Every year, American businesses spend over fifty billion dollars on advertisements and, through its often unrealistic yet tempting messages, influence and shape the American society’s thoughts and behaviors. In “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals”, Jib Fowles analyzes how advertisers evade consumer caution and logic and target the “unfulfilled urges and motives swirling in the bottom half of [the consumers’] minds” to lure and manipulate them into buying their products (73). Their ads use emotional, psychological, and physiological appeals in order to tap into the human psyche and influence consumer behaviors. These appeals fall into fifteen different categories that Fowles has extracted from psychologist Henry A. Murray’s list of human motives, some of which include the need to achieve, the need for prominence, and the need to escape. By appealing to the people’s underlying desires and motives, advertisements are more likely to attract attention, affect communication, and encourage consumption. Through the reputation of six-time Olympic gold medalist, Usain Bolt, the Nissan GTR ad targets young and highly competitive individuals by appealing to their need to achieve, need for prominence, and need to escape.
The Nissan GTR ad emotionally appeals to its audience by evoking the sense of achievement through the competitive nature of six-time Olympian, Usain Bolt. Bolt, dubbed as “the fastest man in the world”, is the first man ever to win six Olympic gold medals in the sprinting event. As a sports hero, his widely recognized achievement represents “a prominent American trait” that “advertisers like to hook on to because it identifies their product with winning and success” (Fowles 80). Through his successes as an Olympic sprinter, Bolt is considered both a champion and a worthy competitor. Even though he has already achieved a high level of success, the caption of the Nissan GTR ad asks “What if the world’s fastest man went even faster?” Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world, but he can be even faster with the Nissan GTR. The ad implies that, if you buy its product, you will have the ability to overcome anything and be victorious, alongside Bolt. You will not only achieve greatness, but you will also have the potential to achieve brilliance and exceed your limits. The Nissan GTR ad does not contain a lot of words, but with this short and sweet phrase, Nissan taps into the audience’s need to achieve and appeals to their inner strive for success. Like John E. Calfee says in his essay, “How Advertising Informs to Our Benefit”, ads are impressive in that they have an “astonishing ability to communicate a great deal of information in a few words” (95). He explains this is because “economy and vividness of expression almost always rely upon what is in the information environment” (95). The Nissan GTR speaks volumes to the American population because America is a fast-paced society that values independence and competition. The GTR will not only give you the practical benefit of transportation, but it will also give you a competitive edge to achieving your goals by allowing you to go “faster” than the average population.
Through his achievements, Usain Bolt has become a worldwide sensation and gained the reputation as the fastest man in the world, appealing to the consumers’ need for prominence. In the Nissan GTR ad, a caption reads “Usain Bolt, Nissan GT-R owner” next to a fierce-looking Bolt. By using Bolt as the face of its product, Nissan implies that if you purchase and drive the Nissan GTR, your reputation will gain the same fame and glory associated with Bolt, tempting and appealing to your “need to be admired and respected, to enjoy prestige and high social status” (Fowles 81). A well-known and successful Olympian drives the GTR so you, who are equally prestigious and admirable, should drive the GTR as well. In addition to the reputation of Bolt, Nissan also uses the placement of the ad’s subjects to elicit feelings of prominence. The image of the Nissan GTR juxtaposes that of Bolt and both subjects are positioned in the center of their respective frames. Each one of these images also superimposes onto a simplistic, one-tone backdrop, ridding the ad of any unnecessary background distraction. This places all of the attention onto the subjects and immediately directs the audience’s gaze towards the subjects. The placement of the subjects is symbolic of the spotlight that follows any celebrity, politician, historical figure, athlete, or any other famous person worthy of attention and, in return, emits the feelings of prestige and worthiness. Like Bolt, the owner of the Nissan GTR will be worthy of being admired and respected.
Usain Bolt, who we immediately associate with the word “speed”, appeals to the consumer’s need for escapism. Some of the tactics Nissan uses to deliver this sensation of freedom or escape are the usage of the color red and the intentionally chosen stance of the ad’s subjects. The Nissan GTR ad predominantly uses the color red to represent and sell its product. Usain Bolt, wearing a red tank, is immersed in an all-red background, and the Nissan GTR itself has a red paint coating as well. Red is a bright color typically associated with fiery heat or passion. It also represents boldness and competition. These words can all be used to describe both Usain Bolt and the Nissan GTR’s nature and speed. With their aggressive and competitive qualities, as well as speediness, the consumers can find the strength within them to “duck out of their social obligations to seek rest or adventure” (Fowles 82). The ad primarily appeals to men who like fast, masculine cars and are bold and competitive in nature. It suggests that the Nissan GTR will allow these individuals to take control of their desire for freedom and excitement, make a firm decision, and escape from any restraints or responsibilities that hold them back in their everyday life. The ad solidifies this message with the stance of the subjects. Bolt, wearing a fierce expression on his face as he meets the audience’s gaze head-on, is crouched down in a running stance. Similarly, the Nissan GTR faces forward, with its headlight glaring ahead, as if ready to take off. Both the stance of Bolt and the positioning of the car arouse the desire and need to escape by encouraging the audience to take action and flee. The small text next to the Nissan GTR reads, “0-100km/h in 2.8s”. The Nissan GTR is a car, which functions to transport people. With the Nissan GTR, you can drive off and escape from reality in a fleeting moment. In this moment, you are “invited to momentarily depart [your] everyday life for a more carefree experience, preferably with the product in hand” (Fowles 83). The Nissan GTR appeals to the young and competitive population by promising them an escape from everyday chores and responsibilities, in exchange for an exciting adventure. Advertisers promote the feelings of escapism because the sensation of pleasure often accompanies the opportunity to escape and seek a carefree experience.
The Nissan GTR ad tempts its young, bold, and adventure-seeking audience by targeting their needs for achievement, prominence, and escapism. It suggests that, like Usain Bolt, you can achieve anything you set your mind to and, with the Nissan GTR, you can surpass those limits. The Nissan GTR will also place you in the center of attention, worthy of respect and admiration, and upgrade you to a status comparable with that of Bolt, as suggested with the placement of the car. Finally, with the car’s bold red color and fast design, you will be granted with the ability to escape from everyday stresses and worries in exchange for the opportunity to relax and enjoy life. Ultimately, these various needs can be fulfilled with a simple purchase of the Nissan GTR.
Reflection:
I found the sentence focus exercise very interesting to do because it brought back memories from high school. In order to make myself sound “smarter” or make my writing sound more “fancy”, I tended to get wordy with my writing. After going through undergrad and taking a couple college English courses at Davis, though, I realize that I have changed my style of writing to one that is more direct and straightforward. That doesn’t mean I don’t ever use passive verbs or different forms of the verb “to be” anymore, but I do use them to a lesser extent now. Even though we were told to avoid using these verbs, it was kind of hard not to use it at all. It’s not that it’s impossible to do. It’s just that, sometimes, the meaning or impact of the sentence just doesn’t come across as strong or as good with more direct and specific verbs. That is just my opinion, though.
In regards to the out-of-class essay on advertising, I am glad that we were given all of those writing exercises and assignments even though there were quite a few and they kept me busy over the weeks. It ultimately made writing the essay, as a whole, a lot easier because I was able to think about it over a long period of time rather than think about it and crank it out last minute. It helped me a lot with time management and prioritization.
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