Throughout the advert, the viewer sees lots of shots of the inside and outside of the car to give a full impression of what the car looks like. At the beginning, shots of sunrays reflecting off the car make it appear to sparkle and suggest that the car is very glamorous. It sustains the glow around the car for the entire advert, this ensures that the viewer never loses sight of the car and it stands out from the other cars on the road. Later on, we see the young boy tying his shoelaces in the back of the car, which shows that there is plenty of legroom in the back and also room for the growing family the car is targeted at.
It also enables us to see the plush leather seats in the back which also adds to the idea that the car is targeted at a wealthy audience. There is lots of circle imagery in the advert, for instance the zoetrope and the carousel. On the inside of the zoetrope there is a penny-farthing, the first bicycle ever made. By contrast, the car is one of the latest cars, demonstrating the progression of transport and so giving the idea of technology advancing which is part of the company’s motto. The company logo is also made up of circles.
The progression from old to new and the circle imagery shows a prevalent theme of the advert, the idea of the circle of life. This is also demonstrated in the advert by the father who belongs to one generation and the new born baby who represents the next generation, a direct link to the car that is described as a new generation of car. The advert uses Hitchcockian suspense by means of lots of dark shadows outside the car. These shadows emphasise the safety within the car. A man on the street is shown in big shadows looking suspicious; this represents the father’s fears, his main concern being the safety of his family.
However, both father and son are safe within the car. Another demonstration of the car’s safety is when they arrive at the hospital and the boy can’t get out of the car, thereby showing its child locking system. In the beginning, we see a camera shot of the phone hanging which adds suspense because we are left with no clue as to what’s going on in the advert and hence this keeps the audience’s attention making them watch the whole advert which keeps them thinking about the product.
The father then rushes off with his son without a word of explanation; by being left ignorant as to where they are rushing to the suspense is maintained. The advert is very clever as we watch it in suspense, believing the journey to be one which is prompted by tragic news, the father’s haste, the lack of conversation between father and son, the doom filled music and the run up the hospital corridor, where we see the clichi?? “the light at the end of the tunnel” all contribute to this assumption. However we are relieved to see that what we thought would be tragic turns out to be a moment of joy.
This manipulation of our emotions ensures our enjoyment of the advert, as it is common to revel in a “happy ending. ” I think the advertisers would have screened the advert late at evening as this is when the middle-aged target audience, home from work, would be relaxing at the end of the day. I expect the advert to have been successful as the makers of the advert had taken great care in making sure that every aspect of the advert appealed to the target audience, from the type of music played in the background to the scenery shown, the size of house, the location of the advert.
Lots of shots of the car were shown to demonstrate its safety features and how spacious it was for the growing family and even the type of clothes worn were selected carefully to match those that the target audience would wear. It is a very effective advert as the suspenseful narrative will ensure continued watching and make the advert memorable and the multi -layers of the advert appeal to the educated members of the audience.
