Media Artifact Analysis: KFC Commercial
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Nowadays, globalization is a fundamental phenomenon that is playing a vital role in
almost every field of life and demands more focus on cultural, and social contexts. The effects of
globalization are not limited to particular fields however it impacts each aspect of life, regarding
arts globalization, has proved as an innovation that has brought different ideas and businesses at
a global level with an interesting approach. Globalization has dominated the arts and thus most
businesses are using the global approach in their commercials. I have chosen a media artifact for
analysis and my media artifact is a commercial of KFC, fast food brand, “Make Chinese New
Year a little sweeter with KFC.” The advancements in art have also evolved the artistic approach
in different areas to a greater extent and have affected the strategies to promote the products or
services of the organizations. In addition, the shift of the art has revolutionized the social
strategies for businesses and now they are more focused on globalization.
The analysis of the commercial, “Make Chinese New Year a little sweeter with KFC” as
a media artifact consists of a few significant readings of the module that provide important
directions to the media artifact analysis. For example, the analysis of the commercial refers to the
concept of the effects of globalization on art that focuses on the advanced techniques and
strategies that it used to attract potential consumers. Globalization regarding the commercial
used the diverse cultural heritage and social context that are essential when it comes to the
businesses at the international level. Today, the different communities strive to find dignity and
meaning in the commercials of the brands or the organizations that can be related to their cultural
and social contexts, this is what focused in the commercial of KFC in Singapore, China is
focused and presented an interesting commercial to promote KFC in China. The major focus of
the commercial is the cultural context of the country and for this purpose the strategic approach
of the commercial aims to use the traditional event, “New Year” of the Chinese to grab the
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attention of the potential consumers of the country (Miller & Kraidy, 2016). This commercial
uses the approach of globalization to meet the needs of its consumers having diverse cultural or
social values. The scenario of the commercial is also thoughtful and makes different noises while
hiding from the duplicate ones. The effects of globalization on art also indicate the impacts of the
global focus on the production, consumption, and distribution of the commercial. The reach of
the commercial to the global business structure is the major concept of the commercial.
The artistic aspects of the commercial show association with the cultural contexts of the
Chinese thus ensuring that they understand and value the traditions of the Chinese people thus
present themselves as the preferable fast-food brand. Through the commercial brand, KFC
conveys a message for the Chinese through their own cultural language of symbolism and act of
kindness. The various effects of globalization have advanced advertisements and revolutionized
the techniques and technologies that are being used in advertisements or commercials (van
Mulken et al., 2005). The brand, KFC also focused on the advanced approach of the commercial
and present the cultural aspects through the latest technologies to convey its cultural message to
the targeted audience or the consumers. This adoption in the commercial helps the brands to
tackle the strategic challenges and thus help the brands to reach the audience of the certain
country by using the dominated media platforms to present the commercial, similar approach the
KFC brand adopted to make it a potential choice in the country.
Another fundamental concept is “The Media and Social Theory” which is from the
module readings and closely associated with the focused commercial of KFC. In the translation
world, the mobility of the media is an essential aspect to be addressed effectively. The
commercial delivers a stimulus that produces an effect on the targeted consumers. These various
effects direct the perception of the people about the brand and affect their decision to buy the
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products or the services. The mobility of media strengthens the commercial and helps the brand
to achieve its targeted goals. Moreover, the commercial also focuses on the environmental
context that decides how the consumers will respond to the commercial and how they value the
brand (Lindell, 2015). Digital mobility is making the future of the businesses therefore the
commercial focuses on the mobility of the media thus targeting the potential consumers of the
certain area. Social theory plays a vital role in making strategic decisions and designing the
marketing plan for the products or the services of a company including the use of different
influential factors such as the language. This theory helps the business to focus on the particular
community by analyzing the major aspects of the community and various traditions of the
people. This approach is followed in the commercial of the KFC brand.
The processes of production, distribution and use of the commercial are different than the
traditional printed advertisements or the combination of different visuals. This commercial is
produced as a complete story with the latest technologies to improve its visuals and it is
distributed through dominated media channels such as television and social media channels to
reach more and more patients. This commercial is used to present the KFC in Singapore
according to the cultural and social contexts. The objectives of the commercial are similar to that
of the advertisement campaigns of KFC in other various countries, attracting potential
consumers, promoting products or services, increasing productivity, and thus profitability of the
brand. It also promotes the traditional approach in China, “New Year” as an event that is
described by the kindness of the people. This media artifact circulates at regional and national
scales by focusing on certain cultural and social contexts.
This media artifact shapes the understanding of media and communication by elaborating
that the communication styles regarding the media vary with cultural aspects. The commercial
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contributes to maintaining the ideologies of the international brands especially the fast-food
brands and presents them with their ability to adapt the different cultures according to their
targeted markets. The commercial also provides a deep understanding that the approach and
intentions of the brands in their commercials or the advertisements define their focus on a certain
culture and how they will value their traditions. In a nutshell, the media artifact, the commercial
of KFC, relate to the global approach of the fast-food brand and targets international consumers.
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References
Lindell, J. (2015). Bourdieusian media studies: returning social theory to old and new media.
Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 16(3), 362–377.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910x.2015.1040427
Miller, T., & Kraidy, M. M. (2016). Global Media Studies (1st ed.). Polity.
van Mulken, M., Enschot, R. V., & Hoeken, H. (2005). Levels of implicitness in magazine
advertisements. Information Design Journal, 13(2), 155–164.
https://doi.org/10.1075/idjdd.13.2.09mul
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Media Artifact (Commercial)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnPAnFG-Lh8
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