Observations
Effective advertising sells products.
Truly remarkable advertising reaches the hearts and minds of the demographic it
was intended for. In my search for a unique advertisement for alcohol, I came
upon one that I found to be incredible, inspirational motivational,
extraordinary, as well as heartwarming.
The advertisement is for Guinness
draft. It involves a group of men in wheelchairs playing basketball. The words
loyalty, duty, responsibility, dedication, and friendship are spoken throughout
the beginning of the video. The determination in the faces of the group of men in
the ad is evident. Their dedication to the game is obvious, as they repeatedly
get knocked out of play but pull themselves and their chairs back into the
game.
The beginning and the majority of the
video show reveal nothing about the advertisements intent, and it demonstrates
visually what true dedication looks like. The advertisement last aired on 29
September 2013 on FOX Sports Live and was designed to appeal to the young
athletic men of the sporting generation. Most likely, this ad was intended to
inspire men to strive for the best, as the slogan says “the choices we make
reveal the true nature of our character.”
As the players finish their final
shot, they all stand up except for one who remains seated. The entire
advertisement is shot from a low angle, and if one is not paying attention, it
is hard to identify the actual person with a disability (PWD).
We live in a society filling up with
injured soldiers coming back from combat that rely on the camaraderie from
other veterans to survive. Some are born with a disability and some acquire a
medical condition leaving them disabled. They are not looking for pity. All of
these individuals are looking only for acceptance and the opportunity to show
they are not any less of a person. This advertisement appeals to those men and
women as well as to every person who knows what true friendship is like. After
only one year of viewing, the video showed to have 5,660,493 views on YouTube
which leads me to believe it was a successful advertisement.
One emotional shot sequence shows one
of the guy’s wheelchair falling over, and his struggle to get back up without
assistance. The grit to stay in the game and succeed on his own portrays a
personal determination and a company’s commitment. This shows dedication and
friendship by applying the same technique the actual (PWD) would have to do.
Conclusion
The final shots of this ad show the
team enjoying together a cold Guinness draft freshly poured in a local tavern.
It is the customer and the company understanding what each needs. The ideals
portrayed in the video make a person want to go buy their product to experience
their commitment and dedication as well as their loyalty and the responsibility
they show to have with their customers. True friendship is as rare as true
commitment to excellence, but Guinness was able to successfully portray both
qualities through this advertisement.
Reference
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