Advertisement Essay - 2nd draft

<Doritos Super Bowl XLVII Commercial - 2012 Winner> 

     Advertisements, as I believe, are fuels for creativity. As creativity is an intrinsic value mankind pursues, some successful advertisements are spotlighted by people. For instance, in the Super Bowl, which is one of the most renowned sports events in the United States, numerous advertisements captivate people’s minds, and some even become the talk of the town after. As an exemple, I found a Doritos Super Bowl XLVII commercial from 2012. This advertisement is very appealing in three aspects: the effective use of pathos and logos, and the appropriate use of comedy.

     To begin with, this advertisement effectively persuades the viewers by using cogent pathos. The video is very sexually sensitive toward men: it features a nude woman partly covered by Doritos, and is supplemented by romantic background music and setting, which is a bedroom. A glamorous woman in bed next to a man, classical music with smooth cadence, and the white bedroom all corroborate into building a romantic and sweet atmosphere. All these features can be interpreted as symbols of love between men and women. These features induce male viewers to focus primarily not on the quality of Doritos, but on the romantic ambience of the advertisement itself. Such effects lure male viewers to buy impulsively, as they are captivated by the sweet mood. Considering that the viewers of the Super Bowl are generally male, the advertisement’s effective use of such features targeting men can be said to be very efficient.

     Moreover, not only does this advertisement appeal to emotion, it also sticks to plausible logic, which is that Doritos are even more desirable than visually attractive girls. In the video, a nearly naked women covered with Doritos is displayed right next to a man. However, in the scene, the man does not care much about the woman; rather, his entire focus is on eating the Doritos. In the kissing scene between the man and the woman, the man does not kiss the woman, but takes the bite from the woman’s Doritos. This action is contrasting to general behaviors of kissing scene. By using the contrast, the advertisement succeeds in delivering the message that eating Doritos is sweeter than kissing a beautiful woman right next to you.

     Besides the effective use of pathos and logos, the advertisement also brings an unexpected comedy, which brings laughter. In the advertisement, the person the man thought he was kissing was not a glamorous woman, but a friend who was watching the Super Bowl. As the man kisses his friend, they both stare awkwardly at each other for a short period of time, which brings laughter to the audience. Such usage of comedy shifts mood from romantic and sweet to hilarious. Thus, the advertisement also implies that Doritos is a convenient snack, not entirely a snack overwhelmed by its sweet aspects. Considering that snacks are generally the food of middle-class people, being convenient is one of the important characteristics of a good snack. From this, I believe that the commercial’s effective use of comedy was a proper choice.

     To conclude, this commercial was very effective in that it used proper pathos, logos, and comedy. The romantic mood and the hilarious moments are well blended to form a persuasive and coherent Doritos advertisement. I believe that this advertisement is one of the best I ever saw, and should definitely be highlighted once more. (558)