I have chosen to look at this advert as an example of an animation style i am quite interested in, as it combines live action with rotoscoped animation, and lets them interact with each other. It is also an example fo an advert that is thinking outside the box, and is a little less conventional, especially for a car advert, which are often demonstration and Unique Personality Property style adverts, which are used to highlight the competitive advantages of the product, because of these common styles, car advertising can be very repititive and uninteresting. Toyota have out a new, modern spin on the UPP style advert, showing the products Unique Selling Point, in a humerous way.
Basic analysis - ( Camera, Sound, Mis en Scene, Editing)
- The advert opens with a LS of two cars, outside a building, immediately introducing the Toyota car next to a standard car
- the non diegetic sound is key to this advert, they have made a song, which is fairly modern that narrates the advert, sung by the animated character, it is appealing to a younger target audience, older teens and young adults
- he advert is bright, it is colourful, and the red of the Toyota car makes it stand out next to the grey other car
- the camera then zooms into the Toyota car, keeping it in long shot so the audience can view the car fully.
- a straight cut then cuts in to a close up of the car window, with an attractive blonde inside. This is a typical use of Assoicated User Imagery, an advertising technique that uses actors that are attractive and appealing to the target audience, which is then associated with the product. She is in focus, whilts the rest of the scene is soft focus, which keeps the audiences attention on her.
- There is then a reverse shot, an over the shoulder close up of a geeky man sitting in the basic car, he has greasy hair and large round glasses, this is the opposite to the woman we see before, and gives the audience a comparison between the type of person seen driving the toyota, compared to the type in the standard car, which further inforces the Associate user imagery.
- The use of a shot reverse shot shows the woman's reaction to the geeky man, as she turns her nose up at him, showing she has authority in her car.
- The camera zooms out a little, so the man and his car are in soft focus, and the animated man statrts to mock him and his car, The animated man is acting as a sort of narrator, and uses the advertising technique in which a product is pitched against a non brand cheaper product, and hihglights its downfalls, this is a standard technique but is done cleverly here, because it is humerous and is also done in song/rap, so it is much more interesting to the audience.
- There is also use of a puppet, which is backing up the animated narrator, joining in with the song. it is also humerous, they both have the same work outfit on.
- a straight cut brings us to the same long shot of the two cars, with an animated pasta machine on top, the animations are humerous and overexaggerated to highlight the adverts main point, that the toyota car has useful gadgets, compared to standard car, that has been "pimped" with useless gadgets, so whilst no one would have a pasta machine on the car, the audience can relate to it as most viewers will have experience car gadgets that have been rediculous or pointless.
- A close up of the animated man, shows him saying " how useful is that?", a rhetorical question that may make the audience question their own useless gadgets. This is interacting with the audience.
- the audience is then pointed to the Toyota car, where the woman demonstrates the cars Unique Property. The car is noticeably less cluttered, clean and expensive looking compared to the other.
- The advert ends with a close up of the toyota Yaris, which slowly zooms, and features the slogan, The Smart Money Is On Yaris, which further states the point of the advert.
- What exactly is being advertised?
The Toyota Yaris, it is a new version of the Yaris, highlighting the new features of a well loved car.
- Where and when did the ad appear?
TV, all major UK channels, first screened on 26th of august 2011 at 19:15 on ITV1
- Why might it have appeared there and then rather than elsewhere?
It is the right time for the target audience, younger adults are likely to be busy in the daytime, and sit down to watch TV later, so the Ad was released later in the day, it is on most large channels, such as BBC, 4, because it is a mass market targeted product, not specialist, they are trying to reach a large audience.
-What appears to be the intended audience?
The advert in a way is trying to reposition the Toyota Yaris in the market, seen as an older more sensible car, that has not until now been specifically aimed at the younger market, with the new gadget based version, Toyota are trying to aim at younger adults and older teens, and make the Yaris seem like a more desirable car to the younger age groups.
-What suggests this?
The use of the main character, who is younger, relateable to the audience
the style of advert, the animation and puppet - showing its not a serious advert aimed at serious car consumers
the humour involved - unusual for car adverts that tend to be very sincere and straightforward for older car consumers, the humour lightens it up and makes it less mature
the non diegetic sound - the use of modern styles of music, will be enjoyed by a younger audience
younger actors - the advert uses Associated user imagery, which means the actors should be around the age of the audience, so they can picture themselves in their shoes.
-What graphic mode(s) is/are used (e.g. still photography, drawing, animation, live action)?
The advert cleverly combines live action, animation ( probably rotoscoping) and puppeting
-What key objects are featured?
main objects are the two cars, which the audience can draw comparisons between, the characters and the gadgets featured, such as the pasta machine.
-What part is played by words (choice of words, typography/voiceover)?
Words are important in the advert, as the whole voiceover is in rap, so there are few words that must have been carefully chosen. The language is reflective of the target audience, as it has been made deliberately informal and chatty to appeal to its younger audience, the words such as "folks" and "smarty arty" make it loveable and relateable.
-How else does the ad seek your involvement?
The song contains rhetorical questions that draw in the audience, it also uses a lot of associated user imagery, and relateable language, the audience will feel involved by the familiarity of the characters. it also draws the audience to question the useless car gadgets they may own, by mocking a well known problem, that the target audience will be able to laugh along with too.
-What does the ad seem to suggest about gender roles, class/status, age, ethnicity or self-identity?
There is some noticeable suggestions made about gender, with the character in the Yaris being female, she has the power and is dominant in the advert, as the male in the other car is being mocked and belittled. It is therefore associating the car with females. It is suggesting a lot about age as well, as it is clear it is being aimed at a younger audience, and some people may take offence to how cliche and stereotypical some aspects fo the advert are.
-What use is made of humour, and to what effect?
humour plays a large part in the ad, appealing to the audience and lightening up a fairly standard advert format, it is much more interesting to the audience who respond well to humour and will feel more comitted to a product that they see as being humerous and light hearted.
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