I did my commercial review on a Southwest Airlines commercial. I chose Southwest Airlines because they always tend to have funny commercials. The tag line they used for quite a bit was “Wanna get away?” They would incorporate the tag line in their commercials by showing funny awkward moments where the actor would want to get away and they would follow it with their current special deals.
This commercial begins with a panoramic shot of two friends playing video games in their apartment. The apartment looks very neat, with a flat screen TV mounted on the wall. The set is also made to look as if it were night time. This can be seen by the street lights coming in the window and the lamp being on. The next scene focuses in on one of the actors. In this scene the actor is explaining to his friend how to play this new baseball video game by using the controller as a bat. To convey this, ball park music and a shot of the video game are showed on the TV as well as the actor swinging the controller as if it was a bat. In this sequence the camera focuses on the TV to illustrate that the game is mimicking the character’s movements.
In the next scene the main character tells his friend to use the controller to throw him a pitch. The friend not grasping the concept literally throws the controller at the TV. During these sequences a panoramic shot switches from showing the characters, to showing the TV screen. After the controller strikes and damages the TV, the camera focuses in on the characters faces as they look stunned. The main character because he can’t believe his friend just threw the controller at the TV, and the friend because he obviously just damaged an expensive looking flat panel TV mounted on the wall.
In the next shot the camera switches its focus back on the broken TV, which detaches from the wall and then goes crashing down. The camera tilts down to follow the TV’s crash to the floor. The ad then switches to display the current specials from Southwest Airlines with a map in the background showing their routes across the country. Overall I think this was a funny commercial which grabbed the viewer’s attention and was able to convey their message in a humorous manner.
derekd9 