Sunday, May 3, 2009

SMELL





Coors Light aired their famous “Twins” commercial after a Super Bowl in the early 2000’s. The reason was clear, as they tried to reach a football-fan audience with their words and images. The commercial begins with a heavy guitar note, and then a short song about football-related pastimes. The song starts soft, climaxes, and finishes with a cliche rock anthem feel. Coors Light advertisement tries to reach a high concentration in beer drinkers by speaking in a fun-time manner. The language is somewhat childish and simple, “I love playing two-hand touch/Eating way too much/Watching my team win/...And twins!” A pair of scantily-clad identical girls are shown from time to time, furthering the masculine theme of the advertisement. The message, like most beer commercials, seems to convey that people will have more fun when consuming Coors Light. Everyone is shown smiling, partying, and generally having a good time.

The Coors Light team also used strategic advertising to further a stereotypical activity, thereby tying their product to a widely performed pastime. By showing many guys participating in partying and drinking around football, Coors uses logos show viewers that it is normal. Therefore, the audience will unknowingly link Coors Light beer and football celebration. Coors also incorporates heightened intensity, and pathos, both through song and video. The images of the man overeating, the bodypaint, and especially the twins serve to invoke excitement within most men. The anthemic rock song also “pumps up” the audience, highlighting the general partytime theme within the clip. Coors utilization of ethos is the backbone behind their advertisement and, most importantly, their validity. By incorporating footage of young and middle-aged men, football, parties, and attractive women, Coors speaks to their audience on their own level. If Coors Light beer can make itself seem “hip,” people will buy it not because of the taste, but because of the image it conveys. Therefore, the product’s popularity can fuel itself, and cycle towards more sales.

When the “Twins” commercial emerged, it was considered one of the raciest advertisements on television. Although that would certainly not be true anymore, Coors garnered attention and turned heads in a crucial time. Now, Coors is one of the top three brewing companies in the United States, and top five in the world. Sometimes it takes more than a catchy jingle to set a company apart from the others, and Coors Light certainly knows how to release a well-rounded commercial into mainstream television.

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