Advert analysis - Cravendale

This advert is one of the earlier "cyclist, pirate and cow" ads, from 2009, filmed using stop motion animation. It was one of the most successful ad campaigns, increasing Cravendale's sales and boosting their brand image. it is an ongoing character style advert, with a strong narrative







Basic analysis - ( camera, editing, sound, mise en scene )


- the advert opens with an extreme long shot of a house on a small farm, with small animals, setting the scene and imdeiately establishing the brand as humble and homely, down to earth. This is backed up by farmyard animal noises, sheep and a rooster. aesthetically, it is colourful and childlike.
- a long shot shows the audience cow, pirate and cylcist, who have themed beds, establishing their personalities
- a mid shot shows pirate shouting "milk"
- editing is very fast paced
- long shot of kitchen, still colourful, use of blue and white, which is commonly associated with milk
- a close up of the fridge shows the cow, looking at the product, this is establishing the product, which  until this point has been un known to the viewer, alongside the face of the cow, showing them together is  creating a link between them, the cow and the milk.
- a close up of the fridge door shows the phrase "cravendale isnt just any milk, its filtered to make it purer" in firdge magnets, this is showing the products USP, in a more interesting way, without neccesarily pushing it. it is a subtle feature, but key to advertising the products attributes
- birdsong can be heard in the back ground, this is also giving the advert a innocent pure feel, and showing the brands purity
- a long shot shows the characters dancing jerkily, the stop motion style makes the jerky rigid movement quite effective, they deliberately dont move smoothly
- a shot reverse shot shows cow and pirate looking at cyclist, and then their reaction to the cardboard cut out, these are rarely used in stop motion where it is unusual to have a 360 degree set.
- a mid shot of cyclist drinking the milk, who says it is "lovely"
- then the cravendale logo is featured, with their slogan "milk matters" this is accompanied by a non diegetic score that is quite upbeat and fun, tying the branding to a fun feeling.

What exactly is being advertised?

the cravendale milk brand- a type of milk that lasts longer due to being triple filtered. a hgih quality premium brand. fairly unique.

Where and when did the ad appear? 

it appeared in 2009 accross a multitude of channels across all dayparts, so reached a mass audience, including channels ITV and channel 4, which are viewed on mass by many different types of people, reaching a wide audience, diverse in age range, status and ethnicity.

Why might it have appeared there and then rather than elsewhere?
Despite ebing a fairly luxury brand of milk, cravendale milk is supposed to be aimed at everyone, showing that everyone can afford to pay more for a more quality milk product, because "milk matters". the ad campaign was aimed to change the way the whole public view and treat milk.

What appears to be the intended audience?

It is a wide audience, everyone, however mostly adults, people who actually purchase milk

What suggests this?

The style of advert is actually fairly niche, not something that is often used for mass marketed products, the stop motion style is rarely seen on major tv channels, however the advert hasnt been tailored to a specific audience, ti is kept very open, free from any specific connotations to gender, ethnicity, age, as to keep it open and accessible to a large audience

What graphic mode(s) is/are used (e.g. still photography, drawing, animation, live action)?  it is stop motion using ready made plastic figurines, the background and scenery is actually green screened, so it was filmed without a set. this means they could use a 360 degree angle and were more free with the camera over a green screen, then later added the backgrounds and scenery

Describe the overall design.

the aesthetics are key to the advert, it is very colourful, childlike, using a mixture of materials, paper, plastic figures, paints.

Who are the participants?

cow, cyclist and pirate, these are ongoing characters in the ad campaign and have become part of the brand, associated with the product

What do they do?

they all have unique personalities, and are part of the key narrative, cyclist is sneaky and cow is quite subserviant, pouring the glasses of milk for the two men. they each have equal roles in the narrative.

What key objects are featured?

the product itself - although not the real product, but a plastic version, the record player, as this shows the house is quite rural and simple, which is helping brand the product as simple and natural

What part is played by words (choice of words, typography/voiceover)?

the phrase on the fridge is highly important, as the narrative is branding the product as fun and interesting, and showing that the product is nice to dirnk, but the phrase on the fridge is the only thing that actually highlights the products attributes, the real selling point of cravendale, so if this was missed, the audience may not perceive cravendale as any different from other milk brands, except for its branding. in later adverts, the narrative explains the products attributes, so they can be seen to be more effective. the cyclist also exclaims "lovely" which shows the product is more than just milk, but tasty.

What part is played by the use of sound and/or light?  

sound is always key to stop motion, and here they use exaggerated sounds for movements, like crashes and clinks, they also give the characters expression and emotion using sounds rather than real words, so they speak in small sounds, this emans the audience understand their interaction without it being too obvious. the non diegetic sound is also important here for setting the mood and creating an ambience, like the birdsong and the farmyard sounds.

What intertextual references can you discern (to other ads, to other genres, to other people etc.)?
 It is a similar animation style to belgian series " a town called panic", which uses the same character and background style, aesthetically very similar.

What does the ad seem to suggest about gender roles, class/status, age, ethnicity or self-identity?
the ad is left deliberately open to interpretation, free from any connotations about gender or status, none of the characters have specific genders or ethnicities, it is set in an imaginary world, so it doesnt reflect real life.

What use is made of humour, and to what effect?

there ia light humour, in the way the characters beds are stereotypically decorated, so the cow has grass in a vase, and the pirate has a skull flag. the whole narrative is fairly comical, and the dancing is a humerous way to settle a problem. it is not overly funny, but just a little comical, something that would make the audience smile.

What do you regard as the most likely preferred interpretation offered in the ad?

- all three characters are friends living together on a farm, who all like a glass of cravendale milk first thing in the morning, and are willing to fight over it.

What scope does there seem to be for alternative interpretations?

It could be interpreted differently, the relationship between the characters in uncertain, the cow doesnt speak, so although it is a character, it is subservient to the two men, in that it pours the milk for them and lets them speak, his status is unclear