Slide 1

Hello everyone this is my FOA on the

Flintstones Winston Cigarette
advertisement.
Slide 2
The primary media that I will be analyzing is a video
advertisement taken from the hit childrens show: The
Flintstones. The ad in the show was created by Winston
Cigarettes. Winston cigarettes was created in 1954 by the R.J
Reynolds Tobacco company. Shortly after being manufactured,
they boomed in business due to their slogan which became an
instant hit in their ads. Unfortunately, their rise to success was
handicapped as the company became a subject of the U.S
Federal trade commission due to deceptive advertising.

Slide 3
I will now play the advertisement for you if you
havent already seen it.

AD

And that was the advertisement!
Slide 4
The authors main intention for this advertisement was to persuade
the audience to buy their product, to entertain such audience and to
convey their message. The message of the primary text is:
- If you smoke Winston cigarettes, you will be relaxed, focused
and you will attract females. When the 2 characters: Fred and
Barney, walk in at the beginning of the commercial, it can be
assumed that they are returning from a smoke-break. After a
Winston, they seem relaxed and confident and as seen in the
ad, they go straight to their women and dance with them,
creating a humorous dialogue, entertaining the audience.


Slide 4 Contd
- The scene in the shop can also connect to a smoke break. The
shopkeeper, feeding his bird symbolizes, the bird going for a
smoke break and returning back to work. As seen in the ad,
the bird is completely focused at his work. This aspect could
ultimately appeal to the audience, essentially informing them,
about the product.
- The author intends to persuade the audience by using many
different advertising techniques, anti-competitive behaviour
and bias, but more on this later.

Slide 5
The dialogue in the primary source can be seen as plain, informal, and
bombastic. Whilst imagery can be found in the ad in onomatopoeia
and personification (these are seen where the bird is considered a
human and produces a bird-like sound), and simile is found in the
slogan used in the ad, where they assume a cigarette has a specific
taste and they compare it to the taste of a Winston cigarette using
the word like. The voices of the characters are loud and clear and
the tone is set as an energetic tone. The energetic and positive tone
of the of the commercial, puts the audience in a good mood and aids
in the generation of revenue for the company.

Slide 6
Advertisers for cigarettes must account for specific audiences and
they must hit on specific key points and techniques, to appeal to such
audiences. The intended audience at the time for this ad (1961) was
the middle-upper class US citizen who was also in the working class.
The ad targets this group of people because they have the luxury of
TVs and money, and also they are able to invest into the company
because unlike the majority of the population back then, didnt have
the luxury to watch TV or to buy cigarettes on a daily basis. It also
appeals to the working audience because it targets people who work
and enjoy having a smoke while on their break, as seen in the ad.

Slide 7
In order to have created a successful ad, especially for something as
big and as regulated as a cigarette company, many subliminal (yet
noticeable) techniques were used in this advertisement.
- The cigarettes in the ad are portrayed as an avant-garde
products. This means that the user of this product will feel
ahead of the other people smoking their preferred brands.
- The advertisement also incorporates anti-competitive
behaviour, this is seen when Fred Flintstone (the main
character), is buying cigarettes from the shopkeeper. This can
also be seen as textual bias incorporated by the creator of the
media (I will refer to this later).


Slide 7 Contd
The usage of celebrities/famous characters is also seen in the
advertisement. The usage of Fred implies a nostalgic feeling for those
who will watch the ad. The usage of characters also creates a feel of
security for the audience, because they already have a close
connection with the character which they can relate to.
- Another subliminal technique used in the advertisement is
the usage of diverse camera angles/lighting. Throughout the
duration of the ad, the camera angles changed from: close up,
to longshot, to middle shot, all at eye-level.

Slide 7 Contd
Some other stylistic devices incorporated in the ad are: black and white colours (Image/ and
light), subject (animate), Superimposed sound (created), and minimal copy.
But the most important advertising technique in the ad is: the slogan.
Winstons taste good like a *clap clap* cigarette should. Personally,
after seeing the commercial, the simple yet elegant slogan stuck with
me and I had been repeating it in my head ever since. In the point of
view of the advertiser, this is considered a win, as they had reached out to
a portion of their intended audience. Their slogan was one of the most
important advertising techniques because it also directly mocked all other
cigarette companies products (by taste). In order to stress the importance of
the companys slogan and message, the slogan was repeated twice during
the ad.
Slide 8
The techniques seen in the commercial can also be seen as textual
bias. Bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing compared with
another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. The bias is in the ad
makes it feel like the product is always present. The author conveys
the pros for the product in the commercial without telling the
audience any of the cons (well, any smart advertiser would do the
same). The bias is seen when there is anti-competitive behaviour. The
shopkeeper refers to how: Winston steps ahead of the crowd,
which directly targets any competitions product.

Slide 8 Contd
Bias is also seen when there is persuasive language used. Many
euphonious words are used to reel the attention of the audience
when they are watching this ad, such as:
- They really got something
- Enjoy!
- Up front!
All of these words have direct correlations with the product and this is
how the author conveys his bias into the advertisement. Now, that is
my speculation, I want to see your points of view!



Slide 9
So now I have a little activity for you guys. On a show of hands,
we will determine whether the primary source was bias or not,
based on this audiences perception of the ad. 1 out of 4 is not
biased, where 4 out of 4 is very biased. Let me see a raise of
hands for 1! Let me see a raise of hands for 2! Let me see a raise
of hands for 3! Let me see a raise of hands for 4! Now (select
one person from group 1), give me one reason why you selected
1 out of 4. Now (select one person from group 4), give me one
reason why you selected 4 out of 4.

Slide 10
I chose to create a spoof poster ad for the
creative media response. Poster advertisements
are cost-effective ways of advertising as they
capture a select audience, they can be placed
anywhere, theyre controllable, available to all
parts of society and they convey their message
relatively easily.

Slide 11 The poster ad that I created is intended for a younger
audience. Imagine that I am a large company, and I want to maximize
my profits How am I going to do that? Obviously one way to do that,
is to increase my exposure and to increase the crowds that I am
selling to! Back in the 60s there was little knowledge of the negative
effects of cigarettes nor was there an age limit for the purchasing of
cigarettes in many countries. A child could have been easily buying a
pack for his elders. By creating an ad that appeals to children and
easily influenced teenagers, the amount of people that are going to
be using and investing in the product will be much greater. Plus, if
they start smoking at a younger age, they will become addicted to it
and will be more dependent on cigarettes. Therefore more demand
calls for more supply, and Id be the one raking in the profits.
Slide 12
One message that I want the intended audience to pick up on is
the essence of bandwagon. If you smoke Winston Cigarettes,
youll belong to the cool group and you wont be alone!
Winston cigarettes make you happy, as you can see, the three
present characters are all sporting a smile, while Fred, is in the
background frowning.
Another message that I wanted to broadcast is that Winston is
the future, more on this later.



Slide 12 contd
Essentially, the message that I wanted to
convey in my advertisement was how big
corporations such as: Winston Cigarettes at the
time, employed simple advertising tactics to
entertain, persuade and inform easily
influenced audiences to buy their product. In
the advertisement I created, I used many key
methods that would affect the youth.
Slide 13
In the ad I implemented the idea of peer pressure. Peer pressure is
influence that a peer group exerts on others to change their attitudes.
The peer pressure that I want to achieve in this advertisement is
related to bandwagon. Essentially, you see what you want to be, and
you change your actions to appeal to that group. In the
advertisement, there is a group of characters smoking, while one
character is left out of the group, sad. The goal of the poster is to get
that child involved because which child would want to be left out? Am
I right?
Another technique that I capitalized on in the ad was the usage of
stylistic devices. Here are some that I used:
Slide 13 continued
- Very little copy (text) would appeal to the intended audience.
Kids dont want to read, they want to see pictures. Most kids
dont have the attention span to read a whole advertisement, they would
rather see a couple of words (in this case the brand and a slogan), rather
than a couple of paragraphs. I know for a fact that I wasnt able to read full
magazine advertisements or watch full TV commercials when I was a kid.
- The camera angle also plays a big deal in conveying the
message to the audience. The cool group is close shot and the
point of view of the ad, while Fred is at long shot and alone.
The camera angle used in the ad is at a high tilt angle. It gives
the viewer the full point of view, it makes them feel like
nothing is missing out, all of the details are present.
Slide 13 continued
The content in the ad can be noticed in characters, set and colour.
In order to appeal to the intended audience, I used famous cartoon
characters. The famous characters that are found in the ad are
Spiderman, Superman, Bugs Bunny and Fred Flintstone. The usage of
characters in the ad creates a relationship between the audience and
the advertisement, based on previous memories, experiences and
favoritism. The goal is basically to make them think: Oh, if superman
smokes, I should smoke, then maybe I too, could have super
powers!!!


Slide 13 continued
The set in the ad can be seen as the cityscape on the horizon. They
are in a field in front of a city. Back in the 1960s there werent many
large cities like the one in the picture, so I thought maybe if I put this
large city skyline in my background, people could assume that
Winston would be the future.
Colour: colours used in the ad are warm and comforting which would
generally appeal to the intended audience.
Arrangement in the ad can be seen in the 2 main groups of the
advertisement. While the cool group is the focal point of the poster,
poor lonely Fred is in his own group at the back.
Slide 14
Quite contrary to the primary text, the language, diction and tone in
the creative media response are much different, and this is to make
sure that the new audience is targeted. Diction is found to be
monosyllabic in the slogan of the advertisement and it is found to be
denotative. The meaning of the advertisement is exact. This would
appeal to the new audience because it is much simpler. Language
relating to the diction is plain, precise and concrete unlike the
informal/conversational form of the primary text. This renders the
tone more serious. The seriousness stresses the importance of the
slogan Dont miss out. The serious tone has a greater impact on the
audience, as they would feel bad if they were not to obey the rules.

Slide 15
The ad was created in context to many aspects of the primary
advertisement. It considered the date of the primary advertisement.
The ad was aimed to look more futuristic, to convey the message and
to persuade the audience that Winston Cigarettes is the future, and
that they will be around for a long time. The context of creation also
considered the economic demographic. For example, in 1960, 32% of
families in Boston were homeowners. 86% of Bostonian house-
owners owned televisions. The idea of the ad was to create an poster
that was available to all the people, especially the younger audiences.

Slide 16
The primary text was able to persuade an older audience by
employing smart advertising tactics, anti-competitive behaviour and
textual bias. The creative aspects and stylistic devices used in the
creative media response were put in place to persuade the younger
audience.
The primary text was able to entertain by using humorous dialogues
and actions that would only be understood by older audiences, whilst
the creative response was able to entertain by using many characters
that would have appealed to a younger audience.


Slide 16 continued
The primary text used the anti-competitive
behaviour and textual bias to inform the
audience that as a matter of fact, Winston
cigarettes are better than the next leading
brand. The media response was able to briefly
the inform the younger audience by the usage
of a slogan and peer-pressure.

Slide 17
A question to look at and reflect upon is: how do both advertisements
reflect on the audiences cultural values?
One cultural value that can is be looked at is the way the ad targets
the audiences interests in media culture. The ad directly deals with
the preference of media tastes of the two different audiences. One
advertisement appeals to one audience, while one ad focuses on a
younger audience. The selling point all depends on how that audience
perceives the commercial and how cultured is the audience.
Another question that can be asked is: are the advertisements fair?

Slide 17 continued
The only possible answer: of course not, the goal of the advertiser is
to try and get as many people to buy their product as possible with
the least amount of difficulty. The learning outcome I focused on in
this FOA was to show the way mass media uses language to inform,
persuade or entertain.
A speculation that I was able to make was that most advertisers only
include 2/3 of these tasks: they entertain, and they persuade but they
leave out the inform. The audience, has to buy the product, to figure
out the inform for themselves.
Thank you for listening!