Analysis of a Pepsi Advertisement
Pepsi attempts to relate to their target audience by appealing to the sentimental side in all of us. In their ad they target the desires and beliefs and values of every American child and the child within all of us by using the symbolic images of the Christmas season and the magic that season brings with it. In this advertisement for Pepsi, a Teddy Bear is seen hanging on a string of lights on a Christmas tree with one hand while with the other he is reaching for the open Pepsi with a candy cane.
This advertisement for Pepsi is trying to evoke emotions and to link those emotions to their product. One look at this ad and immediately the “awww…. ” Factor is engaged. They do a very good job linking their product to a magical season and the special emotions associated with this season that brings out the child in all of us. When you look at the ad even closer you see the warm crackling fire in the background, bringing about the warm feelings of hearth and home and the nostalgic feelings associated with these subtle but powerful images.
By using the Christmas season in their ad they get you to transfer the feelings that this magical season brings out in all of us to their product. They want you to believe that their product is so magical, so desirable and a good representation of a family oriented product by using the images of hearth and home at the most magical time of year. They link to the desires and feeling of what the average family oriented American wants or should want (if you are to believe the advertising industry) by using these powerful images.
They want you to transfer the nostalgic feeling of family, hearth and home to their product. They go even further with the use of another powerful childhood image and an icon in American culture, the Teddy Bear, to relate to the inner child in all of us. The Teddy bear is seen in the ad reaching for what he most desires, the candy cane by using the tools that are readily at his disposal, in this case, a candy cane, (another powerful symbol of the season) to reach what he wants so bad.
