Budweiser SuperBowl Commercial 2013

Budweiser’s commercials on the iconic Clydesdale horses have always been a super bowl tradition and this year is no different. The star of the sweet and sentimental Budweiser commercial aired during the super bowl 2013 was a baby Clydesdale born in January this year. 

The minute and forty-seven seconds long commercial is paired with the iconic song Landslide sung by the classic Fleetwood Mac. The pairing of the lyrics and the moments shared in the commercial is so impeccable it has helped to heighten the emotional connection to the commercial, and also narrate the story through song successfully even without a dialogue in the commercial. 

The song not only helps to subconsciously explain the commercial especially being one without a dialoged, but it also helps to tie an emotional connection to the consumer. Being a popular song in which most viewers during the super bowl may have heard, it brings the advertisement closer to home with the fact that the Clydesdales horses are the ‘American sweetheart’ of the super bowl commercial being shown every year for the past 30 years makes it more personal for the viewers to relate to. This creates a lasting impression for the viewers by tugging their heart strings and they would now associate Clydesdale horses to the brand Budweiser. In the short time frame where everyone wants to fight for a spot to advertise to millions of people who are tuning in to watch the super bowl, it is important to stand out from the other brands and create a lasting impression in which viewers will remember and talk about even after the super bowl is over. 

The Cave

Mumford and Sons are an English folk-rock group which makes up of multi-instrumentalists who are known for incorporating traditional folk instruments such as banjo, mandolin and resonator guitar. They are part of the rising community of the ‘west London folk scene’ with the number of ‘folk’ artist such as themselves, Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling and many more from west London gaining popularity and recognition.The Cave is a song written by Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons. Mumford and Sons are known for their implicit messages regarding towards daily struggles, celebrations, and everything in life really. Much like their genre counterparts, these songs offer a deeper and implicit meaning in them, unlike pop music which is generally much about sex, drugs, getting drunk and rather explicit meanings. 

Thus the cave is no exception. At first listen, the song seems to be about persuading a man to come out of his cave and offering him support and strength and hoping he sees the world differently but it really is a song inspired by metaphors. Play the music video of the song below and let me know in the comments below if you had the same view of the song as I did.

Usually when listening to a song, I would immediately like most of you guys, listen and be attracted to the melody and the tune of the music, however The Cave is different. I immediately saw philosophical and even theological undertones (metaphors) in the song.

Listening to the lyrics immediately brought me to think about the probability of Marcus’s reference to Plato’s writing, allegory of the cave. The philosopher describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all their lives, facing a blank wall. They watch shadows projected on the wall created by people carrying objects in front of a fire. There is a low wall between them which only allows the shadow of the objects to be cast. The prisoners begin to assign names to these shadows as they are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality. The story continues according to Plato’s Socrates, a prisoner is released and he is exposed to the reality of the world and he finds it hard to belief as the ‘shadows’ were only form of reality he has been exposed to. He struggles to adapt to the ‘new world’ as he leaves the cave. Plato argued that the invisible world is the most intelligible, and that the visible world is the least knowable, and therefore the most incomprehensible. The Greek philosopher believed that the soul exists in a realm apart from the body and the thinker is separate from the world he thinks about. 

           

‘So come out of your cave walking on your hands, and see the world hanging upside down, You can understand dependence, When you know the maker’s land’. The common belief of coming out from a cave would be being lost back in time. Unable to catch up with the fast paced world, coming out of the cave would make you seem outdate, out of touch of the world. However the song suggests the complete opposite. It suggests coming out of the cave as having a fresh perspective of the world and looking at things differently in hope to make us realize that we depend on our creator, god.

The song also had a reference to ancient Greek poet Homer’s Greek epic, Odyssey. The basic metaphoric terms used in the song are aplenty, which provides implicit meanings and opens it to different interpretations of the song. The Cave is not their only song to reference a classical piece of philosophical literature. This song not only leans on a heavier reference towards, Plato’s allegory of the cave, but it uses various references and metaphoric terms throughout the song. This results in a very implicit song, which could be interpreted in various ways, but the common or main characteristic of this song is that it has an inspiring message to its listeners especially to the younger audience who may be going through struggles in life etc., which makes the song popular.

Crazy Old Aunts Deserve To Die

 'No one deserves to die' campaign is a series of six posters, suggesting that cat lovers, crazy aunts, hipsters, the genetically privileged, the smug, and the tattooed deserves to die, if they have lung cancer.You would have probably seen it on bus shelters, phone kiosks, in subway stations, in movie theaters. 

At first glance this advertisement seems to want to achieve and stimulate a discussion within the community and even the world through its controversial headlines and the underlying message beneath it. The explicit message of the ad appears to redefine and the common myths and stigma such as the association of tobacco and lung cancer, and creates an underlying statement that everyone and anyone can be diagnosed with lung cancer. It hopes that by creating this awareness, it would help the public not to discriminate, increasing the chances of early detection and no one deserves to die. But what this advertisement is actually saying is how we wish crazy old aunts would die, or we wouldn't care if they did.

It is very clear by the way she is dressed, her posture and her facial expression makes me as a reader dislike her. She doesn't seem friendly, with too much make-up and jewelries and especially with the glass of alcohol in her hand. She seems to be the 'black-sheep' of the family, the crazy old aunts you dislike and run away from at family gatherings and dinner parties. And someone you wouldn't care or even wish she passed away.

This series of advertisement is successful in making you wonder, do people actually really wish that cat lovers, crazy aunts, hipsters, the genetically privileged, the smug, and the tattooed deserve to die? These characters are ironic the ‘socially awkward’, which normal people would find it hard to connect to, or maybe even finding them weird. Which brings us back to the thesis, this advertisement is really about how we would wish crazy old aunts die, or wouldn't care if they did. 

Below is the Video of the Ad Campaign

ArchiDose, A Blog Review

A little introduction to those who may not have read ArchiDose, it is an architectural blog which gives reads a almost daily insight to the arts and architectural scene in New York and around the world. Started by Contemporary architect John Hill in 2004, ArchiDose was voted the top 10 Architectural Blogs in 2012.
He provides reviews, critiques and experiences of art and architectural projects in his posts through imagery, videos and writing. As a 'New-Yorker', he provides an interesting and exciting perspective to his readers.

John HILL, Author of Archidose

Even though Hill brings a daily insight of New York’s finest of the art, design and architecture scene, the main focus of the blog however, is how much diversity Hill has to offer. Hill, provides a wide variety of writing styles on his blog. They range from book reviews, personal experiences at art exhibitions, to the newest and coolest architectural project in town and case studies supported by statistical facts and data. Most of his posts in which Hill writes are explicit, with clear views and opinions expressed about a project or the subject of the post. However, there are a couple of posts every so often offering implicit messages, leaving readers to ponder about what he wrote. When making a standpoint or a view on his posts, Hill is careful to further explain and back up any claims or views with evidence through photographs, personal experiences, data, statistics, and interviews and so on.

Being a reader of this blog, a rather religious one i must add, it is definitely the visuals and also the content of his post which attracts me and draws me into reading more. His posts are short and direct. Yet honest and appealing. I would definitely encourage you to read ArchiDose and you don't even have to be in the arts or architecture industry. Even looking for a easy read after a long tiring day at work, ArchiDose is your blog to go to.