RA: Commercial Blog Post

I chose to analyse the Darth Vader Volkswagon car commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15LQxUj-SyI

TThis commercial's argument is quite clear: buy the new 2012 Passat. The target audience for this commercial is middle age people who are in the upper middle to high-income socio economic income bracket who have families. The goal is to persuade you to buy their new car by giving the audience a sneak peak at their upcoming car model.

I love this commercial most for its ethos. It’s higher source of authority? Star Wars and the lord Darth Vader himself! This target audience was the ones who went to see the Star Wars films when they were first released in theaters. These films are an integral part of American culture and it has had the most impact on the audience’s generation. When the child dresses up like Darth Vader and the music comes on, the audience has got to laugh because they are so familiar with this icon and also because their children have probably done similar things. This is also the commercial’s pathos—laughter. This small child trying to use the force while in his costume is hilarious. The audience can also sympathize with the parents who humor their child’s eccentricities and giggle along with them as the mother slides the sandwich to the kid as if it was the force bringing it to him or when the father starts the car with his keys and thereby making his kid feel like he started it by using the force. The commercial was not sufficient to persuade people to buy the car, but it was sufficient to spark interest in the car. This is because the car is only in 20ish seconds of the minute long commercial. The commercial focuses more on the child’s endeavors and leading up to the big moment when the father starts the car. The commercial was accurate; it showed correct information about the actual product. Its relevance is tricky to decipher—on one hand it is relevant to the audience but not necessarily to the topic of buying cars. Overall the commercial is not effective in making me want to buy the car but it was effective in sparking my interest and leaving a strong impression in my mind that may lead to me investigating the car.