State Farm Commercial Analysis
Rhetoric:
This particular commercial for State Farm uses a combination of Pathos and Ethos to communicate their messaging of saving money by bundling home and auto insurance with their company. Pathos is an appeal that focuses on the emotional responses of the viewer. These State Farm commercials have been a staple on TV for a long time, and they have a tried-and-true method of using well known athletes and humor to communicate their messaging. This commercial is no different. They use two famous athletes from the Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, who are engaging in a humorous back and forth. This comedy is meant to draw the viewer in and make the product seem more relatable. The commercial then utilizes ethos in the same way. By using two culturally relevant and well-regarded celebrities, the commercial is building a legitimacy for the company. The commercial strives to get viewers to believe that if these two well-known figures will endorse and represent the product, then it must be a very good and reputable company. Most people would instantly turn away from paid commercial actors, but Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce establish an immediate source of legitimacy to the company and to the commercial.
Overall message:
The overall message of this commercial is that State Farm can save you money by bundling your home and auto insurance. While not necessarily promoting a product, the commercial promotes the fact that they can save you money. The commercial was set on a football practice field, and had Jake from State Farm, Patrick Mahomes, and Travis Kelce. In the commercial, Patrick Mahomes (a very famous and recognizable Super Bowl winning Quarterback) is trying to get Travis Kelce to wear a jersey with the phrase “Maauto” on it, because the play on words is that Patrick Mahomes’ last name ties in to home insurance and Travis Kelce's new last name can tie in to auto insurance. So, the company is trying to get the Quarterback to be “Mahomes” (home insurance) and the Tight End, Travis Kelce (currently a media darling because of his relationship with Taylor Swift) to represent “Maauto” or auto insurance. This plays to the bundling of both insurances to save money. Jake from State Farm talks about the dynamic duo of Mahomes and Maauto, to which Patrick Mahomes replies “Best bundle in the league, baby!” Getting the viewer to laugh, and associate the bundling of their auto and home insurance with the playful tone of one of the NFL best players.
In response to the back of his jersey being labeled “Maauto” Travis Kelce recommends that back of Mahomes jersey should read “Kelce how much you can save by bundling home and auto.” Jake and Patrick look at Kelce with a doubting gaze as he continues to justify what the name of the jersey should be. Soon, a coach in the background can be heard yelling for “Mahomes” and “Maauto” to get on the practice field. It is humorous to watch Kelce try to be the focal point, but everyone knows that Quarterbacks are the darlings of the team, and this back and forth reinforces that notion. The voice of the coach, and the willingness of Kelce to move on and accept his role as "Maauto" is funny as well. The commercial ends with a voiceover about saving by bundling with the personal price plan, and the traditional catch phrase of State Farm which is “like a good neighbor State Farm is there” is present as the commerical fades out. This is an on-brand "buddy" based commercial from State Farm that comunicates how good and how smart it is to bundle your home and auto insurance with State Farm.
Production:
The cultural code of this advertisement is about saving money. Through the use of celebrities and humorous dialogue, the insurance company wants you to believe that they are the best in the business at saving you money through bundling your home and auto insurance. Their commercials have entered the modern cultural lexicon with previous iterations such as Aaron Rodgers and the “Discount Double Check” so the messaging of the State Farm ad is on brand. By being a smart, football loving person, you can save money by choosing State Farm for both your home and auto insurance. The other messaging present in the commercial is the use of two famous athletes, which has the cultural code of toughness and masculinity which would tap in to a male consciousness to select State Farm because Super Bowl winning players do.
Distribution:
This ad is shown throughout the day, but when I noticed it was during prime-time air time during football games on Saturday and Sunday. This ad was aired during NFL and NCAA football games, which is typically going to be geared to the adult male population. This is typically going to be when a large majority of men are watching television, and the assumption being that most men are probably the ones looking to save money on insurance both home and auto. This ad would also target women who are also football fans as well that have decisions to make on their insurance. Predominantly, though, the NFL and NCAA is geared to a more male based demographic by ratings and viewing statistics. They play this ad during these games because even casual fans of football would notice Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce as spokespeople, which lends immediate credibility to what State Farm is selling. The ads have a long history of being funny, which keeps eyes on the screen because many of these ads are traditional successful through their unique brand of humor as well.
Persuasive techniques:
Visually, the use of color and focal point are very present within the commercial. State Farm is a red company, as are the jerseys of the Kansas City Chiefs. The commercial has a lot of well-placed red coloring to visual train the viewer to think of both Kansas City and State Farm. The green of the practice field contrasts well with the overall dominance of the red color, and draws the viewer to the focal points which are the professional football players. In each shot, the football players are the focus which then makes their dialogue and actions stand out. The jersey of each player and Jake from State Farm also plays a role in keeping the focus on both NFL players and the bundling of home and auto insurance. The background of the commercial is somewhat blurred, though one can see that it is an active football practice, which also adds in keeping to focal point flush on the celebrities in the advertisement. This allows for the messaging of bundling, saving money, and State Farm to be the focus of the commercial.
The two aural techniques that the commercial utilizes are emphasis and register. Throughout the commercial the idea of bundling home and auto insurance in to an unbeatable duo is repeatedly emphasized. Through humor and vocalization, it is clear that the commercial wants you to understand that they will save you money if you give them your business for home and auto insurance. This is the main idea and point of the advertisement and is reinforced in multiple ways throughout the commercial. Emphasis is successful here because it is funny, it is done with notable people, and it isn’t corny or over the top. This commercial makes you laugh, while also thinking about how this company could potentially save you money. The use of register comes in to play with the dialogue and use of pun with the last name of the Quarterback being Mahomes and then changing the name of the Tight End’s jersey to Maauto which plays in to the theme of bundling and saving money. This register between the language, actions, and dialogue between the characters reinforces the mission of the ad which is to get you to consider State Farm for your insurance needs because you want to save money. There is a level of informality to the commercial, which is effective because a simple commercial about saving money on home and auto insurance would probably be boring and not keep the viewers attention. By showing a “punny” and playful conversation and situation between two well known NFL players regarding bundling home and auto, the message is much more entertaining and still on point in terms of the viewer.
Reflection:
I enjoyed this assignment because it allowed me to look at commercials from an analytical viewpoint. I general feel this way when watching commercials, however, because I don’t want my brain to hurt, I tend not to analyze them when I am trying to enjoy whatever is on the television. For a period as I was doing this assignment, I turned my analytic eye on when watching TV and the number of things I noticed in commercials is almost laughable. Everything is trying to convince you to do something you may or may not want to do. The celebrity endorsement, the humor trends, the cultural messaging, the visual patterning, are all put together in a way to part you from your wallet. I feel like I recognize and understand this about advertising, but have become so numb to it because of how prevalent it is on television that it has been a while since I have had to stop and think about it.
I think that it is important to train students on these persuasive techniques for multiple reasons. One, to better protect them from the schemes of pop culture advertising so they can be wise and make informed decisions. Two, it is important to be able to utilize these techniques when trying to be persuasive. Knowledge of persuasive techniques makes students more well rounded as writers, and allows them to access and understand multiple points of views and reactions. This improves their overall logic, which then improves their function as critical thinkers and writers. I can utilize these techniques and commercial analysis assignments very well in an English classroom. Assignments like these teach students how to see, hear, and understand persuasion. This then can be directly applied to other writing assignments in which they analyze choices, argue positions, and make claims to support their own original thought. Utilizing the selection of a commercial the student has viewed is a great way to introduce them to the ways in which they are being leveraged in terms of persuasion, and can build a great base layer that students can carry over in to their writing.