Betty White's Appeal

    This week, I'd like to discuss the thought processes that go into making commercials and selling big name products to consumers.  When I think of the best commercials, I think of the Superbowl.  Everyone  knows that big companies pull out all the stops and spend all year planning and creating fantastic commercials to air during the prime time Superbowl slot.  Last year, my favorite commercial had to be the Snickers commercial featuring Betty White.  I want to look at this commercial a little closer and delve into what the creative designers and commercial specialists at Snickers were thinking when they came up with the concept for this particular sales pitch.

To do this, I'm going to be using a method of analysis called Toulmin Analysis.  If you haven't seen the commercial or watched the video I've posted above, the commercial opens on Betty White playing football and getting tackled.  It's obvious that Betty White's presence in the commercial is a metaphor for the guy that is playing football not being himself.  His friends tell him he's playing like Betty White and his girlfriend gives him a snickers and he turns back into himself.  

Because this commercial originally aired during the Superbowl, the target audience was the people watching the game, thus people who enjoy football, so having a commercial featuring a football game is appropriate for the target audience.  Through this commercial, Snickers is claiming that it is a satisfying snack when your hungry.  Their slogan is "You're not you when you're hungry.  Snickers satisfies."  Its evident, by using the contradiction of Betty White (an old woman) playing contact football, that Snickers is trying to show when you're hungry, you don't perform at your highest level.  This can be applied to almost any situation, not just the case of a pickup game.  

Warrants used in this commercial include the assumption that the audience knows who Betty White is and can see the humor in her playing football.  Also, Snickers assumes that the audience will know that in a situation like playing sports, you don't want to eat a big meal if you're hungry because you'll get sick, so a light but satisfying snack (like a Snickers bar) is usually the best way to suppress you're hunger until later.  Another big assumption that snickers is making is that the target audience will be able to apply the commercial's message to other situations like snacking throughout the day, or a quick pick me up before a test or between classes.

Here is the link to the commercial where I found it on Youtube.