Allyson Felix vs. Usain Bolt: WHO IS FASTER?! - (At shopping, that is.)


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPVLWpx3pu0

Call me a nerd, but the other day, as I was watching videos about running shoes, an ad for Sam's Club popped up before the YouTube video began. In a nutshell, the commercial consisted of Allyson Felix and Usain Bolt sitting at a table in Sam's Club. Usain says to Allyson, "Is there a bigger accomplishment than being named the fastest shopper of all time?" Allyson responds, "Maybe accomplishing it ten months after a C-Section, but, what you did was cool too" The commercial finishes off with Usain glancing uncomfortably at Allyson, who is smiling. Right at the end, the screen turns black, projecting the words "Watch the fast go faster with Scan & Go." After watching this ad, I noticed many things that related to what we've learned in class. First of all, I noticed that the commercial attempted to fulfill the consumer's need to dominate. In advertisements, consumers look for products that will give them the power they are lacking - they look for something that will help them "master the possibilities." This commercial played into that desire of consumers by portraying their company's product, Scan & Go, as a product that can help already elite runners shop faster. They want consumers to believe that if elite athletes can become faster by using their product, then so can average people. One of the main advertising techniques that was used in the ad was testimonial, a technique in which a famous personality is used to endorse the product. In this specific commercial, Sam's Club enlisted the help of two extremely speedy and famous sprinters, Allyson Felix and Usain Bolt. They chose these two elite-caliber athletes because they have a positive connotation about them. When someone hears one of those two names, the one word that immediately pops into their head is "fast." Since that is what Sam's Club is striving for with their product, it makes sense that they chose Allyson Felix and Usain Bolt to be the faces of their advertisement.

Comments

  1. Whoa the points you made were really good and made a lot of sense. You thought a lot about the technical things about this ad which were really good, but I kept staring at all the medals hanging around Felix's neck and the clothing each of the athletes are wearing. I understand many people wear athletic gear typically now-a-days, but I feel like the ad's producers were trying to make sure people knew who the athletes were even to those who don't know who they are by using the name tag-thingys, medals, and running gear as a way to prove their athletic ability in a sense. This was really random, but you could definitely feel the "staged" vibe because you gotta know that these runners do not wear their medals on the daily and running gear everywhere they go. That's literally all I had to say lol. GOOD JOB LARISSA!! 😄🙌

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Miss Representation in Curology

Lovemarks Surrounding High School Musical: The Musical: The Series