Examining advertising
Rachel Jenkins
Advertisement production for Television
K.F.C. is a brand that has been recognised in households from the late 1960s in Great Britain and has a branding that consists of red and white packaging and Colonel Saunders the founder of the fast food products portrait. This has been used from the start of the product in the 1950s.
In April 2011 The K.F.C. brand produced a 59 second advertisement to play at peak times on the main terrestrial channels in Great Britain.
The advert is shot as a single camera drama and gives a voyeuristic image of everyday citizens going about their lives from the very beginning of the footage. The first shot is of regular looking flats that sit on top of plain grey garages, and then we follow images of working class scenes such as someone waiting at a bus stop or placing non matching furniture together.
The whole advert is washed with soft tones, and a warm hazy summer feel.
Throughout the whole advert we watch pastel shades of greys, purples, blues and yellows against the green of summer grass and trees. The bright primary colour Red enters the feature after 26 seconds in the form of two joined chairs that looked like they have been taken from a fast food restaurant and are being carried down the road by two casual males towards the destination.
The makers of the advert use chairs as a McGuffin to drive the story of a community group coming together and a lazy holiday day and uniting with K.F.C. as their food source. The chairs are all shapes and sizes and colours even using crates as a makeshift seat. I believe this is a symbol of the different people in society coming together and all being of the same extended family group even though they all look different; the chairs are a message of uniting.
The images are predominately of Family groups from the older generation to children playing without a care in the world. These images eventually come together as one big garden party with a lazy easiness and enviable down to earth situation that would be to the consumer the perfect community gathering. As this has a voyeurism theme there are no scripted words necessary from any of the characters and I think it would break the hypnotism of the advert. As we don’t hear from their mouths, this also means they are not placing the scene in any particular area of the country, and not creating regional pinpoints. And thus all viewers can be drawn into the image.
The music has a slow summer rift with a strong piano presence and a haunting voice of a girl singing about “We got family”. Behind the music we hear diegetic sounds of birds and children’s laughs and the faint buzz from the family’s conversations. Played once this tune is driven into the senses and becomes recognisable almost instantly.
There is no indication of the product until 30 seconds into the advert and then it is not forced into the consumers face. It sits on the middle of the table waiting for us to recognise that, of course they are all enjoying K.F.C. and how obvious it is that this day of communal celebration would invite such a brand to the table.
The whole advert is telling a story and is open ended and encouraging itself to create a next chapter to this beautiful day. There are no fast pace flashes of product and no captions or slogans until the 54 second and then the simple font appears in the eye line of young lovers exchanging glances linking three simple but powerful words together “people, moment and taste. This message is linking the K.F.C. brand to all things wholesome, family driven and without the pretence of other similar fast food chains. It says to the viewer that K.F.C. is a trusted part of family life and this puts the consumer at ease with the product and confirms that it will always be faithful and truthful with its product.
The K.F.C. has such confidence in their product they can create this advert without the forceful push of constant branding symbols and celebrity endorsement.
The milky bar Kid has been a brand for the chocolate company Nestle since he first slung his guns on television screens in 1961, the advert consistently had the narrative of a young cowboy saving the town and declaring, “The Milky bars are on me” to his young posse. This slogan stuck and is still used with the product 40 years on
This concept has been repeated throughout the following years with different young actors to keep the blond haired blue eyed innocent and pure image that fits in with the products intention to sell the chocolate bar to small children and the parents who want the best treats for their offspring.
They all wore the symbolic Hat and round Glasses of the products “Milky Bar Kid” and sang along to the catchy lyrics.
The colours are soft pastels with a creamy base in the background the bright white hat and bright blue glasses stand out.
The same tune has been used for the duration also and it declares that the product is only filled with the best ingredients and it is creamy colour represents the pure goodness of the product.
In 2010 the product created a campaign to find the next “Milky Bar kid” and people were asked to enter a short video onto the Internet. This has been a worldwide campaign and when we go online we can see the same customer participation from all points of the globe.
This concept of audience interaction with the brand and being involved with the advertising of the product was then repeated on a Television advert for the Milky Bar in the same year, using an image that the general public were auditioning for Milky Bar on the street or by the seaside, the producers aimed for the advert to look unprofessionally put together and random slots of performers happily gave their rendition of the famous catch song. These were definitely actors, trying to recreate a feel of improvisation but the half a minute of sell is very smooth with its transitions and has a certain quality about it that oozes money. This would not effect the viewer’s enjoyment of the entertainment that flashes before them as it is subtly executed even down to the clapperboard announcing the next take for another audition. This open ended advert could use this “audition” technique in different ways for a while to come yet thus keeping a connection with the consumer on the Internet and terrestrially for some time yet.
The last shot is shown as the chocolate in its animated form this makes the product look softer and has more appeal than the stronger edges of the actual product.