Sunday, September 16, 2007

I Am Man - Burger King



This is a Burger King ad I found on YouTube. At first it just seemed funny, but after I watched it a second time I actually did notice some thoughtful use of film techniques. This clip starts off with a guy eating in a restaurant with a woman. The premise of the ad is that Burger King will help men satisfy their desire to eat "manly" and massive amounts of food-- to convey this idea right away, the camera shows a close-up of a white plate with a few tiny pieces of food. This shot lasts just enough so we understand what's happening, and then the next shot shows the guy looking down at his plate, looking up, and deciding to sing a song in rebellion and dedication to finding more food to eat. The next part of the clip is all about following this guy on his journey to go find food fit for a man. The camera pretty much follows the guy out of the restaurant, out of the doors (with a nice dramatic shot of the doors opening to the outside world) and out into the street. All the while, the guy is singing "I Am Man." I thought the song was done pretty effectively, because every once in awhile the guy singing turns his head to the camera so it's clear that he's the one singing and that the words are describing his actions, but there's also a variety of angles so we aren't constantly face-to-face with the guy. My favorite part is when he arrives at Burger King-- he's reached his destination, and then the next second shows a group of other men walking out with the Texas Double Whoppers in hand. There are a lot of shots that only last for a second or two, so it feels really fast-paced. I think this pretty standard for commercials, but it especially well for the idea of fast food, because it really does establish a sense of quickness. During the rest of the clip, what I really noticed was the close-up shots of the burger itself. Sometimes the camera itself does a close-up, and at other times someone physically pushes it towards the camera. The burger is also seen with a variety of stereotypical "tought guy" symbols: guys flexing their muscles, constructions workers, and even a fire with cheerleaders in the background. Obviously, the overall purpose of the ad is to get its viewers (and especially their targeted male audience) interested and willing to go out and buy this Texas Double Whopper burger. Overall I think they made pretty good use of camera shots, strategic positioning, and music to catch the eye of their intended audience.

2 comments:

Deck said...

Burger King is my favorite example of how advertising works. They must have scored one great ad agency, since all their commercials have been pretty funny the last couple years (particularly those involving the actual live action Burger King himself). They have been doing significantly better than McDonald's of late when, let's face it, both restaurants have pretty disgusting food; unfortunately for McD's, they are still attempting to get some life out of "I'm lovin' it," and I'm pretty sure no one actually is. By the way, anyone notice that in such a manly commercial, the chosen format is show tunes musical--something traditionally not-so-manly.

--Meaghan

gopherblog said...

This is an interesting commercial. I remember liking it and thinking it was funny back when it was on TV. One of the things I noticed about this clip is how the shots vary from the beginning to the end. Its starts with a close up of the chick food then moves to the guy. As the commercial progresses the shots get wider and wider showing the view this is not just one guy but a movement of men for big buggers. I think this commercial is very effective in getting its message across to men. It speaks to them, saying come join the club of only manly man burgers… rebel against chick healthy food… it kind of reminds me of “the man show” on comedy central. Another reason I know this commercial is effective is that my boyfriend saw it and was like “mmmmm I need that burger.”