Peyton Manning MasterCard Commercial

When a company hires a spokesman to promote its product, the ultimate goal is to sell the maximum amount of that product. Companies go to great lengths in order to position their spokesman in ways that effectively advertise their products. The commercial above is a MasterCard commercial featuring Peyton Manning, the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning is one of the best and most famous athletes in the United States. He has been one of the faces of the NFL since he was drafted 1^st overall in the 1998 NFL draft. Thus, given his premier status in the U.S. sporting landscape, it makes sense that MasterCard decided to pay Peyton Manning to advertise their credit cards.

This commercial is part of a larger MasterCard advertising campaign, featuring the phrase: “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s MasterCard.” The overall idea of this campaign is to illustrate that while certain once-in-a-lifetime events cannot be bought for any price, anything with a price tag can be bought using MasterCard. The Peyton Manning commercial gives prices for a grill, a sandwich, and a tank of gas, but claims that having fans is a priceless commodity.

The most interesting part of Peyton Manning’s function in this commercial is the role reversal with his fans. Typically, Manning is adored and cheered by fans. He is revered as a hero in Indianapolis, and countless kids dream of becoming Peyton Manning when they grow up. In this commercial, however, Peyton Manning is rooting on people who are doing ordinary things such as making a sandwich or filling up a tank of gas. Normally, these people would be rooting for Manning on the football field. In this commercial, Manning is pretending to be a passionate follower of his fans.

The role reversal that Manning employs makes this commercial very memorable. For many commercials, I forget the product being advertised right after seeing it because there is nothing notable about the action in the commercial. In this commercial, however, Manning’s role reversal with his fans has seared the MasterCard image into my mind. I will never see this commercial and not remember that the product being advertised is MasterCard. Therefore, this commercial seems to be very successful in its goal of promoting the MasterCard brand, due in large part to Peyton Manning’s role reversal with his fans.

Nike's "Write the Future"

Nike’s “Write the Future” was a commercial played before the 2010 World Cup. This wasn’t your typical 30 second commercial. The full commercial took three minutes and followed a number of the world’s greatest soccer players. Some main points of the commercial are the lack of any dialogue, the slow motion effects, the various stars (including non-soccer players) and the “storyline” of the various stars.

What the commercial lacks in standard dialogue, it makes up for with its use of crowd cheers and other sound effects. The first sequence consists of Drogba, a star on the Ivory Coast national team, dribbling the ball. You hear the roar of the crowd, cut by the silence whenever Drogba makes a move, the excitement of the announcer, and when the ball appears to be going in, the sound of parades and jubilance of the Ivory Coast citizens (Drogba writing the future for himself, scoring the winning goal and brining the World Cup trophy to his nation). However, right before the ball crosses the line, Italian star Cannavaro comes in and clears the ball off the line. We see the effect this has when Cannavaro has a whole song written about him and hundreds of women cheering for him (not too farfetched for a European soccer star).

The next sequence is probably my favorite in the commercial. England star Wayne Rooney tries a long pass which becomes intercepted by French player Ribery. In the aftermath of his bad pass, the stock market crashes, people hate him, there’s a small cameo by 3 American players who seem to be pleased with the result and worst of all, Ribery gets a giant billboard ad. Seeing what could happen, Rooney sprints back to save the play, and now rewrites the future. He is knighted by the Queen, 3 Spanish players bemoan his new success, the stock market shoots up, everyone is naming their kids Wayne and best of all, he easily beats tennis superstar Roger Federer in ping pong. (This is an interesting use of brining in another Nike sponsor, Roger Federer, and having him take part in the commercial)

Following this scene, we have Ronaldinho showing off some of his Brazilian flare with a few step overs of the ball. This signature move becomes an instant hit and is copied my hundreds and then posted to youtube. Even NBA star Kobe Bryant after hitting a last second shot celebrates by doing the dance. (Again, another Nike sponsor brought in to help). The ad ends with Portugese Christiano Ronaldo lined up to take a free kick, with the possibility of a stadium being named after him and a giant replica statue of him to be raised.

All of these stars’ writing their future is based off of the World Cup. The amazing thing, as ridiculous as it seems, it’s honestly pretty accurate. Granted you’re not going to get knighted for winning the World cup (though there is a soccer manager who has been knighted), if Wayne Rooney actually did bring England its first World Cup since 1966, he would be treated like royalty. The commercial captures the passion that fans around the world have for the nation during the World Cup (which sadly the USA cannot emulate) and got millions of fans around the world excited for the greatest sporting event ever created.

ESPN's "Dancing Coaches"

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, more commonly referred to as March Madness, is unequivocally one of the most exciting events of the annual sporting calendar. The unpredictable and unrelenting nature of the tournament makes it a must-watch for sports fanatics. ESPN’s “Dancing Coaches” commercial operates by exploring the unparalleled excitement of March Madness through a unique lens. Instead of simply offering a montage of famous game winners (an all too common tactic), ESPN illustrates the pseudo-hysteria that defines college basketball by documenting the emotional investment and passion of college coaches.

The clips of coaches frantically calling plays or reacting to a call with which they vehemently disagree clarify what can be deemed a highlight. Unlike more traditional sporting commercials, “Dancing Coaches” manifests an unglamorous and often unrecognized side of sports. Instead of, for example, focusing on Michael Jordan’s great game winners or the Saints’ unlikely rise to prominence in the NFL, ESPN reveals the unruly and sometimes emotionally raw side of sports – one that may be ultimately as interesting to the viewer. In this way, highlights can be viewed not only as those things that are seen as crucial in determining the outcome of a sporting event, but also those occurrences that appear unusual or especially intriguing. In this case, ESPN intends to illustrate, with evidence, the energy and enthusiasm characteristic of not only March Madness, but also sports in general. So, ESPN references an unusual and under-documented aspect of sports to show how deeply rooted passion and excitement are within sports. This point is then reinforced by text that proclaims, “It’s not crazy, it’s sports.”

ESPN is attempting to positively shape our expectations of not only the upcoming NCAA tourney, but also the much larger realm of sports in general. It is useful to then think of “Dancing Coaches” as a paratext for both March Madness as well as general sports coverage (interest in both would inevitably benefit ESPN in some manner). In his book Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts, Jonathan Gray defines paratexts as information that shapes our expectations and faith, ultimately informing why and how we consume. This notion of paratexts can easily be applied in this context; ESPN wants people to expect excitement, expect emotion, and albeit clichéd expect the unexpected. These expectations inform decisions about the consumption of sports coverage, which in this case is the greater text.

“Dancing Coaches” is effective in using an unusual aspect of sports to convey some of its fundamental characteristics – uncertainty, passion, and excitement. The video clips serve as evidence to support this illustration. Justice’ “D.A.N.C.E.” provides an interesting soundtrack, one that functionally supports the commercials message by saying, “This might look like dancing, but it’s not. It’s sports.” This may seem unusual, but not within the context of sports where the unusual, the exciting, the uncertain are common. The delicate crafting of this message is what makes “Dancing Coaches” great.

NFL Playoffs - This Is What It's All About

This year, the NFL aired a host of playoff commercials. There are always a wide range of commercials aimed at convincing fans to watch NFL games, but in the playoffs it is even more vital to capture the casual football fan. This year, the NFL took a unique and interesting approach, using fan reaction videos of incredible moments to promote the NFL playoffs. One of the most widely used of these commercials is of the Super Bowl-sealing interception by Tracy Porter that led to the New Orleans Saints beating the Indianapolis Colts for their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history. The commercial can be seen here:

There will always be a core base of football fans that are going to watch every NFL playoff game. Additionally, there are the diehard local fans that will watch every game that their team is in until they are out of the playoffs. But what about the local fans whose teams didn't make the playoffs? Or the casual sports fan that likes watching a football game when it happens to be on, but won’t necessarily take the time to seek one out? These casual fans are the ones the NFL seeks out come playoff-time – the true moneymakers.

The New Orleans Saints reaction commercial is the prototypical example of how to capture the interest of these casual fans. It pulls at the emotions of the viewer, and focuses on the opportunity to witness an incredible moment in sports history. A fan never knows when one of these moments will happen, but the draw of the possibility of witnessing it live when it does is what can push these casual fans over the edge in getting them to watch every game in the playoffs. The tagline at the end of the video, reading “This is what it’s all about,” is further evidence that this was the intent behind this commercial campaign.

Another aspect of this commercial that helps make it so successful is the quality and point of view of the video footage itself. It is very clear that all of these video clips are low-quality, fan-made reaction videos. This allows the viewer to feel as though they are sitting right there with the fans in living rooms and bars across the country, which makes the entire commercial feel more personal. The people in the video are not actors, superstars, or athletes; they’re just ordinary people witnessing extraordinary events unfolding before their eyes. It is exactly this personal connection to the audience that makes these commercials so effective. Since the viewer feels an emotional connection with the fans in the commercial, the possibility of sharing in one of these moments is promoted even further, which is manifested by the audience watching more NFL Playoffs games.

An interesting note – the Saints commercial was so successful that the NFL actually made another, shorter version featuring a reaction to the catch that led to the Giants beating the Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl. These commercials are so much cheaper to make than big production commercials that I wouldn’t be surprised to see even more of them going into the future. Here’s the Giants commercial:

New Michael Jordan Commercial 2010

Michael Jordan, one of the greatest known athletes of our time, represents himself in order to sell his brand, Air Jordan. The commercial is a highlight reel of his sports career both in basketball and baseball. The instrumental music in the background is accompanied by his voiceover of his trials. His speech is in a serious tone in which he questions the viewer about how they think Michael Jordan rose to his success. He stresses points about how the highlights do not start on the free throw line which corresponds to his famous dunk from the free throw line rather how it all starts at practice. This commercial is similar to some of the new Nike commercials which do not discuss only the athletic ability of a star but their personal stories and trials such as his athletic failure when he took to baseball after his basketball career. By showing that he was not born with this gift but needed to work for all his fame and success in basketball, makes him seem more human. The human aspect of the star athlete makes the audience member feel more of a sense of attachment to the athlete and therefore more likely to purchase apparel from the company. In this commercial, Jordan makes me feel as if it is okay to strive for something and not achieve it. What is more important, according to the commercial, is to keep trying and working for what you want. It provides a sense of warmth and comfort to the viewer, which is exactly how I felt after seeing it.

This commercial takes a specific approach and tells a story of his rise to fame. The highlight reel shows all sorts of highlights from practicing in the gym, to college hoops, to the White Sox and finally his most influential success, his career with the Chicago Bulls. The commercial emphasizes through the visuals and the dialogue how there were steps to becoming who he is and how he reached that level. Through the discussion of his emotions, the viewer can again relate as every person who has ever played a competitive sport understands that there is a rush of emotions, whether they be positive or negative.

The highlight reel and passion that are shown in this commercial motivates the viewer to stop watching the television and begin their athletic career. It is clear from this superstar’s words that this kind of athleticism does not come easy but requires work and dedication. Since the brand being advertised is Air Jordan, the fact that Michael Jordan himself is speaking represents what he wants the company to stand for: fervor and commitment. Most audience members would not listen to the advice of a person who did not become so successful so the stardom effect is what drives this commercial and sale of the product. Furthermore, although we do not see Michael Jordan speaking during the commercial, his voiceover paired with the highlights makes him seem almost like an ominous God-like figure. This furthers the idea of the star being the driving point behind the brand.

Nike "Leave Nothing"

Most commercials these days have a specific purpose in mind: to sell a brand or product. However, there are several ways in which the advertising teams for these companies try to sell their label. In this specific case, Nike uses the progression of stardom to sell their product. The commercial shows clips from the lives of star football players, Ladainian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu, from birth to their literal physical meeting in the NFL. The use of these two stars not only captivates the audiences’ attention but also encourages them to buy Nike products. By being in this commercial, the stars are saying to the public that Nike is their choice of brand and that it should also be yours. After all, if Nike is good enough for these two athletes, who isn’t it good enough for? The use of the star automatically makes the brand more appealing as our culture has a fascination with stars. Lawrence Wenner’s concept of communicative dirt is applicable here because he states that through media there is a “cultural leak” and almost as a source of power (Wenner, 113). It is obvious here that the media is showing the cultural aspect of an obsession with stars and how they have the power to influence.

The commercial is special in the sense that there are no voices or dialogue but only the noise of the crowd, physical hits, and dramatic music. The music becomes increasingly more dramatic as the commercial progresses which keeps the viewer wanting more and culminates at the tackle where we see the Nike swoosh on Polamalu’s glove. The lack of dialogue forces the viewer to focus on the visual of the commercial which is the athletic ability of the two stars. The combination of intense music and no dialogue creates a serious tone which makes the viewer contemplate about how individually they can reach their goals, just like the athletes. The lack of dialogue and physical nature is the voice in this commercial. This commercial would not be successful if it were two arbitrary high school or college athletes. The use of stardom aided by the intense music is meant to bolster Nike’s product and establish a need for the audience to purchase their merchandise.

The idea behind the commercial is “Leave Nothing” which is meant to be read as leave nothing to fate. The fact that star athletes were used is meant to support the idea that the athlete does not leaving anything to fate rather works from day one to become what they want to be. This is portrayed throughout the commercial as they are practicing football and other sports from the start. Furthermore, the commercial illustrates only the athletic ability of the two and how they should be role models as opposed to drawing attention to their personal lives which many commercials do. The amalgamation of all these aspects creates an enticing commercial which makes the audience want to be a member of the Nike product. I am a perfect example because after seeing this commercial, I wanted to get off the couch and choose my own course of life. Although this was just a temporary feeling (as most peoples reactions to commercials are), the initial reaction was there and it was triggered by Nike.

Nike Courage Campaign

When I watch television, I mostly try to skip the commercials. I use my DVR to no end, and even when watching a live broadcast I time my bathroom breaks and trips to the kitchen so that I spend as little time as possible being tricked by corporate America into buying a product that I probably don’t need. I feel this way because the majority of commercials are unoriginal and boring, causing me to forget what the commercial was even selling almost immediately after it ends. It is rare that I find a commercial effective, memorable, and even inspiring like this one from the Nike Courage Campaign.

This unique, montage style commercial celebrates Nike’s 20 years in business and in doing so takes the Nike name to new heights. The ad features 31 athletes from all different sports including basketball, running, biking, tennis, soccer, and gymnastics. Nike moves beyond featuring just sports and shows images of all types of courageous acts including an infant taking its first steps and an astronaut preparing to go into space. These feats have no part in traditional sports commercials, making this campaign clearly different from what has come before it. The intention here is not to market a specific item or star, but to have the audience associate a feeling of empowerment and courage to overcome any obstacle with the brand Nike.

Nike advertisers do a few very effective techniques in this commercial. First, they get your attention. In the first shot, you see the quote “Everything you need is already inside.” The quote is not only directed at you, the viewer, but is not selling you anything, does not have a celebrity athlete saying it, and does not even tell you that this is a Nike commercial. It is simply stating that whatever goal you have, you have the tools to accomplish it, whether it is sports related or not. The unique montage aspect of this commercial allows Nike to include many images of a large variety of endeavors, both involving sports and not. The sports representations include everything from track and field to motocross showing famous athletes like Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Michael Johnson, Lebron James, Maria Sharapova, and many others. Pictures of a fetus in the womb, a young girl being ceremonially painted, and animals running through the wild also fly across your vision. The technique not only gets and keeps our attention, but shows us so many images that each person watching the commercial identifies with a sport, a particular athlete, or one of the other images. By including this diverse group of images, the target audience is fully accounted for. The ad is directed at you, and you identify with what you see.

This commercial is also successful because it creates a feeling of accomplishment by showing defeat and obstacles towards the middle portion of the montage. You see a female gymnast miss a vault landing, runners keeling over in pain, as well as Lance Armstrong lying in a hospital bed receiving cancer treatments. Scenes of recovery and triumph follow these images of disappointment and struggle. Lance Armstrong is shown biking in the Tour de France again, sprinters raise their arms in victory, Michael Jordan kisses the NBA Championship trophy, followed by the final shot of a man with two prosthetic legs sprinting on a track. This last shot is the most powerful and lasting image in the commercial. It exemplifies a person overcoming a trauma and thriving in doing what he loves despite what others may have thought possible. Here Nike can insert their memorable and most appropriate tagline “Just do it” to cement the ad’s message of courage the clearest.

Despite the amount of visual information contained in one minute, the music featured in this commercial is one of the most powerful features. The song is a section from “All These Things That I’ve Done” by the Killers where the electric guitar strums in a repetitive and dramatic way leading up to a repeat of the lyrics “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier.” While these words may be interpreted in many ways, in this context the lyrics appeal to the warrior in all of us. Although I may not be a soldier or a professional athlete, I have the soul and the courage to tackle the challenges that come my way. I as the audience simultaneously relate to the images passing over the screen and am empowered by the repeating lyrics I hear.

To be honest, I have the urge to get off my couch and run a few miles after I see this commercial. Nike has managed to make me associate their brand not with a celebrity spokesperson or catchy jingle, but with a feeling, a drive to get up and do something of value because they have inspired me to.