The document provides an analysis of an Irn Bru TV advertisement called "New Fella". It discusses the use of medium and close-up shots to show emotions. It also analyzes factors of persuasion used in the ad and common styles of Irn Bru advertising such as linear storytelling and realist narratives. The next sections summarize the student's own Irn Bru advertisement video, advergame, and comparisons between their work and official Irn Bru ads. Key points analyzed include shot composition, narrative, factors of persuasion, and difficulties encountered in the creative process.
2. Structures and techniques of TV advertising
Irn Bru’s ‘New Fella’ advert uses a lot of medium and close-up shots; they’re used,
especially for this advert, to show to emotions of characters. As the narrative for this advert
is that a dad is disappointed at the man his daughter brought home. An example of a
medium shot is when the daughter and ‘new fella’ characters walk into shot, this
introduces these characters to the audience as the daughter starts talking in her Scottish
accent, this makes the reveal of the boyfriend being British that more jarring as the the
accent sticks out due to it being alien in the context of the ad. An example of a close-up is
after the dog farts on the carpet and the camera cuts to the dad’s reaction, that being a
negative one; as a British bulldog just let one rip on his carpet. These shots were used not
only to show the emotion and disappointment of the dad but to cue the comedic beats of
the advert, the recurring one being him repeatedly drinking Irn Bru to maintain his
composure.
3. Factors of Persuasion
The advert uses reward power, due to it promising positive effects, relating to the dad’s
situation being fixed by Irn Bru, otherwise the situation would’ve been less bearable. This
will make audiences buy the product because it promises to get you through tough
situations.
Styles of advertising
Like all Irn Bru adverts, this ad follows a linear storytelling narrative, all the shots take
place in sequence, this is used as it’s an easy to understand form of storytelling for wider
audiences; this is important because Irn Bru want to appeal to as many consumers as
possible. The advert is also a realist narrative, meaning the events taking place in the
advert could take place in reality, almost all Irn Bru adverts use a realist narrative. This is
used so that it is more relatable to consumers, as the advert’s reality mimics their own. In
terms of Line of Appeal the ad uses Comedy and Humour as well as Family, like pretty
much all Irn Bru adverts, they use comedy to sell their product; this works as the majority
of the population enjoy being entertained. Humour also makes the ad more memorable.
Family makes it more relatable, similar to the realist narrative.
4. My Video
Structures and techniques of TV advertising
For my video, I used a number of different camera angles, notably extreme close-ups
and medium shots. An example of an extreme close-up is when ‘Man 3’ enters the
shot and I show the reaction of the other characters, by focusing on their eyes with a
close-up. I did this to convey that the other characters are displeased with ‘Man 3’s’
entry, as they have ruined their Scottish vibe. I used a medium shot at the beginning
as an establishing shot to show ‘Man 1 and 2’ walking down the corridor. This shot
tells the audience a couple things, one it informs them of the location, and two, it
shows an amicable relationship between both participates.
5. Factors of Persuasion
In terms of Factors of Persuasion, my video follows reward power, that being that the
product promises a positive effect. It follows this because the video shows ‘Man 3’
disrupts his friends and Irn Bru fixes the situation. To the consumer, this will make them
buy the product because it promises social acceptance and general positivity.
Styles of advertising
The style of my video is linear, meaning the shots happen sequentially; the narrative
does not jump in time. This is the case for all Irn Bru adverts, as none of them jump
narrative. Another style is a realist narrative, meaning the advert is set in some reality,
and doesn’t indulge with fantasy elements; this again is the case for all Irn Bru adverts. In
terms of Line of Appeal, my video uses Comedy and Humour, as I made certain elements
comedically exaggerated, like when ‘Man 3’ first drinks the Irn Bru. I would say this video
is successful for making the audience buy the product, as I would say the video is
memorable and, from my experience, re-watchable as my friends group were repeatedly
watching it; which I guess could count as audience research.
6. Real Advergame
Structures and techniques of advergames
The real Irn Bru advergame is called ‘Toss the Girder’; the gameplay mechanics include
a burly Scotsman throwing a girder across an unnatural distance. Girder tossing isn’t
an actual national sport for Scotland, or even a sport in general; the closes thing being
Caber tossing. To throw the girder you click and pull down on the mouse to get the
Scotsman into position, a power level builds and you have to click it in time to get a
higher score to maximise the distance you throw it. The main obstacle you face in the
game is trying to keep the girder in the air for as long as possible, to keep it there you
either drag it back up with the mouse or try to get it to land on a gust of wind. These
obstacles were implemented to develop a gameplay mechanic, thus keeping the game
going; and making it a game.
7. Factors of Persuasion
In terms of Factors of Persuasion, it likely conforms more to star power – the product is
associated with a celebrity figure, as the main motivation for playing this game is
because it is licensed by Irn Bru. The only thing of which tying it to Irn Bru is the name
and the inclusion of Irn Bru cans as collectibles. This Factor of Persuasion helps
consumers play the game because Irn Bru is a relatively recognisable brand, with it
being the unofficial national drink of Scotland.
Styles of advertising
This could technically fit into the Line of Appeal of comedy and humour, due to the
sarcastic backtalk you get from the game when you don’t throw the girder very far; like
‘Even your mum’s embarrassed.’ This is important because Irn Bru is a brand that’s
especially connoted with humour, it being an expected advertising style due to the
number of humorous Irn Bru adverts.
8. My Advergame
Structures and techniques of advergames
I created my advergame to be an 8-bit RPG type game, similar to Pokémon, in the way
that it is free roam able. The locations/images are an ‘urban’ location, an interior level,
an interior house and a city backdrop.
9. My characters include the playable character, the idle Scotsman and the ‘Head’ who floats
around the interior level. I made all three by painting them on Photoshop, using the
pencil tool set to one pixel. I made them big to begin with but had to scale them down, in
turn losing some detail but maintaining the aesthetic. I then copied and pasted them onto
whatever level I needed them for.
The obstacles in the game are the ‘Head’ and some ladders in the interior house level. I
designed the ‘Head’ to be somewhat menacing with his open mouth, which is used to
swallow the main character. You beat the ‘Head’ by collecting the key in the level and you
climb the ladders to get past them. Some of the collectibles are a coin, which unlocks
another collectible, the key and there’s the dollar sign, which beats the game. I used these
because they’re common video game collectibles, the coin is used in Super Mario and the
key is used in the Legend of Zelda, both of which are 8-bit RPG’s
10. Factors of Persuasion
In terms of Factors of Persuasion, it more so conforms to star power as the main
reason for people to play my game is because it is linked to Irn Bru, it being linked in
the game through the inclusion of Irn Bru iconography, like signs and cans. This is
important for people playing the game as Irn Bru is a moderately popular brand, brand
tie-in games are also a very common thing, so it’s got an already established genre to
stand on.
Styles of advertising
This could technically fit into the Line of Appeal of comedy and humour, due to the
loud and humorous dialogue of the playable character. This fits into Irn Bru’s
advertising style as Irn Bru is a brand you think of in the context of comedic
advertising.
11. Video Comparison
A technical similarity between my Irn Bru advert and Irn Bru’s own is that we both
used close-up and medium shots primarily, both being a common shot composition,
so it’s not a surprise. We also both use reward power as a Factor of Persuasion, with,
in the adverts narrative, Irn Bru being the easy fix to a problem. The problem being a
dad being upset with his daughter’s new boyfriend in Irn Bru’s and a beef between
friends and their Scottish vibe in mine. A difference between both ads is the narrative,
meaning the ‘story’ of each ad is different to each other.
I would say a specific difficulty of making my advert was the actual filming of it, due to
the fact that we were not working with actual actors because we couldn’t get actual
actors, so my group had to act in it. This was difficult because we kept fumbling our
lines and kept fighting our insecurities about our acting not being good, which it
wasn’t. Another difficulty when filming was due to our location as towards the end we
had to manage filming around people wanting to use the kiosk to buy food, which
meant having to film around them. This was a difficulty because it halted filming for a
bit.
12. I feel like a strength of my advert is that it keeps the Irn Bru as the main focus, as nearly
every action made by the characters is driven by Irn Bru, like ‘Man 1’ buying a can; and
‘Man 1 and 2’ walking to buy the drink. This is important because the point of the ad is
supposed to sell Irn Bru.
If could change my advert in any way, I would change it so that there are more punch
lines and jokes, as the landscape is pretty bare when it comes to easily identifiable jokes.
This is especially important as Irn Bru is very well known for their comedic style and
adverts.
13. Advergame Comparison
The main difference between both games is the style of gameplay; the official game is
a kind of simple mechanic flash game, whilst mine is a multi level RPG type game.
There are a couple similarities, other than the inclusion of Irn Bru, one being that we
both use Irn Bru cans as a collectibles; this is how we both include Irn Bru in the game
without changing the core mechanics. Oddly, my game is arguably more complex than
the professional one due to the semi-free roam able aspect of my game; compared to
the one mechanic of ‘Toss the Girder’, that being the tossing of said girder.
A specific difficulty of making my game was building the five backgrounds, as I had to
paint them per pixel, which wasn’t as slow as it sounds but still took a bit of time. This
was a difficulty due to my plan of making a multi-level game. If I could change an
aspect of my game it would be that I could perhaps redesign the first couple of levels
to look more aesthetic and pretty, as I wasn’t sure what visual style I was going for at
that point; however I still like the way my game came out as I’d never made anything
like it.
14. I would say a strength of it would be how some of the exterior backgrounds look
like, as I feel they have a visual style and are very nice to look at. This is important to
me; as the official game does not have a very interesting visual style or background
selection, mainly just grass with 2D renditions of Scottish landmarks, like Loch Ness
and an Irn Bru factory.