Advertisement style

The packaging is a large glass bottle, which can only be used in the home. The bottle is wrapped in orange cellophane to give it a medicinal look, which makes the packaging stand out. The man delivering the voiceover sounds like he is about 40-50 years old, and his voice sounds authoritative, trustworthy and professional to help you believe what he is saying, he could be considered to be the father figure who is away from home working. The slogan “Lucozade Aids Recovery” obviously suggests that the drink aids recovery. The written slogan reinforces what the narrator says. It is shown at the end and is a clear, snappy and memorable statement, which repeats the word “Aid” (“Lucozade Aids Recovery”) to achieve this. This makes it sound like a fact.

The second advertisement was shown during 1980. It features Daley Thompson, the Olympic decathlon champion, who is shown growing tired during a training session. He drinks Lucozade, which refreshes him and gives him the energy to start running again. The celebrity, Daley Thompson is used to endorse Lucozade because he was very popular at the time. He was the Olympic Decathlon champion, and Lucozade wanted to be associated with his success. In doing this Lucozade changed its image and expanded its target audience to the sporting youth market. This is evident in many places: The music used is a heavy metal style, which was popular with teenagers at the time. The nature of the music is loud and at a motivating pace, which builds up to a point (when the traffic light goes green). Because of this nature of loud and rhythmic music the listener will hear and associate the music with the brand, and the brand with the product making the product better known.

The bottle shape has also changed, although the old large bottle is still on sale. The new bottle is much smaller, making it portable. It has changed from being a medicinal type drink to a refreshing energy drink that people can carry around with them and buy in any shop. Daley Thompson shows how portable it is when he flicks the bottle in the air with one hand. The narrative of the second advert is Daily Thompson training on the running track. He gets tired during the training and pulls out a new slim portable, bottle of Lucozade.

This gives him a burst of energy. And he resumes his position in the starting blocks. There is then a traffic light sequence where the advert is building up to a huge finale, aided by the music. He then bursts out of the blocks and storms down the racetrack. It is a great spectacle to watch, seeing him in full flight. The camera shows his physique and also the product placement of the Addidas logo on his shirt. You get the shot of him with his face and shoulders then a caption comes up and you hear Des Lynem, the sports commentator saying “Lucozade the refreshing glucose drink.” That reinforces the whole sporting aspect.

The Traffic lights are used in an abstract way, which gives the advertisement a more modern approach. The fast editing style enhances the dynamism of the product, which gives the advertisement pace and makes it exciting and explosive to watch. The director has also used advanced techniques like crossing the line where you see him burst out of the starting blocks from one side then the camera moves back in time and you see him do the same but from another angle, again making the advert more exciting and explosive to watch.

In the third Advertisement, made in 1999, the campaign centres around the computer game character Lara Croft. Lara is shown being chased by a pack of wolves in a typical Tomb Raider scenario set in a huge temple like complex, and runs out of ammunition for her handguns. She turns showing her perfect body and starts to run until she arrives at a ruined bridge and almost falls off. You see a lantern fall down the seemingly bottomless drop. There is no way across, and the pack of wild wolves with snarling teeth and red eyes are ready to pounce on her. Lara is trapped. Her face changes she looks slightly worried. She bends down and reaches inside her rucksack. The in-game inventory pops up, and Lara scrolls through various snack foods that stereotypically give energy: a chocolate bar, a can of cola caffeine, until she gets to a picture of the Lucozade bottle.

She skips all the other products as if she is disregarding them and the only thing that can save her is Lucozade. The drink is selected and as in the game zooms towards the viewer. You then see her drinking the Lucozade; there is a crabbing effect round her face and drink. Lara turns around to face the dogs with a knowing smile on her face. You then get a dog’s eye view of her blowing a very feminine kiss at them. There is great emphasis on the sound of the kiss, the clicking of the guns when they were empty and also when she breathed a sigh of relief when she was refreshed after drinking the Lucozade. These were all highlighted by the silence, apart from those actions in the scene and therefore adding emphasis on these particular sounds.

These subtleties give the advertisement depth and shape. You then get a high angled shot of her jumping off the broken bridge then a low angle close up of the dogs jumping off following her to their doom. Lara manages to grab onto a ledge and save herself. She leaps up onto the broken bridge showing her enhanced features and pulls out the Lucozade bottle to show the audience, the name and new style of bottle. This creates the image that Lucozade will save you in times of crisis, will give you confidence and make you successful as well as providing you with much needed energy. The Lucozade seems to give her the mental and physical energy to save herself, for she now jumps off the bridge. She has outsmarted the wolves with the help of Lucozade.

Lucozade has kept its male youth market by involving several features in this advertisement. Lara’s breasts and bottom have been accentuated to enhance the sex appeal of the advertisement. The computer graphics style would also be appealing to young computer game players, which has become a hugely popular leisure activity. Lucozade has now expanded its appeal to women as well, by having a female heroine, who would feature as the female icon or role model. She also challenges the wolves, which are depicted as evil by their foaming mouths and red eyes, creating a good versus evil theme. Lara is depicted as independent and confident (when she blows the wolves a kiss before jumping off the bridge) and she does not need a man to save her even though she shows the fear of the wolves when she runs out of ammunition and her pupils shrink, which would appeal to women.

Throughout the advert, Lara’s energy bar is displayed at the top of the screen, just like in the game. When Lara drinks the Lucozade the energy bar moves from almost empty to full, which shows how energizing Lucozade really is. The bottle has changed to a more streamline shape with the brand name adopting the same streamline shape of the bottle. There is also a soundtrack to this advert, which is very distorted; there are no patterns or rhythms to it. This adds to the overall scene of danger and rapid movements as she tries to get away from the wolves. When Lara slams the Lucozade in front of the camera she is saying that it is one of her most useful things in her Tomb Raiding adventures and she doesn’t know where she would be without it and is inviting you to try it and buy it too.

Overall I think the adverts have been incredibly successful at achieving what they set out to do. They have produced very griping adverts that make the viewer watch with interest and awe. Each advertisement has captured the feel and trend of that particular moment in time. Making the audience want to buy the product to help them in their lives, whether they are performing sport, recovering from illness or escaping from some extreme and challenging situation!