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The avengers series are very popular and they have gained a highly successful box-office around the world. In spite of the box office, the movies received a huge profit from the advertisements as well. In fact, the movies have long been criticized of the huge amount of product placements within the movies. For example, in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Audis are driven by Tony Stark and Thor, posters for Air Korea appear several times, Adidas and Hummel are worn by Quick Silver etc (Doty, "8 Product Placements We Spotted in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron") . Except the product placement strategies, some companies even make a parody of the Avengers or crossover their brands with Marvel in order to advertise their products creatively. In the followings, I would like to show you how I conducted textual analysis from the two selected avengers’ TV commercials.
1. Parody/ Satirical
Tai Hing Restaurant X My Hero
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z95nTeLOdZ0
The main character in the advertisement is Eric Kwok, who is a famous composer and musician in Hong Kong. After the Avenger movie was released, people immediately made fun of Kwok because he and Tony Stark, the Iron Man look alike so people named him as “Hong Kong Iron Man”. Therefore, Tai Hing invited Kwok to be the spokesperson of the brand and made a parody from this commercial.
This advertisement can be divided into three parts:
1. Kwok presses his ear plug, gets wears his suit and closes his briefcase.
2. Kwok gets into his car and drives to his destination.
3. Kwok meets with Captain Hero in Tai Hing Restaurant
In these three parts, it is not hard to see that some important objects with significant meaning appear. As Saussure states that, sign is the result from the associating of the signifier with the signified (Saussure 67); and we may look at such associations in the commercial.
In the first part, the whole movement of Kwok is very smooth and fast which only lasts for 5 seconds, and the suspense background music adds tension to the movement. Kwok’s ear plug, suit and watch act as signifiers that signify formality and Kwok is probably a businessman ready for work. However, it may not be that simple when we get a chance to peep into his briefcase. Within that 1 second, we can see something red with smooth surface, rather than paper and documents. Together with the suspense background music, they add tension to the environment and signifying that Kwok may not be a normal businessman.
In the second part, Kwok’s identity as the Super Hero has been revealed. The license plate of “My Hero” on his white car is being emphasized, shot at the front and back for a several times from long shot to medium close up shot. The word “My Hero” signifies Kwok’s significant identity and power status as a super hero. During his ride, the engine sound of the car is loud and apparently Kwok is driving his car in a fast speed, these signs add together to suggest that there is something important waiting for him.
The last part is the climax of the whole advertisement. The distinctive image of Captain leads the audience immediately think of Nick Fury from the Avenger movie and we would recognize the relationship between Captain Hero and Kwok. Through their conversation, we would know that the real spotlight of the commercial is Tai Hing Restaurant, milk tea and the other dishes.
2. Cross over Series
Gillette X Avengers
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH83XezZhY0&nohtml5=False
Gillette is a world-wide razor company which is established in 1901. During the time that Avengers: Age of Ultron was released in 2015, Gillette joked about partnering with the Stark Industries and designed four superhero- themed razors, namely the"Repulsor1" , the "XL Gamma" ,the "Ultra Strike"and the “Thunder” razors. Although these products are not for sale, Gillette and Marvel teamed up to promote the razors and the movie. (Rooney, "Gillette Teases Razors Based on "The Avengers"").
In the commercial, it showcases the looks and the utilities of these four razors, which are apparently tie with the characteristics of the Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Hulk. Such kind of showcase has mainly two significations: First, avengers and the avengers-inspired technology are very powerful; second, this technology is way too powerful that Gillette’s new product, the Fusion ProGlide is a better choice. When the narrator introduces the Fusion ProGlide, an extreme close up of a male face appear and he is using this new product to shave his beard. According to John Berger, publicity persuades us to transform to the people in the advertisement by telling us those people have been transformed, become enviable and constitute glamour. We are not good enough now and we need to do something to be like them in the future (Berger 131). In this advertisement, the male model is enjoying the new flexball technology. If the audiences want to enjoy the same experience like him, they should purchase the same product and transform to be someone who is enviable. The commercial then get back to the avengers and show some scenes of the newly released Avenger movie. This kind of transition produces the want of getting the razor and the want of watching the movie.
Conclusion
In these two commercials, we can see that these brands handle the cinematic language and signs well to attract potential customers and buyers to consume their products. Except noticing the ideology of consumerism, we should also pay attention to the gender issues hidden in these commercials. For example, most of these advertisements target on male audience and neglect the presence of female , in both commercials and target audience. Therefore, when we get in touch with advertisements, we should think critically regarding to the signs and messages.
References:
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing: Based On the BBC Television Series With John S Berger. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books, 1972.Print.
Doty, Meriah. "8 Product Placements We Spotted in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron".Yahoo Movies. 1 June 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
<https://www.yahoo.com/movies/avengers-age-of-ultron-product-placement-
118223017002.html>
Rooney, Ben. "Gillette Teases Razors Based on "The Avengers"". CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 10 Apr. 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
<http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/10/news/avengers-gillette-razors/>
Saussure, Ferdinand De, Charles Bally, Albert Sechehaye, and Wade Baskin. Course in General Linguistics: Ferdinand De Sassure. New York: McGraw-Hill Book, 1966. Print.
