MODULE # 5: A Very Persuasive Ad!

This beer commercial requires us to use all three parts of our triune brains. Our limbic brain responds to the serene and natural landscape and makes us feel calm. We also find the dogs cute which causes another series of affectionate emotional (limbic) responses. Our neocortexes are constantly interpreting the more complex information throughout the advertisement. For example, it is the neocortex that allows us to understand the dialogue between the two men and allows us to interpret the writing at the end of the ad and the subtle symbols of the commercial. When the scruffy dog jumps and bites the "preppy" man, our reptillian brains respond with a quick adrenaline rush and we are forced to jump. Our limbic brains find the entire commercial hilarious, and we sympathize (or at least I did) with the man who was bitten (particularly because of the location of the bite).

This video also does a fantastic job of using various persuasive techniques:

1) SYMBOLS: symbols such as the American glorification of the "simple" life, and the use of dogs, man's best friend, target the American male population who equate dogs being man's best friend with beer being part of a manly life.

2) HUMOR: this video is very humorous, which causes the viewer to both remember the ad and to be temporarily distracted from the negative effects of alcohol.

3) PLAIN FOLKS: there is actually a contrast between the extravagant, "preppy" man and the simple man. This video glorifies simplicity and it is the simple man who successfully gets the beer at the end of the commercial. He is the hero of this ad, and because of this, viewers want to emulate him.

4) DIVERSION: this ad focuses very little on alcohol or its effects. When one views the commercial, his or her attention focuses on the plot and humor of the advertisement, not how the use of the product will affect the individual.

5) WARM FUZZIES: the advertisement uses dogs, a symbol of loyalty and friendship, to show how a loving pet can best please his master by getting him beer. The dogs are both cute, and symbolic creating a very persuasive argument to buy the advertised product.

THE BRAIN!!! (Module # 3)

This video does an excellent job of explaining why humans have a natural affinity for certain qualities that we define as "cute". When we see the images and hear the sounds produced by the animals in this video, our limbic brain processes this information and responds with an emotion, usually affection. I think that the instinctual desire to care for these animals comes from our instinct to care for our young, and this trait is located in the primitive reptilian part of the brain. Our noecortex is responsible for our ability to process the information bubbles that explain the "Science of Cute" throughout the video. Thus, this video is very demanding on us neurologically as it causes us to use all three aspects of our triune brains.