Jael Gordon
Engl.103- McCord
November 12th, 2011
College Students Freedom from Parental Rule
Imagine that you are a college student living in a dorm room and you wake up to the
sound of your cell phone ringing and it is your parents saying that they are coming to visit. The
only problem is that the room is a mess. You get off the phone and realize how soon they will be
there, so you start to rush and clean your room before they get there. Realizing that the mess was
the result of two people, you wake up your roommate telling her the situation and she says,
“How are we going to get this mess clean?” Through the use of logical reasoning that people
have to buy grocery store items, exaggerated facial expressions, different camera techniques and
ambiance, the Target commercial, relays the assumption that freedom granted to college students
away at school enables a less regulated lifestyle.
The prominent theme of the Target commercial is college preparedness. This
commercial exemplifies preparedness through its attention grabbing opening. The opening of
the commercial is the words “Get
Ready Get Going” then the
commercial continues with a silent
short story about a college girl
Image from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjog
XDoVKrw&feature=relmfu
whose parents are coming to visit
her. However, she has a huge problem, her room is a
mess and there is no possible way for her to get the room clean before her parents get there. The
girl wakes her roommate up to explain that they have a short time to get the room clean before
her parents come to visit and the upbeat music begins to play. As the roommates use different
items to tidy up the room as fast as possible, in turn the items they use are from Target. The
advertiser, Target expects that the target audience will be inclined to shop at Target so they are
prepared for a situation such as the one in the commercial. Not only because the commercial is
relatable but also because the prices of the items the roommates use to clean their room in a
hurry are reasonably priced. This plays
into the role of logical reasoning used by
Target advertising because the commercial
shows an object the two girls use to clean
their room and later shows the price for
that item at Target stores.
For instance, the shot of the laundry basket here shows the laundry basket and Tide detergent
Image from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjog
XDoVKrw&feature=relmfu
before showing the face of the girl and a few seconds later it show
the price of both Tide laundry detergent and the laundry basket.
Throughout the commercial there are moments similar to this one meaning that Target wants to
reinforce the place to get the great items. Furthermore, with this type of reinforcement there is a
certain aspect of logical reasoning; Target stores know that people can get these same items from
any store however, they want to emphasize the low prices for their quality goods. The
commercial also stresses their quality for low prices by emphasizing the brand names such as
Tide detergent, Downy fabric softener, and Clorox wipes. This commercial reaches out to
people that are young, middle –class, and concerned about brand name items which shows that
Target is an up-scale store. Target is showing
the logical reason to shop at their store for the
Image from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjog
XDoVKrw&feature=relmfu
non-brand name quality items for low prices but also these brands that some people may care
about. The use of logical reasoning and bringing into the commercial the low prices caters to the
college student audience viewing this commercial because it appeals to the assumption that
college students have freedom and with that freedom comes responsibility to take care of things
without parental guidance.
The commercial also uses facial expressions to appeal to the target audience; the
commercial is basically a silent short movie and the viewer has to use the facial expressions to
understand the situation and stress of it.
The commercial is relatable for most
people because there has been a time in
most people’s lives when they have had to
clean the house in a hurry for surprise
guests. The facial expression of the girl who is
about to get a visit from her parents shows her
Image from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjog
XDoVKrw&feature=relmfu
frustration with the situation. Then the girl’s facial expressions change throughout the
commercial from stressed or frustrated to happiness and finally relief when the job is done.
However, the sight of her parents takes her facial expressions from relief to shock because she
was not expecting their visit. The Target stores exemplify that they can put together an effective
advertisement using only music and facial expressions or body language relaying the message to
their target audience of college students that need to come to their stores in order to be prepared
for a similar scenario. The facial expressions used throughout the commercial demonstrate that
the college student’s life is hectic until the regulation of parents step back into their lives. Then
these students rush to make the appearance of being able to keep things in order while on their
own. The commercial exemplifies the situation and gives the solution to the situation with
Target’s quality goods at low prices.
The commercial for Target demonstrates the assumption that college students are lacking
rules without the parental regulations in the use of camera tricks. Throughout the commercial
the camera makes certain to come in at a certain angle to make the product Target is selling
stressed. The commercial has moments when the camera has to focus in on an object in order to
stress that the commercial is about items found at Target and not two college girls cleaning a
room. The camera tricks enhance the products being sold, for example one of the camera tricks
throughout the commercial in superimposing on a screen. At the beginning of the commercial
there is the superimposed words,” Get Ready Get Going”. However, there are two more times
that the camera superimposes on the screen which is after the roommates finish cleaning the
room and the parents open the door, then again after the girl realizes something else is on the
floor and kicks it under the couch. The camera superimposes at the last two moments of the
commercial the Target logo and slogan.
The other camera trick utilized throughout the commercial is focusing in on an object.
As the commercial tried to make certain to capture the goods being advertised, they made a huge
effort in camera zooming. In the commercial the camera
Image from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjog
XDoVKrw&feature=relmfu
would show the two
girls cleaning their
room putting things into laundry baskets, or wiping tables off
with Clorox wipes. When the Clorox wipes were being used
the camera zoomed in on the container to make sure the
consumer could see it. The camera tricks help to persuade the audience to want to buy the items
from the advertiser because they are easily recognized because of the size.
Image from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjog
XDoVKrw&feature=relmfu
The ambiance is created to reach the
target audience which is college students,
however with the two female roommates, the
target audience could be perceived as female college students. The situation is applicable to both
females and males in the college student category. In the picture the advertisement places a girl
of African American descent and a girl of Caucasian descent in a room which presents a
combination that appeal to two of the few large groups of the United States population. These
two ethnic groups in a dorm room was smart for advertising because the consumers would be
able to see that they do not need to be of a certain ethnicity to shop at Target for college. The
commercial is not racially biased making consumers of all races and colors able to put
themselves into the two girl’s situation easily.
The mood of the commercial is also created through the music used throughout the
advertisement. This Target commercial uses an upbeat tune to make the commercial express two
messages which is fun and rushed. In the event that someone is coming for a surprise visit and
the house is a mess or in this case the room is a mess there is a feeling of being in a hurry. The
upbeat music relays the message of urgency through its high tones and fast pace. The music of
the commercial also portrays the message of having a good time. Throughout the commercial
after the frustration passes the roommates begin to have fun cleaning their room and are smiling
and laughing. Their happiness is inferred
to
be from having all their helpful items from
Target.
Lastly, to convey the commercial’s
atmosphere the advertisers make certain to
make the fashion reflect the current times. Since the
Image from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjog
XDoVKrw&feature=relmfu
commercial is from August of 2011, it is imperative that the commercial is related to the modern
fashion. One of the modern fashions noted in the commercial is the pajamas. The pajamas of
women over the years have changed and for the commercial to be believable the modern
standards of pajamas must be upheld. Women of college age do not typically were silky or fancy
pajamas, they tend to wear cotton materials that can be worn outside as well as night clothes.
Another modern fashion that makes the commercial believable to be recent as August 2011 are
the skinny jeans and wedges that the African American descent college student has on. In this
picture as she has just finished kicking the last misplaced thing under her bed, her shoes and
pants show and the audience sees her fashion is up to date. The mood plays into the assumption
that free college students are not in touch with normal rules without their parents because the
music, fashion, and mixed living situation shows the crazy life of a college student.
The Target stores commercial to encourage college students to go out and buy items from
their stores in order to be ready for this type of situation formulate the assumption that college
students have a completely different way of living without the parental rule. The prominent way
that Target persuades this assumption is through the mood of the commercial. Through the
ambiance created throughout the commercial the target audience is able to realize that the
situation is identifiable. Through making the commercial common the advertisers at Target get
what they want which is for the consumer base to be broad.
Work Cited
Target . “Dorm Detail-Get Back To College Ready At Target.” 25 Aug. 2011. Online video
clip. Youtube. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjogXDoVKrw&
feature=relmfu >