Stereotypes In Advertising

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The feeling stays with you: Lincoln Motor Company successful attempt to save its brand.

The soothing sound of smooth jazz instantly captures one’s attention. The viewer

intuitively wonders – “is this a television commercial”? It is unexpected yet a pleasant surprise.

Often people subconsciously tune out commercials because they feel they are annoying

interruptions to a favorite show. It seems that advertising experts are aware of this, and have

counteracted this response by increasing the octave level a few notches higher than the programs

we watch in order to grab our attention. Although I have never quantified these allegations with

research, I assume they are accurate because the volume during a commercial noticeably

increases, which
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I want to turn the volume up and immerse myself in what comes next.

My eyes lock on the screen and search for clues. Who is this mysterious man? He eludes class

and has an obvious taste for the finer things in life. His bare feet suggest he is relaxed. As he

enters his bathroom to shave, brilliantly the music seems to run on a four-second loop giving the

sense that time has stopped so that we too can relax in this carefree moment. His massive walk-in

closet displays his bountiful wardrobe. Clearly, this is a man with impeccable taste. This is

confirmed when his identity is revealed. It is Mr. Cool, himself, Matthew McConaughey.

What makes this such an effective commercial is that Lincoln Motor Company took their

dated brand that was dying with our grandparent’s generation and latched it to a relevant

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Academy Award winner who has branded himself as the essence of smooth and cool. Ford does

not just associate their Lincoln brand with Matthew McConaughey, they vividly intertwine their

brand with Matthew’s brand so that they become as one. Before they show the Lincoln, they

show what it looks like and even feels like to achieve the success that McConaughey has in
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The final analogy is when he walks out in his perfectly tailored

black suit and blends into the sleek black exterior finish of his elegant car, becoming one with

the Lincoln. More notably the Lincoln becomes one with McConaughey.

Only a small population of society will get to experience the life that this commercial

portrays, but Lincoln Motor company is not selling us on that hope. The tag lag line for this

commercial is “The feeling stays with you.” That is why very few words are spoken throughout

the commercial. It is not about what the actor says, but how he feels. Long before they show us

McConaughey or the MKX they engage our senses with the aesthetically pleasing background of

the house. The entire commercial is leading up to that moment that McConaughey experiences

when he presses the start button on his Lincoln and hears the engine come alive. His grin

encapsulates a moment of sheer satisfaction. We can identify with moments like these, in which

all the stars align and everything is smooth and carefree. The problem with this feeling is that in

reality it does not last. The advertising agency for Lincoln took the gamble that they could