As a commercial designed to be aired on a popular medium, this Samsung spot advertises the fairly new (its debut was about seven months ago) Galaxy S4 Smartphone in a bit of an overused way: posing it as an object of interest on a crowded airplane. This idea has been used enough before to seem like a bit of a cliche; off the top of my head, the products that I remember to be advertised like this range from underwear to car insurance to, of course, airline tickets. It even shares a few of the key components of these aerial advertisements -- a few stereotypically bothersome passengers who obsess over the product, the obviously annoyed passenger who the audience is supposed to relate to, and the flight attendant who points out the absurdity of the situation.
Obviously, the purpose of this commercial is purely commercial; Samsung wants to sell more of their shiny Galaxy S4s. Other than being a bit tactless in its contribution to the overuse of the airplane experience in advertising, this commercial is very well crafted and directed -- again, not out of the norm. The question of credibility is tricky here, as the advertising company that Samsung hired to author this commercial does not have to be reliable to be successful. However, it can be said that they craft a fairly believable social scenario in this commercial, making it as credible as the audience wants it to be. Along with the strategy of setting the commercial in a common situation, the advertisement creators urge viewers to buy the Galaxy S4 by listing its key features in casual conversation. In doing this, the commercial makes it seem like your friend is telling you about his own new upgrade. "Hey, look at this, my phone pauses videos when I look away from it," your friend says. Well geez, that's neat, you think in reply. Then, there's the final line, "I am sold", which embodies exactly what Samsung wants you to think after this commercial; because being sold on something means that you either intend on buying it or already have. And, to be honest, that's the final impression that the commercial left with me. I thought, Hey, if that guy wants to buy the phone after he hears about all of its key features, why wouldn't I? And, if I did not know better about advertising rhetoric thanks to my parents (who work in advertising) and my APELC class, hey, maybe I would be pondering the price of the S4 right now.
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