Here is an in blog version of my paper.

Amanda Marcus
Draft 1

Commercial Analysis: Britney Spears Pepsi Ad
First, the link to the commercial I am analyzing. I found it on www.youtube.com, when I searched for banned commercials. I think banned commercials are very interesting because it is every advertisers fantasy: an ad that people search for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFnSrwLmd8g&feature=related
The advertising industry has a goal: to sell the product to the consumer. The ways in which they achieve this goal are varied and in some cases complex. Generally, an advertisement will appeal to the consumers' ethics, emotions, and their logic, otherwise known as their Ethos, Pathos and Logos. When appealing to these different aspects of consumer minds, the company wants the consumer to be thinking: "This product is good. This product makes me happy. This product is useful." The commercial I chose was a Pepsi brand commercial, which has Britney Spears as the lead character. This commercial the advertisers use sex appeal as the main component of targeting a consumer. This advertisement targets male consumers that range from pre- pubescent to mid 30's.
Some lesser aspects of appeal in the commercial are the use of the facial expressions on all the dancers as well as on the lead character. They are all smiling, and acting as though they are very happy. There is also an appeal to girls' emotions in this commercial. The girls who watch this commercial will have an "I want to be her" reaction, and subconsciously note that if they drink Pepsi, they will be like Britney Spears.
The company also made note of what was popular in the target generation, the "new" generation, and chose a spokes model accordingly. At the end of 1999, Britney Spears debut album had sold 10 million copies. The use of a popular Americana icon as a selling tool is an effective way to grab the attention of the youth who follow their icons like lost puppies. Not to mention, she was very sexy and already used that fact to her advantage to sell more products. Her sex appeal in the commercial was an interesting combination of covering herself and bondage- type clothing. In the first image, she is completely covered by a coverall, which is ripped off moments later to reveal the second image, in which she is wearing a bustier, with multiple straps holding up her tiny shorts. There is also a necklace in the second image, pointing to her cleavage.
Image 1 Image 2
All through the commercial we also see a color scheme that is very familiar to the United States. Pepsi attempts to capture the American spirit with its red, white, and blue color scheme. The show of patriotism is meant to make the viewer feel as though they are showing a commitment to their nation by drinking Pepsi. The use of perceived patriotism to sell a product is something that we looked at recently for class in the World War II propaganda posters. In those posters we saw a push of patriotism to support different aspects of the nation. This is a different use of patriotism, in that the commercial uses it to sell to those consumers who want to show how patriotic they are by immersing every aspect of their life in American culture.
The lyrics in the song sung during the commercial focuses on not thinking, just doing. This is a common theme in commercials, because it implies impulsiveness. The advertisers rely on these impulses being connected with purchasing their product.
This commercial uses sex to sell its product. It also uses admiration, loyalty, fun, joy, and excitement. All of these invocations are essential to the advertisers enticing the consumer with their product.









Information concerning Britney Spears Career
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/12/01/photo-timeline-the-rise-fall-and-return-of-britney-spears/
Costume worn in ad picture 2
http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/nsprojects/ns1fall2001/taste/brit.gif
Costume worn in ad picture 1
http://fliiby.com/images/_thumbs/me_shulg0dx5c1.jpg