Style - Parodic

parodic advertisements are similar in style to the humorous ones. They make a parody of something that already exists in order to entertain the audience more than any other, basic advertisement, thus making it have more of an impact on their minds and memories.

The "118 118" advertisements are great examples of this, because they make parodies of things in every single one, the most obvious of course being the Ghostbusters parody.

Watch advertisement here (118 ghostbusters)

It's difficult to tell what the target audience is for this advertsement, i believe it would be mostly adults because it would be those who fully understand the parody of the ghostbusters theme song. i think it's quite effective, because 118's version of the song is actually quite catchy.

Style - Dramatic conflict

Adding dramatic conflict to an advertisement halps make it more engaging for the audience. dramatic event happening to a character in the advertisement helps make us, as viewers more enthralled and interested, because we want to find out what happens to the protagonist, do they resolve their problem? Do they find what they were looking for?


These questions running through our minds make us want to watch the advert until the very end. Which is very effective, considering most of us just cant be bothered to watch advertisements most of the time, we'd much rather just have Coronation Street come back on.

Perfume advertisements are often very dramatic, and almost always leave the viewer saying: "what was the point of all that"

Watch advertisement here (Davidoff Cool Water)

The target audience for this product is men of all ages, so why the advert contains a naked man, i'll never know. I don't think the advertisement is very effective because it doesn't exactly say what the product is. if the product was perfume, and for women, then it would be acceptable because it could use beauty appeal.

Style - Surreal

Surreal advertisements include something that seems much too good to be true. They basically turn our real life events, into something of a fantasy, or a dream. The 5 gum adverts are a good example of this style, especially the spearmint flavour, which shows a man lying on what appears to be a large speaker, surrounded by ball bearings. This advertisement takes something simple, and blows it completely out of proportion, and makes the gum sound much better than it really is. I've had 5 gum in the past, and it doesn't really "stimulate your senses" like the surreal advertisement suggests.

Watch advertisement here (5 gum - rain)

Style - Humorous

Humorous advertisements can either be an incredible success, or a horrific failure, it all depends on the audience. So for many advertisement producers who have not conducted an incredible amount of research on their target audience, a humorous advertisement is a very big risk. The different demographic and age groups all have a different sense of humour, so there's not much point in making a political joke in an advertisement for a childs toy, they wont understand it. The same works the other way; there's no point in including some slapstick comedy in an ad for a Jaguar or a Ferrari, because those products are for the upper classes, and they'll think that the product is cheap if it includes a pathetic attempt at making them laugh. 

But, if done correctly, humourous advertisements are very effective, for example, most condom advertisements include something to laugh about, because their audience is dominated by teenagers and young adults. 

Watch advertisement here (Zazoo condoms) 

This advertisement is aimed at young adults and older teenagers (16 - 25), because 16 is the legal age to have sex, and around 25 is the average age in which couples decide to have a child. I think this advert is very effective, because it is basically saying "Don't have children" which is basically the condom's only purpose.

Form - Stand Alone/Series

The ‘More Than Freeman’ advertisements are good examples of series adverts, because their style and content are consistent throughout everyone of their most recent advertisements. Whereas, advertisements like the Honda cog, and the Milky Way race car adverts are rather original, and tend to be recognised as stand alone adverts, purely because they are completely original, and there is (relatively) none other like them. Both styles are very effective, but for different reasons, the series advertisements are effective because we get used to the characters, whereas the standalone ones are effective because their originality often fascinates us.

Watch advertisement here (Red car and blue car)

The Milky Way race advertisement is quite clever, because it has two target audiences: Either children, or adults who like the fact that the idea is nostalgic to them, as they had the same advertisement back in 1989, only the 2009 version has been a lot more enhanced. It has been aimed at children aswell because of the sheer fantasy the advertisement entails, it is very well animated, and depicts a lot of personification.

Form - Talking heads

This Nike advertisement from April 2008, uses the Talking Heads form of advertisement. Talking heads are usually made in the style of an interview, where someone behind the camera has asked a question to a multitude of people. However, this Nike one doesn't follow that method, It consists of multiple professional football players and managers, sponsored by Nike, asking the viewer questions about what it takes to be as good as they are. The ending of the advertisement near enough implies that it is the Nike equipment that makes them as good as they are, and that it is possible for the viewer. The slogan “Take it to the next level” reinforces that statement.

Watch advertisement here (Nike 2008)

In my opinion, this advert is not very effective, it is not quite clear exactly who the target audience is. I think it might be for older teenagers/young adults who are into football. But other than nike, it's not clear exactly what the product is. I don't believe that this adevert is very effective at all.

Form - Documentary

The Go-Cat free running advertisement is created in the style of a documentary, which follows a cat named Bobo, who is “regarded as one of the best free runners in the world, who pushes himself and his crew to their limits” This advertisement gives the impression that a camera crew have followed around these ‘Free running’ cats, and interviewed them to find out the back stories of their ‘crew’ just like the majority of most other, real documentaries.  

Watch advertisement here (Go-Cat)

Documentary style advertisements don't really have a target audience, it all really depends on the product, because the documentary can be used in any context. However, the two examples i've seen of the documentary style of advertisement were for cat food and Magner's cider, therefore, judging by these i have reason to believe that they are mainly for adults of all ages. The effectiveness of these advertisements depends solely on the intelligence of the viewers.