My evaluation of my Irn-Bru advertising production college work.

1. Evaluation

2. Structures and Techniques
I structured my adverts with a linear, surrealist narrative.
I did this by going through the story start to finish from the moment he is sat lifting weights, to
the moment he walks out of the room at the end. This is also surrealist as it shows that though
drinking a soft drink it can change your entire physical abilities and clothing, which could not
happen in reality.

3. Many adverts use this approach in their presentation as it makes the viewer understand what
is happening easily, as they just follow the story straight through without confusing flashbacks.
This also keeps the viewer enthralled with the mystics of the surrealism, within this advert it
being him changing.
This approach of changing someone’s ability by them sipping a drink is the same idea as that of
many Red Bull adverts. These include their slogan “Red Bull gives you wings” and presents
some cartoon character struggling to achieve something, leading to taking a drink and growing
wings out of their back to achieve it and fly away.
This is the same theme as we went for
with our advert as it starts by showing
someone struggling to lift weights and
after they take a sip, they are able to lift
them and then walks away from the area.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/
article-2788998/over-4-6-million-
claimants-red-bull-s-website-24-
hours-hoping-gain-10-red-bull-
doesn-t-wings-crashed-website-
getting-just-3.html

4. My advergame is presented slightly different to my TV ad as
it presents that someone lifting weights and then when they
fill up a meter of Irn-Bru they find it easier to lift them as
each press lifts it one stage instead of every 2 clicks.
This is also presented with a chance to lose the game by not
lifting enough, leading to a lift closing, as it shows at the end
of my TV advert.
This gives it a very linear structure, that it also quite surreal.
Where as my print advert is not quite
presenting a story, and is presented much
more after he has drunk the Irn-Bru. This
gives it quite a surreal feel as there are big
bottles almost floating in the first, although
it also is made to look like they are resting
on the treadmill. The second is much more
realist as it has him standing and the
bottles just there, with the tagline.

5. These 2 adverts also use the approach of a linear narrative as the adverts start at the beginning of
their story, using the struggle to start and developing through time into the sip and then the
achieving and finally the walking away.
Struggle Sip Achieve Leave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l92x0GBTbE

6. All adverts use slightly different structures as it gives a different feel to the advert.
These different feels that could be achieved with each different structure shows a different
approach to their own product and in turn, to their target audience and how effective it
would be.
For example, when advertising perfumes, you would be more likely to see a linear, non-
realist narrative. This is often shown in Old Spice adverts where it is a man flicking between
realities. This creates a often confusing, but intriguing advert that shows a scent as well as
they can without actually being able to have you smell it.
This compared to the non-linear, non-realist approach of some
other adverts like Tango. This creates a much different feel, with
the flashbacks and rewinds that they use. This being much more
energetic as well as using the rewinds and replays to show that
off and add more excitement to the advert. Which is completely
opposite of the calm that the Old Spice one had.

7. Factors of Persuasion
My adverts have appeal by promising to solve the problems that people have, of not being
strong enough to loft lots of weights or getting the girl that they may like.
This is a common theme for appealing to possible customers as many people like the idea of
being able to achieve that aspect and have that problem solved in their life. Even if they know
deep-down that one product will not do that, they can’t help but be persuaded subconsciously
that it may help a little, leading them to pay out for the product themselves in the hopes it may
be true.
This advert also slightly hits the aspect of playing on people’s insecurities as many people will
feel insecure about not being able to achieve that thing of lifting or getting the girl. This will also
help to appeal to viewers who want to be more confident in their abilities to do these things.
This gives it reward power as it shows a benefit to the product that the customers will need to
accept and believe as it is presented so that they may possibly get the benefits that it shows.

8. My advert uses these insecurities and problems
that it is promising to solve over different parts
of the advert. One insecurity that it is pressing
on is that they may be weak and unable to lift,
which as soon as they take a sip of the drink, is
solved. Another is that they may have people
laughing at them and judging their efforts, which
again, get solved after they present the drink as
it has them suddenly not caring about before
and coming over to him happily. This shows that
it is pressing on common insecurities within
people and promising a reward for after, once
they have used the product advertised.

9. My advergame and print adverts both use very little
factors of persuasion. They are both presented with it as
fact that the drink will make the characters stronger, so
this does give them reward power. This shows them able
to give the customer the reward of strength that they
may otherwise not get. This is from the idea in the
advergame that by filling up the Irn-Bru reward bar, the
player gets to use a lot less energy to lift the weight. It is
also presented in the prints that by having the drink it
has made the character much stronger and powerful as
the first one suggests almost a god like stance.

10. This appeal also shows up in many other adverts as it is a very common thing that people can relate
to and help advertisers appeal to the widest audience possible.
These adverts will often imply that the best or only way to achieve
something is with their product. For example, the Starbucks advert
says that it’s “The best coffee for the best you”, implying that it is
the only way to get the best out of you so that you do not go to
other coffee shops on the market because they will not be as good
as they are. This shows that by buying their product it will give a
reward to the consumer and give them the “best” they can not get
elsewhere.
Another example is Asda adverts, that state that they are by far
the cheaper supermarket out of the main ones available. This
solves the problem of people needing to save money in their
lives, this is because many people want the cheapest weekly
shop for groceries, and if they are told that most things are
that much cheaper in one than the other the are more likely to
go there. This is also giving the reward of more money saved
by shopping there than anywhere else, which a customer will
happily want to believe.
http://www.brandview.com/2013/01/see-who-
stocks-the-cheapest-products/
http://ryancookeunit31.blogspot.co.uk/2013/
03/starbucks-adverts-analysis.html

11. These adverts also hit on people’s insecurities in order to try make
people buy their products. This is shown in the Wrigley’s Extra
chewing gum adverts that show food going around with the
character to show that your breath smells of all the food and drink
you’v had throughout the day. This is often a big insecurity that
people have so this is effective as it hits what the majority of people
worry about and promise to solve their problem, they just need to
buy their product a lot. Giving the reward of eradicating these
smells is an effective way that the advertisers have tried to frame
this.
Another way that some adverts do this is by stating things
like how well the product worked on one person – often a
paid actor reading a script – this shows people that the
product must work and that it will work for them as well.
This is used quite a lot in skincare products like this one for
Freederm, as many people are very self conscious about
their spots or oily skin, and are promised that this one
thing will solve all of that – as a reward for spending your
money on their product over another rival company’s.
http://www.freederm.co.uk/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/405746247651035720/

12. All adverts use slightly different factors of persuasion as they wish to all present different ideas and
cause customers to buy them for different reasons.
For example, toothpaste companies – like Colgate – often use expert power to present their products
as they know that people are more likely to buy something medical when they have the approval of a
trained professional in that industry – like a dentist – to tell them in simple terms, or sometimes even
not, the benefits of that product. This would not work so much if they used star or referent power as
people may not trust a celebrity so much and people’s values are always so different than each other’s
that it would not make sense to target such a small selection of values in each advert.
In comparison to this, there are adverts that work much better
without using experts as there are less, or people don’t really see
them as important.
For example, Snapchat use reward power in their adverts more, as it
shows the feature that they want people to know about, and their
app and don’t have any experts or complex language. This shows that
they are focused more towards their target audience of teen to
young adult who may not understand or want that much, and would
much rather just be shown the basics and left to figure out how or
why. It is also a much less complex concept so there is less
requirement to try to help people understand as they will naturally
themselves.

13. Lines of Appeal
There are many different lines of appeal that an advert may use to reference a potential customer’s desires or fears
but each advert will not cover them all. My advert covers the aspirational, beautiful women, and self importance,
maybe covering a little bit of humour as well.
These are covered as each one will possibly appeal to a different person who views it, and so will make the product
look more desirable to the individual. This looks desirable as the person who views it may be extremely interested in
getting to that point or trying to be that person so they may feel that they would relate to, or desire to be the person
shown in the advert.

14. My advert, as stated, used beautiful women in it as it
presents 2 females who are both physically fit and able,
to be seen as love interests. This presents them as that
they must be very beautiful so that maybe others will
admire them and how they act within that environment.
There is also the self importance
presented in my advert, as it shows
a man being happy after being able
to achieve something – namely
lifting heavier weights and having
females interested in them.
Within my advert, there is the slight humour aspect that is
presented, as when the sip is taken the screen flashes white
with a sound effect over it. This is used to represent magical
transformations and the far-fetched ideas presented at the
time. This also pulls into the humour aspect as it is designed
that people may find it funny or outlandish.

15. Within my advergame and print adverts, there are no
beautiful women as there were in my TV advert, there
is aspirational aspects and pride used to make these
effective. I have used these to make it tie in with my TV
advert without it being the exact same thing. I felt that
it seemed to fit more to not distract the audience with
more women that takes away from the main focus of
the adverts. These are to try advertise that the drink
would be rewarding the drinker with the energy and
power to be able to be stronger, where as women are
not as much of an important part of the branding that I
was trying to produce.

16. Some fitness adverts, like this one for 1 Fitness Training Centre,
use the image of a male figure that has obviously worked out
for years to get a muscular body. This shows the aspirations of
many, and also the self-importance of being that fit and
healthy, as it states “get ripped no excuses” showing that it may
just be for their own personal importance, as there is no real
reason presented that they should do what the advert is saying.
https://graphicriver.net/item/fitness-first-
design-series-bundle/7722164
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/
01/fitbit_lawsuit_class_action_su.html
This advert for Fitbit shows the beautiful women line of appeal as it
shows a female who is clearly fit and healthy and subjectively (as
everything is) beautiful. This shows the men that there are many
women who are clearly fit who use the product and makes women
admire them and want to be like her. This one also hits upon the
nature line, as there are clearly some trees and greenery in the
background which, to some people will appeal more than being sat in
a stuffy gym while working out. Showing they can use the product
anywhere they wish.

17. This advert uses the humour line of appeal as the main part, as it
uses a controversial statement to make a point on how they feel it
is important to work out. This one does also touch on the point of
elite people and aspiration. They do this by showing part of a man
that is shown to be strong and what people would look to trying to
be with the work out.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2118314/Reebok-
forced-pull-controversial-Cheat-On-Your-Girlfriend-Not-Your-
Workout-ad-campaign-public-backlash.html
http://www.advertolog.com/reebok/print-outdoor/stairs-
13575405/
This advert uses beautiful women to try to sell their product as
it makes the men that see it admire the woman, and the women
that see it want to be the woman/admire what it is that the
woman has to make the men admire her. This is seen as
effective as it then catches the attention of everyone and makes
them interested in the product at hand.

18. Different adverts use different lines of appeal for different reasons. This is so that they can fit in more
with their target audience and the product that they are presenting.
For example, Elvive, a hair shampoo and conditioning brand use celebrities such as Cheryl Cole to
present their products as they are someone that people look up to and would like to look like. Using
this as a celebrity, beautiful woman and often glamorous places, with shots of her in a big house,
perfectly filled and tidied, making this also aspirational. This is perfect for their audience as they
would like to appeal to the women who aspire to look like her, and live her luxurious lifestyle.
In comparison, there are some brands that work much
better using the natural world and humour to appeal to
their audience. An example of this is Evian water. They
had a string of adverts including babies roller-skating
around the outside. This used humour to make people
remember it as their slogan is “Evian, live young”. This
also gives us a beautiful shot of the natural world with all
the greenery around them, showing that it is a very
natural drink as it is supposed to be natural and pure. This
appeals to their audience more as it shows the nature
and something funny to get them more memorable than
other brands.

19. Style
There is a number of different styles that can be used in an advert to present the story or product so that it appeals
to different people or makes sense with the product. The style that I used for my adverts were slightly surreal as it
caused the viewer to try believe that it could happen in that way. Meaning that simply taking a sip of a drink does
not cause you to suddenly be able to get the girl of your dreams or achieve the weights that you were wanting to be
able to lift, when you struggle with smaller ones, so soon. These are both things that take plenty of time and effort
instead of a sudden transformation being able to take place.

20. The surreal nature of this advert is presented when the transformation takes
places mid way. This is because the way it has been presented shows that by
taking even such a small sip of the product transforms the character into having
the ability to do so much more physically. It also shows them as changing their
clothes in that short flash as for the remainder of the shots in the production he is
seen to be wearing a kilt. This is a traditional Scottish item of clothing that was
used to show the viewers of a stereotypical thing that the existing Irn-Bru adverts
show as a main part of their branding.

21. My advergame is presented as an
animation style. I feel that this
makes me able to present my idea
in a much more accurate way than
it would if it was using a real-life
actor. This works, I feel, as it allows
me to present the character as
doing the actions with more
realistic moves that if an actor was
going to do it, as it seems natural
for a cartoon. It also allows me to
have added extra parts that would
have been much too hard to do in
real life. For example, the bonus
power bar.
My print advert is in a talking
head style. This is used as I feel
that it is much more persuasive in
a print advert, as people walking
past are more likely to have it
catch their eye with a person
looking out at them. I feel that
people will relate to, and listen to
a poster more if it is talking
directly to them, as they used
with old war propaganda that
pointed out of the screen.

22. https://www.flickr.com/photos/sararichards/4679913434
This is another advert that has done a similar thing to what I
proposed. This uses a scaled up version of something they used
regularly to present their ideas – a rubber duck – and puts it
around something natural, like a famous river. This shows that it
is slight differences that make a big impact, and as surreal as it is,
shows that it could be very possible.
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/02/28/birds-eyes-polar-bear-
clarence-frozen-out-make-way-new-food-life-brand-positioning
This advert uses surrealism in the way that it has a character that
interacts with the actors, but it is a toy polar bear that pops up in
the freezer to get the family to eat the product that he is
advertising. This was effective as it presented a lovable character
that people would be interested in, and gave the something that
they could sell along with the main products – they can buy a
“Clarence” toy.

23. Different adverts like to use different styles, as through the style they can give a better idea of
their product or make it so that their preferred narrative, lines of appeal, and factors of
persuasion work more along with making it memorable.
For example, Ribena has animated adverts that are used to
make their drink memorable with it’s humorous approach. This
works for them as it gives them a chance to stand out from
their competition and with their stories, of the berries going to
get bottled to create the drink, it appeals to their target
audience more of people in their young 20s to early 30s. Along
with it creating the characters that people can get invested in
the lives of.
In comparison, the John Lewis adverts are not always able to
use that same theme as they are often a lot more serious and
try to appeal to the older market, while still tugging on people’s
heartstrings creating an emotional link with the audience. This
is what has made them such iconic things, as they use surreal
styles often, with making toys come to life, or having a monster
that lives under their bed that leaves them presents. These
show 2 very different approaches that would not work
interchangeably.

24. Improvements
Within my process of creating these adverts, it started by planning out an idea and storyboarding it. This
mainly went well, although I feel that within the group, it maybe could have been done a little better with
more details and paying much more attention to what is possible within our time frame and resources. I
feel this as while we were filming, we found that we may have been improvising some of the shots. This
could have been avoided if we had taken much more time and effort to plan out and perfect the order and
type of shots we were going to be using before starting the filming process.
This also relates to the planning we were doing individually for the advergame and print adverts. I feel that
when I had gotten to these stages I had not planned them nearly as much as I could have and should have.
This lead to some very rushed plans and a confusion as to how to link them all together easily. This, I feel, I
could have done much better as the main link that I used was simply that the character was in a gym and
after the drink, changed into a kilt with a little more strength.

25. I would also like to use a location that we have much more access to if I were to do it again. This is because the
location we used had very limited access as it was such a busy room that was used during lessons and breaks daily.
This meant that it was very hard for us to get in there and we only had 1 lesson period a week to get into the room to
film, with slim chance of being able to get into there again anytime, this lead to us getting everything done in one
lesson. To do this we could scout out locations before we decide on a certain one to use. This would take time but
reduce the amount of pressure on us during filming as we would be able to find a much more suitable spot than the
one we used.
Another improvement I feel would have been effective would be if we had taken our photographs at the same time
as we were filming. I feel like this would have lead to less continuity errors, and made the 2 adverts seem more
related and in sync. This is because our actor, in the time between the 2 shoots, had time to grow a beard, or shave
one. Along with how his hair could change, along with any other physical aspect of him seen on camera. Along with
that, we found that we did not have his costume at hand so that he could be wearing the same thing in everything
instead of how it ended up.

26. I feel another effective improvement would have been to have a little more usable footage to use and cut
down. This is because during filming there were quite a lot of outtakes produced. This could have been
avoided, I think, as we may have been able to be slightly more professional and not find the process as funny
as we did. I feel that maybe if we had not had quite so many bloopers produced, it could have allowed us to
have some better shots that we could have used instead of being stuck with limited options. Obviously, some
outtakes and mistakes are inevitable. I will not argue that it isn’t, I just feel that if we had slightly more options
of usable footage then we may have been able to edit it slightly differently and have a much wider variety of
possible outcomes.
Another aspect that could have been improved would be timing. This is because some aspects could have
been rushed a little due to the tight time limits that were in place to ensure that every part of the project was
complete on time. This did give me limited time to experiment with my footage and photos, so I could not
quite have the full chance to see every feature that was in the programs I used. I have been able to
experiment more than I had before starting this project, but there is still a lot that I am not sure how to do
which I feel that if I was to do it again, I would have a more clear view of some parts, and yet still need to
learn more.