For the best effect, watch the video in full screen!
It’s amazing how a cat and a creepy guy dressed as a cat can rack up millions on views on YouTube…all in
the name of confectionary. Skittles marketing team have done it again - traditional
brand advertising has been dropped and the use of a simple interaction
technique has had us simple beings succumbing to the viral power of an amusing
cat once again.
Humour is the leading persuasive technique in this
advertisement which makes the brand appear fun and light-hearted - this
increases liking for the product. Strick et al (2009) found that persuasion is
increased through liking by the changing of implicit attitudes. This was
demonstrated by participants who viewed a product presented consistently with a
humorous cartoon compared to a non-humorous version. The results found that
product choice and evaluations were more positive when paired with the humorous
advert, merely by association. Humour is a common and effective technique used
by confectionary companies as they want their products to come across as
enjoyable, it is not an industry which desires to be taken too seriously.
The use of humour also leads to a positive mood in the
viewer. Petty, Schumann, Richman and Stratchman (1993) found that a positive
mood results in effective persuasion when the targets are not motivated to
think about an issue or product in too much depth. A positive mood directly
impacts the positivity of the attitude which can improve liking for the
product. This is relevant in the case of this advertisement as there is not
much focus on the actual sweet itself; there is more emphasis on the bizarre
situation with the crazy cat man.This particular video from the ‘Touch the Rainbow’ series (there are 3 more) requires the viewer to place their index finger on the screen. The use of an interactive activation template increases the persuasive value of the advert as viewer involvement through physical activity requires more effort. Effortful processing is associated with high cognitive activity, leading to the advertisement being more memorable (Goldenberg et al, 1999). The shock of the man coming to lick your finger further increases audience attention as viewers are much more likely to remember shocking advertisements than those which are not (Dahl, Frankenberger & Manchanda, 2003).
The use of humour and shock in this advert is what caused it to go viral. Once again an advert has been produced which has little to do with the actual product but has been highly effective in generating hype. I don’t think I’ll eat a red Skittle again without picturing that man’s face…but that shows that the advert has been effective, right?
Dahl,
D. W., Frankenberger, K. D. & Manchanda, R. V., “Does it Pay to Shock?
Reactions to Shocking and Nonshocking Advertising Content among University
Students”, Journal of Advertising Research, September 2003, pp. 268-280.
Goldenberg, J.,
Mazursky, D., & Solomon, S. (1999). The fundamental templates of quality
ads. Marketing Science, 18(3), 333-351.
Petty, R. E., Schumann, D. W., Richman, S. A., & Strathman,
A. J. (1993). Positive mood and persuasion: Different roles for affect under
high-and low-elaboration conditions. Journal of personality and social
psychology, 64(1), 5
Strick, M., Van Baaren, R.B., Holland, R.W., & Van Knippenberg, A. (2009). Humor in advertisements enhances product liking by mere association. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied, 15, 35-45.
Katie Ashcroft - Blog #2
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