This advert is promoting a new text-service which enables
you to back up the contacts on your mobile. This advert is quite difficult to
determine whether it works, or whether it is too tenuous and distasteful, I
would argue the latter.
This advert attempts to combine the fear and humour
technique. Fear, because it allows you to imagine the scene all your contacts/
friends having fallen from a tall building. I see this as partial humour, due
to the ridiculous link, between a tragic scene and the aim of the advert; to
simply back up your phone. When we worry about losing our contacts, I don’t
think anyone imagines you will lose these people permanently. Similarly, the
text describing the actual aim of the advert is so small, and due to the
non-existent phone in the picture, I would say this advert does not clearly promote
the text service effectively.
Research has suggested that this juxtaposition may be
beneficial in advertising. As both are good persuasive techniques when used
separately. It has been suggested that
by adding an element of humour to an advert already using a fear technique, it
lessens the defensive response ,as the humour provides a safe context. Conway and Dubé (2002) have shown that
including humour in a moderate-fear ad for HIV and promoting condom usage,
improved the persuasive aspect for individuals with high masculinity
personality traits. They showed a fear-invoking advert about AIDS, but combined
this either with humour (a “happy-go-luck penis cartoon”) or no-humour, their
attitudes were then measured in an explicit rating scale about public health
attitudes; specifically AIDS and condom use. Similarly, those who had seen the
humour condition, and had high masculinity traits reported higher behaviour
intent (to later use condoms). This also suggests that this combination may
only be beneficial for certain audiences. Therefore, if this advert is only
directed at males with high masculinity traits, then it may work, however, for
others it may be less beneficial.
Research has shown that fear works well in advertising when
it is at a moderate level (Higbee, 1969). However, with this advert the fear
aspect could be seen as low, in that there is no blood shown. However, maybe it
is too high for this specific advert, leaving a strange link between the aim of
the advert and what is displayed. I would recommend changing the fear level to
a more moderate and even less-ambiguous level. Or better yet using either
humour or fear, and not trying to combine the two. Maybe you could “lose your
contacts” in a way, which isn’t a horrible scene of carnage. When you drop your
phone, your contacts become temporarily inaccessible, so depicting a scene of
your contacts locked up behind prison bars, may be more relevant. However, one
could argue that bizarre adverts are remembered and therefore more persuasive.
But I personally would be discouraged to support this distasteful advert!
Conway, M., & Dubé, L. (2002). Humour in persuasion on threatening topics: Effectiveness is a function of audience sex role orientation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(7), 863-873.
Higbee, K. L. (1979). Fifteen years of fear arousal: Research on threat appeals. Psychological Bulletin, 72(6), 426-444.
Conway, M., & Dubé, L. (2002). Humour in persuasion on threatening topics: Effectiveness is a function of audience sex role orientation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(7), 863-873.
Higbee, K. L. (1979). Fifteen years of fear arousal: Research on threat appeals. Psychological Bulletin, 72(6), 426-444.
Very interesting ad and interesting research too. THanks.
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