Rhetorical Analysis On Snickers 'Hungry' Campaign

Snickers launched the “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign during the Super Bowl in 2010. Snickers played on the fact that when one gets hungry they change into an extreme alter and Snickers is the only is to replenish yourself back to yourself. Snickers launched their “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign during the Super Bowl that aired in 2010. This campaign has continued ever since. It has been since expanded to include several commercials, three different styles of print ads, and spoofs on twitter and Google. This paper is going to look at how this campaign has been able thrive in a market that is cluttered with advertisements.

The audience that Snickers is trying to target is very large. The ads and commercials appeal

to men, women, elderly, and children. Snicker grabs the audience by use of context, clever illustrations, and color themes. To improve popularity of the Snickers product, Mars Inc. started advertising the brand in famous sporting events such as the Super Bowl. The brand name also has supported and sponsored several participants in the NASCAR. It is typical behavior for a snickers commercial to have famous actors. The ads that I am introducing contain famous beloved actors whom are very popular because it makes consumers jump on the band wagon. When people see their favorite celebrities on TV using a product, it is typical for one to assume that this product is good or works well if someone of such high status is using it. This is just another advertising strategy. A producer of anyone good wants to appeal to a wide variety of consumers. A great example is celebrities, but also ionic characters.
Snickers need to get back to its roots and to become relevant again. To do this Snickers returned to BBDO, who had previously done “Hungry? Why wait?”, “Don’t let hunger happen to you” and “Snickers Satisfies” (Sampey, 2001; Beirne, 2006). By returning to BBDO, Snickers knew that they would be working with an ad agency that understood their brand image. This time around BBDO would create a campaign that combined hunger satisfaction and the side effects of hunger.
Snickers has a catchy and humorous campaign that appeals to how people act when they are hungry that has become known across the globe.
The Snicker's advertisements focus on the message, "You're not you when you're hungry." This quote has become the main slogan for Snickers along with "Snickers Satisfies." The campaign "You're not you when you're hungry" was first launched in 2010 and is still used today.

Besides the fact that everyone needs something to eat when they are hungry, this convinces the viewers that everyone can lose it at times. Everyone has times where they go crazy, even occasionally becoming something you are not typically. Have no fear because when you are not yourself, a Snickers bar will satisfy your cravings. Snickers uses various advertising appeals to lure viewers in about a 30 second slip. Mars Inc. and BBDO New York work together to produce most of the commercials for the snickers company. The main focus of Snickers commercials is its appeal to humor. It's humorous because there is a shock factor on the transformation between the hungry and the satisfied character. One could argue that this series of commercials appeals to both bandwagon and individuality. The bandwagon approach is expressed when a friend or acquaintance offers a Snickers candy bar to the troubled foolish character. This shows that the friend has been through this before or this is typical behavior for someone who is under the influence of hunger and that everyone needs a Snickers when that time comes. The individuality perspective can be shown through the unique way that Snickers portrays their commercials. Snicker commercials are memorable because of the use of comedy. This is unique and shows individual style of how costumers perceive the

commercials.
Besides just having a campaign that would not be offensive Snickers wanted a campaign that could be global. To do this Snickers wanted a campaign that was able to adapt to different market without losing the message or local appeal (Lewis, 2012, p. 12). This meant that the message had to be simple and to point. Snickers “You’re not you when you’re hungry” does this by showcasing different ways men act when they are hungry. As Zaibak (2012) points out this campaign, “has been rolled out in over 40 countries...each country has its own unique celebrities and contests that appeal to its population”. This shows that Snickers and BBDO were able to create a universal message.
The first commercial from this campaign was seen during the 2010 Super Bowl. This gives a great deal of insight into who Snickers is targeting in their commercial. Asa Berger (2010) states the average viewer of the Super Bowl is a male between the ages of 18 and 45 (p. 25). Theses male have an idea what it means to be part of a pack of men that play football and the rules that would be expected to be a part of this pack. Betty White is featured in this commercial as an old whiney woman who is not able to keep up with the pace of the game or catch the football. She is hit to the ground landing in a puddle of mud after failing to make a catch. As she is lying in the mud a look of disgust is across her face and she looks like as if she is on the verge of tears. Surprisingly she gets up and returns to the huddle where the quarter back says “Mike you’re playing like Betty White out there” (Snickers, 2010). This is where the audience first learns that Betty White is not really out there playing football but it is some guy named Mike who in his normal state could fit in with the pack. At this time Mike’s girlfriend comes running up and offers Mike a Snickers bar. Still portrayed as Betty White, Mike opens the Snickers and takes a bite which magically turns him back to his normal self. His girlfriend ask him if he’s better which he replies “better” before returning to the game. The game continues but now the quarterback hungry and is seen as an old mhttps://www.paperrater.com/free_paper_graderan before being sacked. The words “You’re not you when you’re hungry” are shown and read and the commercial end with the candy car being shown along with the Snickers logo with satisfies underneath it (Snickers, 2010).
The Snickers bar in this is the key to the magic of transforming a hungry person back to normal. This commercial plays into belief. One second the football player is a slow old woman and the next he is a young man able to get open down the field on the next play. Hunger can be seen here as spell that caused the young man to turn into an old woman and only a Snickers candy bar can break that spell. It breaks the spell the viewer is told because Snickers (2010) “Satisfies”.
Response to this Campaign
After the first commercial aired during the Super Bowl positive reviews started coming in. This showed that Snickers and BBDO where able to cut through the clutter if all the Super Bowl commercial and be memorable without offending. The excitement surrounding the campaign grew, generating an impressive amount of earned media and press, including millions of incremental and unpaid media impressions, online views and a massive 18,000% in searches for the snickers brand on Google and YouTube. The agency was able to create the awareness it wanted. The initial commercial was seen as a success for their creativity and their humor.
As the campaign continues more signs of success have been seen. In 2011 BBDO received the gold Effie under the new category for global awareness (2011 Gold Effie Winner, 2011). This showed that Snickers had reached its goal of having a global campaign.
Not only has the ad been created to meme its most famous one features the North Korean Dictator portraying the part of a diva.