TV Advert Evaluation

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For this assignment, we were told to create an advert for a Unilever product and advertise it for a new audience. The product our group had chosen was Ben & Jerry's. We decided to create an advert for a new line of flavours based off of popular movie titles, for example; V for Vendetta became V for Vanilla. We picked this idea because out of all the ideas we had, this idea made us laugh more than the others and humour was what we were aiming for with a Ben & Jerry's advert. The product’s original target audience was mainly teenagers and young adults. With our idea of creating a new line of flavours based on movie title puns, the new target audience would be a more broad range, as the movie title puns are based on a wide range of movies, from classics to more recent titles as well as drama to comedy. It would also appeal to anyone passionate about films, from teenagers to adults, as the product still retains the tongue-in-cheek style.

After completing the advert, we sent out a survey to viewers asking for feedback. We asked for their age and gender, so we were able to establish the make-up of our audience. We also asked them to briefly explain what they believed the advert was selling, if the advert sold it well, if they would buy it based on the advert as well as any suggestions for improvement. From the feedback we received, we found that all the responses said that the advert sells the product well and was appropriate for advertising the product in question. One common feedback item was that "the advert was funny and helped sell the product", which was one of our aims, as the original adverts for Ben & Jerry’s had an element of humour in them. The humour and the use of a relatable situation (two friends watching a film) are some persuasion techniques we used to help sell the product. The two actors are young adults and therefore fit the target audience we were aiming for. Also, the use of the puns help reinforce the target audience we were aiming for with the advert, as the movie titles have a wide range so that an audience of any age can understand some, if not, all the puns.

Whilst our advert consisted of 3 different camera angles, we were able to keep the advert flowing whilst cutting back and forth between them. We needed some feedback on this before we were able to get the desired effect. As well as the flow of the cinematography and editing, sound and mise-en-scene were also key. Throughout the advert is a continuous background noise of a film, with dialogue and typical sound effects. We also decided to include the ‘Wilhelm’ scream, which is a popular, stock scream used in many films as an ‘easter egg’. We thought that the inclusion of the sound effect would help appeal the product for the ‘film buffs’ of the target audience. The dialogue fits with the style we were aiming for; informal. Our feedback says that the dialogue works for the advert and helps make the characters and product more relatable to the audience. The setting for the advert is a darkened living room, with the only light being from the film on the TV. However, we had to tweak the brightness of the footage when editing it later on. Some criticism we received was that a bit more change in the colour and brightness was needed to help the appearance of the advert.

I believe that the advert complies with the BCAP codes. Our advert was not at all misleading (code 3), as we were attempting to sell the products we created. Whilst the flavours aren't real, if our advert was then those flavours would be too. Also, we aren't misleading with the product as the product will always be ice cream. Neither are we causing harm or offence (code 4). We cannot find anything in our final advert that could be deemed offensive or harmful to anyone. If during feedback something was raised as being offensive in our advert, we would have changed it before our final export. Also, whilst we do not claim that the ice cream has any nutritional or health benefits (code 13), we do state that the products use ‘Fairtrade’ ingredients, mainly chocolate. Our use of ice cream in the advert as a treat is taken as an example to the audience, saying that the product is best suited for a treat or special occasion. Our use of the ‘Fairtrade’ logo at the end is not misleading to the audience.

The final advert looks close to what our original intentions were. Some aspects had to be changed along the way, due to feedback we had received, such as the order of some shots and the voice-over at the end. Our pre-production paperwork presents an idea similar to what we have produced, especially the storyboards. The storyboard follows almost precisely with the finished advert, with a few minor changes. Thanks to audience and peer feedback, we were able to create and fine tune our advert to appeal more to it’s target audience. The feedback was particularly important when editing certain aspects such as colour and brightness of the footage, dialogue and sound. Personally, I am satisfied with the advert we have created, as I believe it is funny and works well to sell the product we have created.

Our advert looks professional and feels like it has been thoroughly thought out to be humorous and include a considerable amount of movie references to help attract the target audience we wanted. If I were to do this task again, I would ensure that I organise the imported footage better, as we didn't organise them until a few days afterwards. Due to this, the files were out of place and Premiere Pro had to find the files again before we could continue to edit. I feel that I have given my full potential to this project, sharing equal effort in all aspects of the task. I would however, put more effort into editing if I were to do this project again, as I did not take part in the editing as much as the others in my group and instead suggested ideas of how we could improve the footage rather than attempting the idea myself.