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Rough Draft to RA Essay: Snickers-Betty White and Football

October 10, 2013 by Sam Etzi   

There is a special place in the heart of America for the little old woman who bakes cookies and gives money to her grandchildren, but imagine her kicking butt in a pick up football game.  Snickers uses this surprising situation in a humorous commercial to show how wimpy someone can be when hunger strikes.  The commercial depicts beloved actress Betty White taking a tackle from one of her buddies.  However, White is just the alter ego; she is the dainty old woman inside of everyone that lashes out when hunger attacks.  The scene painted is a classic game of all-American football with a couple of “bros.”  Oddly enough, one of the buddies is not acting like himself; in fact, he’s acting like a grandma out on the field.  After some vulgar bantering with one of his teammates, his girlfriend offers him a Snickers to satisfy the unsatisfied hunger inside him.  He quickly returns back to his beefy, manly self.  Betty White represents the antithesis of the burly men playing in a pick up game of football.  The humor behind an old women catching up with some dudes during a pick up game lures the audience in to the story line.  Snickers first aired this commercial during the 2010 Superbowl game.  The corporation successfully targeted the perfect audience with a football-based commercial during the biggest football game of the year.  It is obvious how successfully Snickers advertisement worked because this commercial scored the highest on the Ad Meter for the 2010 Superbowl.  Snickers successfully persuades the audience to quench their hunger with the delicious chocolate bar use rhetoric and humor through  commonplaces, Betty White, and the Snicker’s recognizable slogan.

Snickers strategically places commonplaces throughout the ad, utilizing characters and settings as bait to reel the audience in.  Snickers references a commonplace that has affected everyone who has had that growl in the pit of his or her stomach.  When hunger strikes, one can expect to become cranky as a result of the seemingly endless deep-belly rumble.  Snickers immediately addresses this common irritable mood with Betty White’s actions. By juxtaposing Betty White, an old feeble woman, with young men, Snickers formulates a humorous outlook on the subject.  By humorously calling attention to the commonplace, the audience can recognize themselves in Betty White and realize how insane they may act when they feel hungry.  The commercial calls for a solution to the problem by immediately presenting Betty White with the Snickers chocolate bar, causing the football player to return to his strapping, young self.  Snickers becomes the solution, and only solution, to the problem the starving young man faces.  Snickers connects the relationship between Betty White and the audience to its slogan.  By first presenting how the audience may be compared to Betty White in a similar situation, Snickers reiterates how uncharacteristically people act when they are hungry with the slogan.  The saying “You’re not you when you’re hungry” repeats the already established idea.  MORE EXPLANATION LOOK AT NOTES  The characters and slogans have a strong impact on the commonplace of irritability when someone is hungry, but the setting presents another commonplace.  The all-American football feel that Snickers emphasizes through the setting has causes a different response from the audience.  Americans are familiar with the autumn football feeling.  From the bros playing a fun, lively game to friends and family spending quality time in the stands sipping hot chocolate with blankets laid across their laps, the commercial brings back precious memories.. The setting connotes the homey feel of autumn and the crisp new air that many people love.  The setting not only evokes a cozy feeling from audience, but also conjures a feeling of nostalgia for many.  People grow up cheering, watching, or playing football, so it reminds some viewers of the cheerful memories.  The commercial exhibits commonplaces that hold true with many Americans.

The characters Betty White and Abe Vigoda present a purpose that is recognizably bigger than them.  The two humorous elderly people have made appearances in many commercials, television series, and movies.  White and Vigoda exhibit the perfect characteristics for the persuasive Snickers’ advertisement.  The considerably lively, elderly characters proved to be the causation of the compelling juxtaposition between fragile, old people and aggressive, young men.  This juxtaposition goes back to exactly how “wimpy” people can act when they are hungry.  By comparing a barbaric football player to an elderly old woman, a response was meant to be elicited.  No man wants to look like an old lady; they have to keep their macho pride of course.  While this comparison seems to be melodramatic, it provokes an audience to reflect on their own behavior.   Not only does Betty White’s frail manner surprise the viewers, but so does her vulgar language.  Again, comparing White to a crude young man draws on the humor of the situation, which plays a paramount role in the commercial. Snickers connects the comedic irony in the commercial to pathos because it extorts a pleasant emotion from the audience.  By evoking this jovial emotion, Snickers allows the audience to relate to the situation and connect this with the Snickers chocolate bar.

The slogan “You’re not you when you’re hungry” takes the audience away from the rest of the commercial and formulates a bigger picture the viewers can relate to. Because of the continuous repetition of the saying throughout many of the Snickers commercials, the audience already recognizes it. Snickers utilizes the slogan to its full potential because they have already reiterated the clever saying a substantial amount of times, so now the audience can reflect on the saying, which is also relatable.  Looking through many of the Snickers commercials, the corporation uses the saying in contrasting situations. In another strategized commercial, Snickers presents a scene with brawny men chopping down wood.  When, one of the workers begins to whine, he is given a Snickers.  In another advertisement, two friends are at a party, and one of the guys starts to insult the beautiful women as he becomes angry due to his hunger.  The situations vary, but the message does not.  Not only do the situations vary substantially, but so do the characters that are presented.  In the wood chopping commercial Richard Lewis and Roseanne Barr both act as whiny middle-aged wetblankets to prove the point.  In the party scene, Joe Pesci gets a unreasonably angry with some of the partygoers.  In all of the scenes, including the football one, the characters are comedians.  Betty White, like the other actors, is a well-regarded comedian.  Besides the fact that White is a hilarious old woman, she has some credibility behind her acting.  Although they are all comedians, their styles vary greatly, giving Snickers’ commercials diversity and familiarity at the same time.

Snickers changed the face of the game, literally.  Betty White playing a game a football with some of the bros is crazy, but Snickers portrays this scene in a comical, almost realistic way.  Snickers strongly influences viewers with rhetoric and humor, strategically using familiar commonplaces, Betty White herself, and the catchy slogan to encourage consumers to buy the Snickers chocolate, candy bar.  Although the commercial may seem ridiculous at first, Snickers has a true purpose: an aspiration to show how absurd people act when hungry.  While the situations may seem over the top and strikingly hilarious, Snickers successfully completes their agenda.  In addition to creating an amusing and riveting ad, Snickers somehow persuaded America’s favorite grandma into playing a rough game of football.  Snickers may have found Betty White’s true calling.


1 Comment »

  1. axr5380 says:

    I really liked the essay , and the topic, snickers commercials. I never understood the vines and funny pictures about eating a snicker when you are hungry, on vine or twitter before seeing this commercial and your analyze.
    The fact that it became so popular as a meme “an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.”, support your argumentation of saying that snickers found the formula to have a good funny ad , shocking the viewer in a positive way.
    Your essay is overall perfect, but I just didn’t saw if you explained why at the end the quarterback turned into a grandpa’, but its just a detail, I found your essay really really good.

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