2002-05-10 - 12:23 AM
Final Paper Of The Year
Oops! Pepsi Did It Again: The Britney Spears Campaign (I'm A Slave For Pepsi)
Initially, I had decided on having the television advertisements of the 1950s for Salem cigarettes be my subject for this paper; the subliminal messages alone within the ads would prove to provide for a cornucopia of things to talk about, as well as its normal advertising strategies for being a televised ad, since this was before the 1960s banning of cigarette advertisements on television. But then, something extraordinary happened. I would love to call it an epiphany, or rather, the very hand of God or fate or Father somebody, pulling back then shooting forth a strike of lightning, that pointed the way to my meant-to-be subject like a slim yet powerful beacon of light leading the way home, but it was probably just right timing and the right place, as with many things in life.
I was flipping through the channels earlier today, trying very hard to find something worthy of being watched. The ungodly fast cadence of my remote control clicking became more interesting than the images that were flashing at me from the box eight feet away. I began to doze off in a wide-eyed sleep, when all of a sudden, BAM! I passed something that seemed like the very thing for me to watch, so I tracked back a couple of channels, and there she was – Britney Spears (pop music princess of the now), performing a well-choreographed dance (choreographed by one Wade J. Robson, young renaissance man of our generation), singing a remix to a well-known commercial jingle, and flaunting the name of one of the largest markets out there, all in a multi-million dollar commercial epic (about a minute and a half long duration when uncut). What ingenious marketing mogul/company was this advertising, you ask? Who would have the gall to take my would-be wife and place her in a sparkling blue outfit and parade her around for their sake? Well, thank you for asking. This commercial spot was for none other than one of MY favorite soft drinks (I was paid a hundred bucks for that plug), Pepsi. Needless to say, after watching Miss Spears gyrate her curvaceous hips and dance her beautiful bottom off, I needed a drink. What would I want to reach for, you ask? That’s right, a Pepsi. Game, Set, Match. Pepsi had gotten that checkmate even before I had a chance to set up my pieces.
Now you can chalk off that Pepsi victory and owe it all to my raging hormones and sex-crazed girly radar, but choosing a spokesperson that appeals to the eyes of men, is not the only ingenious reason to have picked her. To the untrained or unsuspecting eye, that is what it might seem like, just an aim at every drooling fourteen (or in my case, eighteen) year old boy, but that is definitely not the case. In fact, what is made to just seem like another take-what’s-hot-and-make-it-ours campaign, is indeed a cleverly contrived scheme to win over the masses with everything from novice marketing strategies to sexual undertones in ads to blatant glamour. What we see as just another commercial (or advertising campaign), or another excuse to blow a few million dollars on something to show off the power and grandeur of a company, is actually a pretty definite polyvocal threat on our wallets and pockets (and minds), not to mention a career booster for Britney Spears. If the country folk in Somewhere, Iowa did not know the difference between her face and an ear of corn, they sure would after picking up anything Pepsi, because her image is stamped everywhere and on everything Pepsi.
But that is beside the point. The point is, this advertising campaign, along with many others, has the capability to blind us into believing in the illusions of the advertising (what is shown is not necessarily what is seen), the ability to present us one thing, while having us unknowingly interpret it as something else (what is said is not necessarily what has been heard) and hence, become another manipulated consumer (inevitably buying into the illusion of the campaign and buying the product). To understand this concept and process more clearly, it is necessary to dissect such an advertising campaign, bit by bit and piece by piece, and then present it to the world (but more importantly to yourself) without the hassles of the illusion or the manipulative strangles that were previously attached. It sounds like a daunting task, but really, it is quite simple to disassociate between the illusion and what should be the reality. Do not buy a drink because Britney Spears dances around singing about it, but buy it if you like the taste - simplicity at its best.
We shall first start off with the spokesperson herself, Miss Britney Spears – a wise choice. Not only is she perfect eye candy for the males, but a wonderful role model for the females – most strive to be like her. Not only does she appeal to the youngest of ages, but parents love her BECAUSE she appeals to their children. So there is this interesting dynamic with her because she seems to appeal to the masses as a general (I guess that is why she is the reigning “pop” goddess of the moment). She is also a performer/celebrity that sells her image just as much as any company out there, so it was fitting to choose her in order to make a new image for Pepsi (and also it would provide her an outlet to showcase her performing). Face it, she is not the most talented singer out there, and she needs to write her own songs, yet her performances are awesome and the image that comes along with her name is incredible. Her whole persona has this somewhat endearing charm that entices people into wanting to get to know her or just drowning into her image. I mean, how else would you explain her somewhat successful movie “Crossroads”? It was not her acting ability, I will tell you that much. So kudos to Pepsi for that choice, and also for having a well-known spokesperson, for we all know, the mindset behind having a well-known spokesperson is quite intelligent. We are told to believe that that person really believes and enjoys the product. Truth is, Britney might like Sprite better, but we do not believe that. We believe in the illusion that she does because she endorses it, and that plays on our minds and makes us think, “Hey, if she likes it, I’ll like it. And I trust her.” We, as an audience watching this commercial, have to believe in the illusion and are asked to, if not forced to. As Erving Goffman said, as an audience we “are asked to believe that the character [we] see actually possesses the attributes [s]he appears to possess.” In our case, we believe that Britney loves Pepsi - plain and simple. And that is the idea of the spokesperson.
So now that you have your winning spokesperson, it is time to make the epic commercial. Pepsi has made commercial after commercial, using their famous jingle and that melodic hum that has been hummed by many a hummers, or err, celebrities. So it is only right to have the pop queen do her own little rendition, thereby, keeping the tune fresh in our memories, so much that you can find yourself humming it in the grocery store aisle, passing the 2-liters of Pepsi, with your eggs in one hand and your milk in the other. In having Britney re-do the song, Pepsi has kept the tune in our heads, and perhaps whenever we hear a Britney song or merely hear her voice, we might think of the Pepsi song, and therefore, Pepsi, and vice versa of course. I do not hear a regular song anymore. I hear a theme song for my next run to the grocery store. I hear the cha-ching of the cash registers – brought to you by the wonderful people at Pepsi. Thanks, guys.
The commercial features Britney doing what she does best, which is perform. A well-choreographed dance adds to the whole spectacle, which dissuades you from turning your eyes away, like the public spectacle of the scaffold or a bullfight, that car accident you cannot bare to look at, but somehow you do. The commercial flaunts the big dollar, keeping your attention at the glamour and the brazen attractiveness of it all, making it known that the company is a big deal name brand sort of establishment, something you should buy instead of the lesser soft drinks (their worthless competitors). By now, you have probably forgotten that Pepsi has a taste, or even is a drink at all. Your focus has now been placed on the commercial and most of all, the name and its image (or like me, totally on Britney’s fabulous boo…I mean, boots).
Well, now you have the surface veneer of a flashy commercial, but that will not do as well as, let us say, adding some subtle hints of sexuality and sex, because you just know how much that sells. So might as well sell some sex too, right? Put aside the obvious sex symbol Spears dancing around in a skimpy, body-hugging ensemble in this particular commercial (oozing sexuality right there), there are other little hints of sexual messages. In one version of the commercial (the campaign is so big budget that there are different versions of the same commercial), different types of men are caught watching Britney dance on television with their jaws dropped. For example, there is a chef whose food is catching fire because he is so entranced by Miss Spears that he has not had any will to do anything but watch her with mouth open and tongue out. But the most shocking case is a camera shot of presidential candidate Bob Dole (last attempt to try and reach the youth?). Bob Dole is seen in the commercial, watching Britney on the tube in his comfy lounge chair with a silly and almost perverted smile on his face, then goes on to utter out, “Down, boy.” Of course, you assume he is talking to his dog which is sitting next to him, but really, who do you think he was talking to? I will just say, I could remember saying the same thing when I saw that commercial for the first time, and my dog was in the other room. And then, throughout the commercial, during most of the dancing segments when she is seen solo, she would have the tendency to rock back and forth, looking down unto the camera, as if…well, you know. I knew. And then, of course, the finale at the end, which would be a twenty foot “Pepsi bottle” blowing its top off and spilling its foam, all behind Britney finishing off her sexual masterpiece with a few last wiggles, a few last fondles of herself, and a wink to the camera. I was pretty much sold after that. Pepsi has a taste, you say?
Okay, so you have the all-encompassing spokesperson, the addicting music for the commercial, the flashiness and the dance to make it a humongous spectacle, and the sexual undertones for the hell of it. So what else do you need? Ah, the right time and the right place. It is not coincidence that you will see this commercial mostly on MTV (Music Television), which Britney has ruled for the past few years. Nor is it coincidence that you will catch this commercial being unveiled and debuting on shows like Total Request Live (TRL) as a video in itself, or showing up in the most valued and viewed commercial spots like during the Superbowl or during Friends. The right times and channels to show the right commercial will make for a killing. Like many of our lessons tell us, it is not only the content of something, but the means by which it comes across. And this commercial created the perfect content and was sent through the perfect means. Allow me to be mundanely redundant and say that it was perfect. Like I said in the beginning, it is about the right time and the right place, as with many things in life. And what is that you say? Pepsi has a taste? Stop saying that.
Now, back to the checklist – you have got the right time, right channel, and overall, the right commercial and spokesperson. Now what? Well, Pepsi has also aimed specifically at Britney’s fans, giving away concert tickets in under-the-cap contests or online sweepstakes, boosting up Pepsi sales an unholy percent. But that is a little off the tangent, for our focus is on this particular televised commercial.
But come to think of it, that might be as much as I have to say about that single commercial. Britney Spears has gone on to do more commercials with Pepsi. Her newer commercials with the theme “Now And Then”, showcase Pepsi throughout the decades, and also showcases Miss Spears in various sexy (albeit period pieces) outfits. These commercials also debuted during the Superbowl and I am sure they contain as many underlying sexual themes as the one we just discussed. Miss Spears is also plastered everywhere on the Pepsi.com site, as if it were an obsessive fan site, an electronic shrine built to worship her seemingly sacrosanct image. Her Pepsi billboards are posted everywhere, especially in the city, and not-so-oddly enough, her billboard that has been placed in Times Square, can be viewed in the background of the TRL show when taping (TRL is filmed in Times Square, and the TRL windows view most of it). Wonderful placement, don’t you think?
In brief summation of it all, Pepsi has done wonders with its manipulative marketing strategies, especially with the recent Britney Spears campaigns. As a consumer, or even just as a human being living in this modern world, we need to be aware of what we take in, to believe in the realities and not the illusions so we do not purchase things that we do not need, for most of us work jobs we hate for the money we hate, to spend on these things we do not need. We must be aware of the idea of the spokesperson, the jingles we hear, the messages in commercials, the placement of everything, and the general and basic overall gist of advertising. We need to remember not to buy a drink just because Britney Spears dances around singing about it. We need to be aware of it all. Otherwise, we might forget that there is taste.
