Laura Stuhlman

Advertising

February 19, 2002

Advertising in the automotive industry, whether it be for tires, cars, or other parts, often uses a technique involving affective response to play on the emotions of the audience to sell their respective products. Cars and tires play an important part in the safety, image, and basic travel needs of the average American in their everyday lives. Therefore, the advertising for these products have to inform the viewer or reader of the practical value while also appealing to them on a more personal level to sell their product to them. In other words, they use manifest and latent functions to attract the reader in a certain emotional way so they relate to the item being advertised. Two advertisements in the same magazine, one for Goodyear tires and the other for GMAC automobiles, use the affective methods of nostalgia for special moments, need for approval, and love in conjunction with their general brand information to make the reader hopefully want to buy their product.

The advertisement for GMAC automobiles is a one page ad featuring a young couple, probably teenagers, sitting in a convertible basking in the soft glow of the sunset. They both have their eyes closed as if completely enjoying their time together, the girl with her head on the boy’s shoulder and the boy leaning toward her. The text states, “Imagine the perfect day. Imagine being with someone special. Imagine the top down, your favorite music on the radio. Imagine being able to afford this. Imagine a company that provides financing options when you buy or lease a GM vehicle.” It then lists the different vehicles under their company and the phone number and website to get more information.

The second ad for Goodyear tires presents a two page spread with a well-dressed foursome of golfers on one side and a close up of a tire tread with the brand name and text on the other. The camera angle is from the backside of the golfers, looking upon a nice lake, green terrain, and some sand dunes apparently from a nice golf course. One golfer is swinging the club, one is looking on, one is turned toward the camera laughing, his hand on the shoulder of the fourth golfer, looking entertained as well. The right half of the ad is the text, which is white overlaying the background of the tire tread so it stands out. Goodyear is written in yellow on the right edge of the page. The text reads, “Predict seven birdies. Brag about your handicap. Proclaim yourself ‘The Putting King.’ Pray you don’t whiff. The drive to Pebble Beach. On the wings of Goodyear.”

Both of the advertisements involve the use of nostalgia in different ways to engage the reader in the same kind of special moment to connect them with their cars and their tires. The GMAC ad combines a warm and cozy image of an all-American couple sitting in a car with text that draws the reader to think about themselves in that situation, feeling completely comfortable and right with the world. The text continues on to link that content and serene moment with the thought that even you, the reader, can afford to feel this great because you can afford the GMAC vehicle that will allow you to either be that couple in the sunset or, if you are older than them, remember what it was like to be that couple when you were younger. Somehow, the ad successfully connects a special moment between two people with financing options for GM vehicles. It doesn’t seem logical when one looks at it closely, but in a magazine where an advertiser is only hoping for a glance and having an ad such as this with the image and the brand name, the reader would hopefully correlate the two very quickly and the advertisement has then served its purpose.

The Goodyear ad also uses nostalgia for special moments to help sell their tires to and audience of middle class, sportsmen, good-ol’-boy type men who would take a roadtrip with three buddies like the guys in the ad. The image of the golfers having a great time at a great golf course would make the reader think about taking a great trip like that, or to remember a vacation or a day when they had a good time with some old friends. The text brings you into the ad by connecting the Pebble Beach trip that you, the reader, could be on or have been on with the Goodyear tires that brought the guys, and possibly you, to this great place. When one thinks about a great vacation they have been on, the idea of tires probably doesn’t cross their mind, but what Goodyear wants to do is target that particular group of men to associate their tires with the men they want to be and hopefully when they go to buy new ones, they will remember that feeling.

The second technique that Goodyear uses to evoke an affective response from the audience is the need for approval. By simply portraying the fun-loving golfers and associating the group atmosphere with the use of Goodyear tires, the reader immediately sees the bonding going on and wants to be a part of that world of approving friends. One of the golfers is laughing and has his hand on his friend’s shoulder, as if sharing a joke of some kind and only him and his friends can partake in this kind of enjoyment. The ad makes it seem as though one could only take a trip like those four men and have that kind of relationship with them if they had a nice SUV with great tires that would allow you to safely travel to Pebble Beach. The text plays to the same idea by mentioning some of the things a guy in that group would jokingly talk about while “on the wings of Goodyear.” The latent message is that Goodyear tires serve you a ticket to scenarios such as these where you are needed and approved of.

The last affective response technique is used by the advertisers for GMAC, where they use the appeal of love to help sell their automobiles. Everyone wants to be where the couple is in the ad: content, enjoying a perfect moment, obviously in love. GMAC is targeting two different groups with this ad. The first are young people like the people in the ad, enjoying their time of youth but maybe not quite able to afford a nice vehicle to sit out in the sunset in. The second group is a slightly older demographic who can remember a time when they were in the position the couple in the ad is in and want to somehow get back to that feeling by means of an affordable car. The ad would like the reader to believe that this couple is truly enjoying this perfect day with their special someone listening to the radio at sunset only because they are able to afford the GMAC convertible they are sitting in. Love can only be achieved if you have a great car in which to ride around with your significant other.

The automotive industry often uses these affective techniques to sell their merchandise because when they are selling something expensive like a vehicle or its various accessories, they want the consumer to feel a connection between them and this major purchase. The manifest messages to these advertisements are simply the product’s title, purpose, and that they want you to buy it. The latent messages, however, can be more complicated and often more effective. These latent messages, such as connecting a guy’s need for male bonding to a tire and implying that true love can only be found in a nice, affordable car, are used in advertising to go beneath the surface of the reader to draw out emotions that will hopefully cause some sort of subconscious connection when the consumer goes to make a buying decision. As illogical a combination as tires and life’s tender moments may seem, it is a great advertising tool to help set a particular brand apart in a market where most of the products are pretty much the same. Goodyear and GMAC use these affective tools very well in their advertisements by forming an emotional relationship with you, even if only for a short time.