Haribo: Squidgy Baby

This is an advert for Haribo Super Mix.

Music is one of the most frequently used devices in advertising as there is common belief that it creates a favourable association with the product and enhances memory of the product. In a study by Gorn (1982) participants were shown an advert that was either paired with music deemed ‘liked’ or music deemed ‘disliked’, and they were then asked to provide their preference for the product. He found that when the product was associated with ‘liked’ music it was more preferred, than when it was paired with the ‘disliked’ music.

Furthermore it appears that Haribo are attempting to appeal to the audience through using an idyllic family that would fit not only into the ‘physically attractive-admirer altercast’, but also the ‘just plain folks: similarity altercast’. It has been shown that a relationship exists between a communicator’s physical attractiveness and a receiver’s perception of communicator expertise, liking and trustworthiness (Patzer, 1983). Similarity with the communicator has also been shown to have a positive effect on attitude change. Mills and Jellison (1968) demonstrated that when college women read a passage and were told that the communicator was either the same as the audience or different (Engineering Student Vs Music Student) their opinion of the communicator changed. The women’s opinion of the communicator’s position was better when he was similar to the audience he addressed (Mills & Jellison, 1968).

However, Haribo fall short of convincing the audience and the music used is extremely irritating and has resulted in a lot of viewer annoyance, with some even taking to YouTube to vent their frustration. The family in the advert also come across as annoying thus damaging their potential similarity and attractiveness to the viewer. On top of this the film effects are quite amateur and leave you wondering why such a large company released such an advert. The original and official video has since been removed from the Internet.

Gorn, G. J. (1982). The effects of music in advertising on choice behaviour: A

classical conditioning approach. Journal of Marketing, 46(1), 94-101.

Mills, J., & Jellison, J. M. (1968). Effect on opinion change of similarity between

the communicator and the audience he addressed. Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology, 9 (2), 153-156.

Patzer, G. L. (1983). Source Credibility as a function of communicator physical

attractiveness. Journal of Business Research, 11, 229-241.