This commercial for Bridgestone Tires begins with a car driving along a woodland road. The driver spots a beaver along the way and quickly swerves to avoid hitting the animal. The beaver waves in thanks. Six months later, this same driver is along the same road, however the weather is horrible and it’s pouring. A tree comes crashing down in front of the car and the driver quickly stops. He steps outside of this car to see that the river has flooded and the bridge he was about to cross over, has collapsed. The beaver appears again and it’s shown that he was the one to cut down the tree in order to save the man from death. A voice over is saying “for drivers who want to get the most out of their cars, it’s Bridgestone or nothing.”
Bridgestone Tires is a company that started in 1931 in Japan. It became Japan’s largest tire manufacturer and expanded its business overseas to the United States.
This commercial was produced for the Superbowl of 2011. The Superbowl attracts many viewers, so their commercial was shown at this time to get people aware of their products and increase their number of customers.
The audience for this commercial is anyone watching the Superbowl and for anyone who owns a car.
The purpose of this commercial is having good tires (specifically Bridgestone tires) for your car can prevent accidents. Also, one’s good driving does not go unrewarded. Since the driver stopped his car and did not run the beaver over, the beaver was more intent of saving the driver’s life.
The rhetorical elements used include exaggeration and cause and effect. The commercial was largely exaggerated as it involved a beaver with an ability to greet with the two-hits-to-the-chest and peace-sign. This made for a very silly tone. The commercial also showed cause and effect: be a good driver and you will be rewarded, own good tires and you will be safe from accidents.
This commercial differs from many other car related commercials because it was a narration. There were characters, a setting and a time period. As the driver is swerving out of the animal’s way, there are different perspectives of the car, all of which are focusing on the tires. This is one way the product is highlighted.
I do not think that this commercial is successful. After watching it, all I can think about is how ridiculous the premise was, which takes away from the product. A commercial really should not distract from their purpose so in many ways, this commercial missed the mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bWb-WT_iNQ
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