Research Blog: Commercial Conventions

     For the upcoming commercial project, I plan on doing a cereal commercial. These commercials often include several shots of the food being shown, in addition to implementing bright colors or children, as cereal is traditionally a breakfast cereal eaten by children. Many cereal commercials also use cartoon characters as spokespeople for the product being shown. This character will appear throughout the brand's commercials. The use of animated characters within commercials can be seen in cereals such as Twix, Lucky Charms, and Honey Nut Cheerios. As stated before, cereal is mainly targeted at children, therefore many cereal companies will use actors to pose as families as well. Companies will also produce situations or characters that correlate with the brand's name. "Lucky Charms," for example, uses a leprechaun as the main character in each of its commercials. The situations that actors or figures within cereal commercials are involved in vary, but many commercials will put the actors in a situation where the child does not want to eat. When the child then sees the advertised cereal brand, they will suddenly want to eat the cereal being shown. This situation is used for foods of all types, but it applies to cereal commercials as well. Other brands of cereal that contain less sugar or are more healthy, might use adults as actors within commercials. These cereal companies can contain commercials where the actor eats the brand of cereal being advertised. The commercials will then proceed to show various activities the person goes through, such as carrying heavy items. By doing so, the cereal brand is trying to prove that the advertised cereal is so filling or healthy, that the actor can do all of the activities being shown successfully. When using animated characters, however, companies will include adventures or journeys that the characters must complete in order to receive the cereal. As a result, the companies show that the cereal is so good, exploring an underground cavern, for example, is worth trying the cereal. Companies using animated characters will also put those characters in situations where they speak to an adult or child actor about the appealing elements of the cereal as well. Props within cereal commercials include a bowl of cereal, with the cereal being advertised in the bowl, milk, a glass, a spoon, and the box of cereal. The setting within this type of commercial is often in homes, specifically in the dining room of those homes. Reoccurring themes in cereal commercials include fantastical elements, such as magic or unicorns, as well as bright or cheery moods. Scores playing within the background are cheery as well, as cereal companies will include whistling or upbeat music.