Research Blog: Commercial Conventions

I decided to do a banana commercial advertising the fruit and its exciting qualities. Banana commercials can contain a range of scenery and propaganda, from the adventurous exotic jungle to everyday folks simply enjoying the fruit.

Common Conventions.

1.        A common convention in a banana commercial would be, consumer reassurance of the freshness and health of the fruit. Marketers would include things like “grown freshly” or “no use of pesticides” to allude to the audiences, as no one wants their fruit to be contaminated with chemicals.

2.        Banana commercials majorly advocate the health benefits of banana while also denouncing unhealthy snacks, presenting bananas as an equal and healthier alternative. Whether the commercial is alluding to the banana’s energy benefits or endless nutrients, marketers will always include the fact that a banana is delicious and healthier than multiple other food competitors.

3.       Banana commercials can be seen with a target audience of either adults or young children. While with children some commercials will have cute cartoons and a catchy jingle, adult targeted commercials use pathos and emotionally appeals to a parents love for their child. The commercial could include children happily eating a banana of a specific brand in commercials, usually accompanied by a slogan like “…. the best choice for your child”. This is also a form of Plain Folks propaganda; by presenting an everyday child and their parents others can relate and familiarize themselves with the commercial. The Chiquita banana brand, one of the biggest banana companies in the world along with Fyffes of Ireland, has used both methods when targeting audiences.

 Others: High Key Lighting- to show joy and associate that feeling with bananas

              Diegetic Sound- Singing of characters/ Catchy Jingles/ Dialogue

             Non diegetic- Jingles could also be Non diegetic (playing while an action is going on in the                     commercial)/ mood music

 

 Common Associations with Bananas

-          Monkeys are typically something that could be seen in a banana commercial. Monkeys are usually highly associated with bananas in cartoons or Tv shows. The connection is even somewhat exaggerated seeing as how monkeys don’t typically encounter bananas in their everyday life. However, the tv shows, commercials, cartoons, and books have installed the myth within multiple people, so when you think banana, monkey may also pop up in your mind. Many advertisers have played to this myth.

Example: Curious George

-          Unlike many other fruit commercials banana advertisements can sometimes lack a sense of serenity. There aren’t many displays of a nice sunset or blue sky and clouds in the background with fruit sitting on a picnic table. As bananas are considered more of a goofy fruit, marketers tend to go that route when making commercials.

-          Bananas are considered one of the funniest fruits due to its elongated nature. In many of the goofy commercials advertising bananas, the commercial focus isn’t on the fruit but things that resemble the fruit like a banana phone, claws, boomerang, and even a gun; the skin can even be seen as clothes. These commercials provide a comedic relief to the audience with the funny characteristics of a banana. I’ve seen this common use of conventions in the Japanese Dole banana commercial.