal or glittering generalities. In the 2018 Coca-Cola ad, we saw a skit that presents coke in a more subtle manner. Although the ad still revolved around the coke bottle, they did not praise the drink the whole time, but rather created a skit focused around coke. This advertising technique is not only used in this commercial, but also in many other commercials. Other examples include skits from Progressive, Geico, Statefarm, Skittles, and Sour Patch Kids.