Preserve Your World. Preserve Yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSGEEbMvoHg&feature=em-share_video_user

A television ad by the National Wildlife Federation is promoting clean air to protect polar bears and wildlife, help our economy, and to protect our health as well. This video uses images that evoke our sympathetic emotion to respond to the commercial in the way they want and to support a greener economy. By showing pictures such as a polar bear stranded on a small iceberg, implying that our effect on the environment is what is causing that polar bear to be stranded makes us feel like its our fault and that we need to do something about it. Saying that it promotes the production of more jobs during a time when people are really looking for jobs also helps their point. And if animals or jobs don’t spark your interest in helping, they also included the affect it has on our health and on innocent babies. They used every trick in the book to evict emotion and if that doesn’t get you to feel sympathetic towards the cause, I don’t know what will.

Semiotic Dynamics

This ad is taking the form of a shape that most know very well whether they are actual consumers of it or not. At first glance the shape of the food and the colors and shape of the box appear to be your average McDonalds box of fries. McDonalds is known to be tasty food, so by putting the healthy vegetables in the same container the advertiser is implying that the vegetables are tasty as well.

This ad allows us create an entire scene our heads of how that car would’ve wound up like that in a car crash. In our heads we imagine the broken glass, smashed cars, and blood from the accident. It instills the fear of dying in the way we just imagined, as it implies that they would’ve died had they not buckled up. The ‘Click It or Ticket’ in the bottom corner also associates another consequence of receiving a ticket. It is very effective way of getting a point across by associating two consequences of not using your seatbelt.

Ahh, Nostalgia

Many companies use nostalgic marketing to tap into past emotions to drive current sales. While it can be very effective if it works, it can also be very damaging if it doesn’t. Companies from food products to video games try taking a new twist on an old idea to boost sales.

These companies take a symbolic shared image or experience to promote their product. There are many advantages when taking this marketing route. Loyal customers remember those happy memories associated with the product and continue to stay devoted. Bringing up feelings of nostalgia in consumers increases their emotional engagement in the product. If they have history with the product and a sense of familiarity they are more likely to associates positives thoughts about the products. It is also easier for the companies because it is less costly and risky to just reinvent and already known image rather than reinventing and entire new image that society cannot relate to.

There are disadvantages about nostalgic advertising that should be taken into account as well. A company should have an idea of many consumers experienced the product in the past and will be able to actually have a connection with it and recall happy memories to induce that nostalgic feeling. This also runs the risk of recalling negative association with the product and therefore negative attitudes towards the product. Some people just may not be able to relate to the product and it may distance those people as potential consumers. 

In certain cases this may not be the best strategy for some brands or products. It is possible that for certain products the consumers that would have nostalgic feelings about may have no use the product anymore. Certain brands or products may not have been out long enough for consumers to establish a sense of loyalty with it that would create that nostalgic feeling, so there would be no benefit in using that type of advertising