The Biggest Loser
"The Biggest Loser" is a truth show that facets obese persons competing for a cash prize through losing weight. The individual who loses the highest proportion compared to the unique weight wins the prizes. Some advertisements show up during the show.
Contestants and Groups
Each of the episodes of the exhibit begins with the contestants weighted with the purpose of determining their beginning weight as the baseline in the competition. They then get placed into three businesses in which they undergo separation from every other based totally on the colours of their T-shirts. The groups are then assigned a specific coach who then guides them in the course of the contest.
Challenges and Elimination
The contestants undertake numerous challenges, and they then get immunity if they surpass and successfully win. The reduction of the number of participants leads to the dissolution of the groups, and each of the contestants receives a fair chance to compete.
Advertisements during the Show
During the show, the first break that occurred entailed the advertisement of Victoria police which took 15 seconds. After the first advert, the second advert within the first break was by Booking.com, which took approximately 25 seconds. The show then proceeded after which we had the TAFE advert in the second break taking about 20 seconds. The second advert was by BP ultimate on the benefits of their fuel, and it also took 20 seconds. During the third break, the first advertisement was by Carsales.Com Ltd, and this took approximately 15 seconds. The second advert in the third break was by American Express. During the episode, I noticed the channel promoted some of their upcoming shows such as Modern family and Living room. A viewer used the commercials might wonder why the advertisements are made during the show; however, it is essential to note that this is an example of ad known as "brand advertising" that creates the images of the company and the product so that the potential buyers can identify it (Kjeldsen 2015, p. 121).
Commodity Codes and Broadcast
Commercial adverts focus on bodily codes associated with sexual aggressiveness, sexual ability, and gestures (Jewitt and Oyama 2001, p. 138). The adverts also rely much on commodity codes, and that shows how the company Coles, from which the contestants bought food, received its advertisement. Coles supermarket which is an Australian Chain and founded in 1914 developed food retailing as part of its activities in 1958 when it acquired John Connell Dickins grocery store. The food grocery offers quality food stuff as presented to the viewers. The commodity code of commercial advertising is made use of in this scenario as the viewers believe that individuals who eat products from the supermarket are likely to reduce weight. The broadcast show is about the loss of weight by the contestants, something that works perfectly well in the case of Australia in which most people are overweight. The contestants, by eating food products from the supermarket, convince the viewers that it offers quality food products are healthy to their diet and weight.
Interpretative Coding in Commercial Images
Commercial images depend on interpretative coding in the form of ideological and perceptual codes. The body posture and facial expression adopted by the police in the ad on Victoria police triggers psychological responses that make an individual feel they are safe (Royce 2007, p. 87). The advert on Victoria police mainly focuses on the safety of the people. From the advert, the body posture of the policemen and the materials they have such as the helicopters and vehicles trigger a psychological response from the viewers that they are safe. The police in the advert relate to the program because of their depiction as individuals who are quick and flexible when it comes emergency response. The presentation of the advert through the images encourages people on the importance of losing excess weight that exposes their health to danger and gain flexibility as the Victoria police.
Depiction of Overweight and Booking Services
The advert by Booking.com depicts two families going for a holiday. The first family does not make the booking and comprise of kids that are seemingly overweight struggling to walk to the destination while the other family makes the booking and as a result, their transportation to the holiday destination venue occurs swiftly. The concept of overweight which relates to the broadcast is presented in this advert. Booking.com, as presented, provides solutions to all individuals irrespective of their weight and they do not need to struggle to carry the luggage and walking to their destination. The company provides a booking service in which individuals going to a particular destination are not disturbed to find a venue as they can make prior bookings and get transportation services. The images of the individuals used in the ad, therefore, generates positive ethos as viewers associate with the comfort of booking prior before traveling to a particular destination (Tan 2009, p. 172).
Importance of Courses and Fuel
The synchronization of the vocals with the video in the TAFE ad on the courses comes out well and sends a stronger meaning to the viewers on the importance of taking such courses. The consumer is meant to identify with the individuals shown in the advert who by their physiques are not overweight but flexible individuals who showcase their skills. Such shows the relationship between the advert and the broadcast regarding how losing weight as presented makes an individual flexible and perfect their skills.
The BP ultimate ad on the best fuel makes use of brand advertising to develop an ethos that becomes more important as the company tends to influence people indirectly to their products. The voice elaborates the idea of the product over "it cleans the engine and makes you move forward by up to 28 miles". The implication, in this case, is the fact that one does not need to buy engine filters because they already are cleaned by the type of fuel they use. The Carsales.Com Ltd also makes use of the voice over when describing the vehicles as one of the best. The images and videos show how the vehicles are flexible and durable which relates to flexibility and the weight of an individual in the show. The ethos created by the advert convinces the viewers that the vehicles are the best (Wahl 2013, p. 142).
Brand Recognition and Respect
The voice over in American Express advert with images of how it is beneficial attracts the viewers to this particular product. The advert fits in the new brand advertising technique, in which the company develops brand recognition and respect for the brand (Fourie 2001, p. 78). The company sells the brand American Express based on the manner of its presentation in the advert. Brand campaigns which are highlighted by the advert are important as it provides the means in which viewers arbitrarily differentiate between homogenous products offered by competing companies (Stern 1991, p. 15). The voice commands develop a positive ethos to the viewer's something that attracts them to the product.
List of References
- Fourie, P.J., 2001. Media Studies: Content, audiences, and production (Vol. 2). Juta and Company Ltd.
- Jewitt, C. and Oyama, R., 2001. Visual meaning: A social semiotic approach. Handbook of visual analysis, pp.134-156.
- Kjeldsen, J.E., 2015. The study of visual and multimodal argumentation. Argumentation, 29(2), pp.115-132.
- Royce, T., 2007. Intersemiotic complementarity: a framework for multimodal. New directions in the analysis of multimodal discourse, pp.63-109.
- Stern, B.B., 1991. Who talks advertising? Literary theory and narrative "point of view". Journal of Advertising, 20(3), pp.9-22.
- Tan, S., 2009. A systemic functional framework for the analysis of corporate television advertisements. In The World Told and the World Shown (pp. 157-182). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
- Wahl, S., 2013. "Hello Sunshine"–A Multimodal Analysis of a Volkswagen Television Commercial.
