Monday, October 27, 2008

Guinness Dot


One of the most effective tactics used in beer commercials is to mislead the viewer for the about 90% of the ad. Often times advertisers like to mimic the tone of a certain kind of commercial and build it up with a different sort of integrity, then in the final seconds drop the beer label as a punchline. The concept of misdirection before that final punchline helps show a level of creativity and wit that works to ingrain the product in the viewer’s mind. 

In the Guinness Dot advertisement, Psyop Animations and Advertising lead the commercial on a path that would work perfectly for company like General Electric but the creation of the dot into a Guinness pint makes for a more amusing ending. This also works as a unique take on most beer commercials, especially previous Guinness ads. The “be whatever you want to be” angle brings a much more playful and innocent side to the beer. Previously, Guinness ads have a darker, more serious tone, specifically from “Good things come to those who wait” campaign.

Despite its different attitude toward the dark beer, the Dot commercial does tie into the overall quality of Guinness ads as well as other higher priced beers. The creative and filmmaking tactics used for more expensive beers like Guinness and Stella Artois helped add to the integrity of the products themselves. Beer commercials on a whole have always been the most satisfying commercials because of the many creative outlets possible. Each beer knows its market and the fact that there is alcohol seems to give most advertisers a little more leeway for what they are allowed to do. The Guinness Dot ad works is so much more effective because it does not try to push those boundaries but remains innocent and hopeful.

1 comment:

Jeremy said...

When you brought up "integrity," a switch flipped in my brain. Think about the recent "drinkability" commercials for Bud Light (translation: "this is weak sauce beer-water that your little sister could chug").

Advertising for beer is the first industry that comes to mind in which most of the brewers and distributors are not really competing on the same playing field. Yeah, for those weak sauce beers, Bud Light competes with Coors Light - expect to see some "drinkability" response ads by the time we get to the Super Bowl - but Bud Light is not competing on the "drinkability" playing field with Guinness. Guinness is competing on the "integrity" playing field with Stella Artois. Stella doesn't have to compete on "integrity," but they do. That's their brand, and they're fine playing that game.

Meanwhile, Corona competes on the "relaxing" playing field, Yuengling doesn't really have to compete with anyone, and Dogfish Head just blows away everyone within 300 miles of Delaware.

I think the automobile industry comes close - Honda and Toyota compete on efficiency, Chevy and Ford compete on who is more "American," and Saab just blows away everyone else on sheer "engineering" power. I could do this all day.