I've been paying attention to commercials since we got the ad assignment in class Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised last night at my PHREE meeting (yeah, that's basically all I do, hence citing it again) when we started talking about advertising.This ad is where the conversation led:
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This ad is legitimately one of the most crude, offensive and disgusting things I have ever seen. I cannot believe that a commercial like this was made. If the target audience to it is fifteen-year-old boys, then the producers really hit the nail on the head. But if this ad is honestly able to run on American television, it really shows how far we have sunk.
I understand that the intention of the ad was to be funny, but I can't see any humor in it. I actually watched this with my jaw dropped (and that was with a warning of what I was going to see!). If you think about it in terms of a rhetorical situation, it is nothing but a joke.
Chronos - I don't even want to think about the history of ball cleaning.
Kairos - has getting balls clean ever had a time in the spotlight? I sure hope not.
The ideology? Every guy wants clean balls?
The commonplaces? Balls are hard to get squeaky clean? Balls can look different?
Target Audience - Clearly males. Probably pubescent males.
I found this commercial so appalling, degrading and offensive that I thought it needed to be shared with all of you.
Bahahahahaha I love that commercial just because it's so dumb, but I can relate to the jaw-dropping experience of seeing it for the first time. When I saw it, it was on youtube listed as one of those commercials they won't play in the US, and then I was even more stunned to see it on my TV a few months later. Gotta love advertising.
ReplyDeleteI've actually never seen this commercial, but it "appears" to be as jaw-dropping as you are describing it. This obviously is not the only commercial that uses these types of tactics to catch our eyes, which like you stated, shows how far we really have sunk as Americans. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that I have never seen that commercial but it is kind of funny. In a sense it is jaw dropping but it is funny too. I can see where you would get the jaw dropping experience if you saw it without the video but because it has the video it does not hit me as that jaw dropping. It is a funny commercial ever though it is dumb. The world of advertising right there for ya.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. It really is one of the dumbest commercials I've seen in a while. But it really does reach it's target audience which is the men (or boys) that are immature and would think that that is really funny. Many boys aren't the most mature in the world, and Axe knows their product sells becaus of this.
ReplyDeleteI'm making a conscious choice NOT to watch this advertisement, but it's really good to analyze the "who" (or the rhetor) behind this message. Axe is known for its crudeness, its emphasis on sex and womanizing. Clearly, it seems to be playing into all of this with another crass message. It would be interesting to know if young male audiences (who we perceive to be the target audience) respond to this type of rhetoric, or if many of them are just as dismissive of it.
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