Old Spice Commercial Comparison

Commercial Comparison

In this essay I will be describing the differences and likenesses between two commercials. I will also provide the messages of the commercials and evidence that proves the message. The first commercial is from the company “Old Spice” and it happens to be a decently comical commercial. On the other hand, the other commercial is a somewhat more meaningful one, and it’s company name is “Pantene.”

In this first commercial, we see a man performing all these ‘manly’ tasks, such as buying tickets to a desirable event or presenting his lover with countless diamonds. The almost obvious message of this is, ‘If you want your man to be a man, make him smell like one.’ As previously mentioned, evidence can be used to deduce this message. In the commercial we see the man riding a white horse, and, if I may recall there is a saying that goes “My Prince Charming will ride in on a white horse.” He also presents many objects that a woman could declare as dreamy. In this commercial they had a lot of scenery jumps. One minute he’s on a boat, and the next he’s astride a white horse. They also use bright lights to attract eye attention. They used very

flattering camera angles, and they had very funny lines, making the overall commercial comical. They also used a little whistle, or jingle you’d say, to cause the audience to remember said jingle and think about the commercial throughout the day. This commercial made me laugh at times because it was kind of all over the place & very silly.

The second commercial is a tad more solemn. It is by the company “Pantene,” and is about a young deaf girl who has a passion to play the violin. The message of this commercial is, ‘You can get through anything with the right mindset,’ but in this case, your hair can get through anything. This message is presented by the girl playing her violin despite being teased because of it. In the commercial we see a bully smash the young girl’s violin in a violent attempt to stop her from playing it. This is concrete evidence because despite the violin being broken and damaged, much like hair, it can be fixed. The commercial presents these scenes with dramatic scenery changes. For instance, she could be strumming on her violin, and the next shot a caterpillar is emerging from its cocoon, much like the girl emerges from her ‘cocoon’ into the world she now faces. The dim lighting also gives a more soft and gentle look to the commercial. They also have a very sudden music change, as the girl’s emotions spike and become more outward such as the song. The camera angles were very sharp and they showed the intense emotion portrayed by the actors. In the duration of the commercial, there is a soft background music that adds to the whole feel as well. This commercial gave me chills, and at the end I was laughing in a kind of ‘take that’ manner.

These commercials were very different for they both had a different message and a different mindset.

But, they did have some likenesses. For instance, they both contained dramatic scenery leaps, used to portray the feelings of the people involved. They also used dramatic lighting to get the effect they were wanting across. They also used music to go along with the overall tone of the commercials, such in the Old Spice one they had a little jingle at the end and the Pantene one had intense music. In contrast, they had different tones because one was funny and one was serious. The difference in lighting was that one had dim lighting and one had bright lighting. There was also a definition in simplicity as well. The Old Spice commercial was short and catchy, whilst the Pantene one was longer and more

detailed.

In conclusion, both of these commercials were great. They both had a defined message, one being comical and one being serious. They were quite different, but similar in a way or two.