Since I showcased my favorite motion picture advertisement, “Write the Future”, last week, I thought I would show you one of my favorite still picture ads for this week’s installment of Rhetoric and Civic Life. This one is brought to you by Hidden Valley Ranch, and I discovered it so long ago that I can’t quite remember how I stumbled upon it. All I know is that I can vividly remember the image of the boy stealing that broccoli pie!
The style of the advertisement oozes classic Americanism from the polka-dot drapes to the windowsill pies. Hidden valley is clearly trying to recreate the mid-20th century in order to invoke a classic image. This is important because the dominant portion of the advertisement is the image of the kitchen itself. The old-fashioned setting invokes images of the simplicities of the 50s and 60s and may even conjure up images of grandma’s kitchen.
All in all, the image is one of familiarity, a common tool of advertisements (especially those of a more comedic nature). The goal is to begin with a familiar scene and then introduce an element of the unexpected. The setting is so large that it does not take the reader much effort to notice the kitchen, so in that regard it is recognized first. The unexpected occurs in the focal point of the advertisement, the image the eyes are easily drawn to.
Although the setting is apparent first, the eye is actually drawn to the image at the center of the ad, the boy sneaking a pie off the windowsill, neatly set apart from the inside by the window. Here we find the beauty of the advertisement: the alteration of the American image of the apple pie and the mischievous boy (a la Tom Sawyer) with a Hidden Valley edge to it. The viewer recognizes that the apple pie is in fact a broccoli pie with hidden valley ranch as the lattice. It makes the broccoli look downright decadent and it exemplifies the caption of “Where Vegetables Are Delectable”, a perception of a literal “Hidden Valley” where broccoli is as tasty as homemade pie.
One final point of note is the use of reds and greens; the two colors are complementary and make a clear contrast between the kitchen scene inside and the pie theft scene outside. Also, there is no accident over the incorporation of the boy’s red hair and the cherry tomatoes topping the pies for added aesthetic effect. I find this advertisement simply memorable!
This is a great advertisement. It gets at such a good point. Ranch is so good with vegetables for some reason and that makes them appealing. I like the marketing idea behind this because they are showing a common idea of stealing pies that are cooling on a windowsill even though this never really seems to be true. Just a very interesting twist on something that all Americans know about.
ReplyDeleteThis advertisment did exactly what it was supposed to do. It captured my attention, made me laugh, and made me want to eat a delicious broccoli pie! The ad is unique and its message is creatively conveyed.
ReplyDeleteAww, that ad is great! The little boy is adorable and those pies do look good. This ad does all that it's supposed to: sells their product and makes you laugh. It's a nice play on the pie idea, and it really does make broccoli and ranch look like apples and icing. I would eat that pie.
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