The First MacBook Air Ad

Since we just finished doing our ad presentations, I decided to analyze another commercial that I recently saw on Youtube this week. This is Apple's first ad for the MacBook Air. Here is how I interpreted it:

The first thing the audience sees is a flat brownish envelope (brown signifies security and reliability, the characteristics which MacBooks are known for). Secondly, as the hand takes the computer slowly out of the envelope, it creates suspense within the audience. Finally, the hand takes out a super thin laptop and that is the moment of surprise for the audience.

Eventually, the laptop gets turned around so the audience can view its whole unique design as if it were a trophy. All of this is shot on a white background. White signifies purity, innovation, and the idea of something being new, which the laptop is: the world’s (newest and) thinnest laptop. This logos that appears at the end of the test is simple and powerful. It makes it seem like the MacBook is the best product in the WORLD because it is the thinnest out of all other laptops.
Ultimately, the logo of the bitten apple appears at the end; this is establishing ethos because that symbol is widely known and almost everyone is aware of how good the Apple brand is.

Another aspect that the video used to persuade was music. It used "New Soul" by Yael Naim which has the lyrics “I’m a new soul, I came to a strange world…” once again pushing the point that is product is new and worth checking out.

I think this Apple commercial is highly effective because every little detail in the 90 second time-limit is planned out to appeal to the audience.

Color Psych - Restaurant Edition

So  in class we learned about color psychology and it fascinated me because it showed how a minor detail can have a HUGE effect on a company's well-being. Now every restaurant logo I look at, I cannot help brainstrom reasons in my head as to why the company picked those colors.

Here is an article that I found that further explains why restaurants refuse to use blue in their logos and most restaurants use red:

"While blue is one of the most popular colors it is one of the least appetizing. Blue food is rare in nature. Food researchers say that when humans searched for food, they learned to avoid toxic or spoiled objects, which were often blue, black, or purple. When food dyed blue is served to study subjects, they lose appetite.
Green, brown, and red are the most popular food colors. Red is often used in restaurant decorating schemes because it is an appetite stimulant."


Read more: Color Psychology — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html#ixzz1me5sPdBu

I want to direct this blog in a way that I want to analyze all my favorite restaurants' logos through color psychology and pathos.

http://www.panerabread.com/

#1 Panera is my favorite place for soups and salads (their broccoli cheddar is amazing)! What I love about Panera is that its food is healthy and natural. After researching the colors, I realized that the green in their logo is supposed to symbolize "nature" and promote their natural, good-for-you food. The dash of yellow in the center is supposed to be the attention-getter because people are naturally attracted to yellow. I've learned that yellow also increases concentration, which makes sense to put a dash of yellow in the center of a green logo so people can concentrate on the name and feel "good" about themselves for picking Panera.

http://www.starbucks.com/

#2  I am a coffee addict (3 or more cups a day!) and my favorite place to get a coffee from is Starbucks. Why do I trust this place so much? The green once again, is supposed to make it seem as if their coffee is all-natural and therefore increases my level of trust in the company because I feel better about buying good coffee. In addition, green can also be used for relaxation which makes sense for a coffee shop. I go to Starbucks to sit, relax, do some homework, and sip on a grande coffee - so their color matches with what a coffee shop is supposed to be. Lastly, the dash of black in the center is supposed to symbolize authority over any other coffee place and work up ethos in the audience to buy coffee from the best.

http://www.pinkberry.com/

#3 Pinkberry is a NY-NJ area frozen yogurt restaurant (the best one I tried so far!) and once again the green in this logo is supposed to symbolize that the product is natural, healthy, and that we should not feel guilty for eating in. However, what makes this logo attractive is the pink swirl to the right. Pink is supposed to be a nurturing color and this makes sense because usually when people, especially girls, are upset they want to stuff their face with ice cream products and therefore the pink is saying "come here, I'll make you feel better."

Nike - JUST DO IT



http://www.nike.com/

 I went to the gym for the first time today since winter break and I realized I need new running shoes. As I was thinking about it, I realized that the only brand that I would consider buying is Nike. And then I started thinking as to why I would not buy Adidas, Reebok, or Puma and I realized that I have become a victim of Nike's advertisements.

JUST DO IT. That's Nike's motto and it’s very powerful. In class we learned about ethos and I think Nike does a fantastic job of portraying ethos in its advertisements. The three words in the motto speak so much. JUST DO IT. No other option, just Nike. That's how I feel about their products. Nike’s motto and even its checkmark logo gives the company confidence and therefore makes them trustworthy and forceful to an audience. I think that by making it seem as if they are “the best” gives them the effect of expertise over all other sporting goods companies. Their motto is simple; no need to use more words than three strong ones; giving the audience sureness of the quality of their products. In addition, the check symbol to me portrays confidence as well. Check, done, finished, complete. It speaks “your research on any other product is done because you have just found Nike.”

Lastly, I believe that Nike appeals to all age groups. Their motto is universal to everyone and everyone can benefit from their products. Their message to JUST DO IT is aimed to motivate every single person to get outside and exercise (and buy their product).

Nike has a great influence over me and I believe they have one of the best advertising techniques over any other company because no other company is as confidant and forceful in the selling and promoting of their products.

So my question is, do you usually JUST DO IT (and buy Nike products) because they seem to be the best? Or how/why have you refused to follow Nike’s persuasive advertisements?

A Million Dollars Isn't Cool

*To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.  TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. * (http://www.twloha.com/vision/)

This video was made to persuade the public to vote for the charity "To Write Love on Her Arms" for the Giving Awards where 5 charities compete for 1 million dollars. The strategies used here to do such were fascinating to me and very, very unique.

First, they used a famous Hollywood star, Justin Timberlake, in their commercial which is a normal advertising technique. But instead of having him endorse their message, they portrayed him being ignorant to the charity and what it stood for. I suppose that this was aimed for the public to feel bad that they, too, are as guilty of being ignorant to these charities. If famous Justin Timberlake can be ignorant, so can the rest of society. In a way, they used a reverse technique to persuade; they admitted that many people do not help non-profit organizations and showed them how rude and immoral it is (through Timberlake) so they can now vote for TWLOHA in the future.

In addition, the comedy of the commercial helped make it memorable. Timberlake says "A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool? A billion dollars." His poking fun at the sum of money makes the people watching the commercial remember that a MILLION dollars is up for grabs for the charity and one can infer how useful it can be. Lastly, the commonplace quote at the end “can’t you just tweet about it?”  was asked to Timberlake as a possible technique to get the public to tweet about it. Since Timberlake was not cooperating with TWLOHA and the public saw how disheartening it was, they do not want to be like him and will post on their Twitters about this.

In conclusion, I loved how this commerical used a uncommon method to get their message across and I thought it was very effective.

I Believe in Coffee and Conversations