If you're into advertising and such...

Feb 27, 2008 - 22:11 PM PST



Pop Stars and Pop (Pepsi)
Just for kicks, I took a trip to the vending machine. After numerous attempts the wrinkled Mr. George Washington along with a shiny quarter were finally swallowed by the machine that likes to rip us college kids off. I pressed the button for a Pepsi. It dropped through the trap door. I screwed off the top. Sipped the carbonated caffeine down and waited. Where’s Justin Timberlake? Drink a Pepsi, get a Pop Star, isn’t that the deal? Even though Justin Timberlake didn’t crash into the room, at least I looked cool drinking the Pepsi right? I mean celebrities drink it, so it must be cool.
I try to not pay attention to commercials; most are annoying or completely pointless. Then I realized when advertisers use a popular celebrity like Justin Timberlake and I tuned right in. Damnit! They won! The commercial got me to be overpowered by a product. In this commercial, Pepsi promises “Every sip gets you closer…to Justin Timberlake MP3s, HD TVs, and Millions of songs from Amazon MP3 and more.” Not only is the celebrity selling the product and luring consumers, but the “millions of free stuff” is too. Or maybe every sip gets you closer to being as flawless as the girls sitting in their lawn chairs, sipping away at their Pepsis while Justin Timberlake shows up. After watching the commercial several times, I realized Pepsi advertisers placed several elements, such as a celebrity, music, free stuff, and attractive women to capture the attention of a teenage audience both male and female that would be watching the Super Bowl that day. All of these components are the Pepsi advertisers marketing ethos. They are rhetorical elements intended to persuade a teen audience to drink a Pepsi, because their favorite musician does or maybe they’ll win “free stuff”. The audience determines whether these Pop Stars that drink Pepsi are appealing to them.
Looking back at past Pepsi advertisements, Pepsi has always instilled the message that there’s a “Joy of Pepsi” and “Pepsi, for those who think young,” according to these phrases is a cola drink really that fun? As part of Pepsi advertising style, these phrases convey to their audience that Pepsi is for fun people like American teens. By including a Pop Star into the picture, it’s evident who Pepsi is gearing their drink towards.
American teens have adored Pop Stars since that genre of musicians arose in the late 1980’s. Girls drool over celebrity “hunks” that they see in their Teen People magazines. Why not make them thirst for a Pepsi along with their favorite singer? If Pop Stars have the ability to sell millions of records, can’t they increase the amount of Pepsi being sold as well? Justin Timberlake for example is a top-selling celebrity. If he can “Bring Sexy Back”, he can sure sell a Pepsi. According to the commercial that aired on Super Bowl Sunday this year, he would beat himself up for girls that drink Pepsi. Through out the commercial, every time one of the three flawless girls in their lawn chairs took a sip, some vacuum Pepsi force dragged him through town to their presence. The more they drank the Pepsi, the closer Justin Timberlake was to being right in front of them. Several Super Bowls ago, Britney Spears was the one who showed American Teens that Pepsi is a hot item. Recognizing this pattern, I researched past Pepsi commercials. Evidently, Pepsi produces a commercial using a famous Pop Star almost every year, starting with celebrities like Madonna, Michael Jackson and MC Hammer. Not only are the celebrities selling Pepsi itself, but their own music is featured in the Pepsi commercials they appear in.
Since commercialized advertisements came about, celebrities have become the glamour to consumer products. They make the product look good. Thanks to paparazzi and tabloids, many American’s waste their time with the lives of celebrities. Since they concern themselves with celebrity lives, this sort of commercial will appeal to them. This style that advertisers use is lure, or bandwagon and is a product of ethos. We are drawn into the commercial because we like the celebrity and their music; therefore we should like the product?
I realized that “Every sip got me closer” to understanding why celebrities like Justin are used in commercials that cost millions to make. These celebrities help the product sell because they interest us more than the product. I twisted the cap back on. Placed the Pepsi aside. No Justin Timberlake, but where’s my free stuff?



(ps. I had to write this for my Rhetoric class, it's a pretty rough draft)