Everyday advertising often follows a conventional "learning theory" approach. Media audiences are seen as waiting to be "informed" by a message argument which may then reinforce or even increase positive beliefs about the advertised brand. This approach can also be seen as "lookalike" advertising.
On the other hand,
Super Sunday is our national day of hoopla and hype. As such, this day calls for a different advertising theory, one known to scholars as "attitude toward the ad."
In this view, advertising message content is designed purely for enjoyment. The theory "posits" that if people really like the advertising, they will really like the brand.
Yes, it's vaguely Pavlovian.
Looking ahead to this weekend,
VW has cleverly keyed us in to both the spirit of the day and the proper "Theory of Advertising" with a teaser commercial they began airing on January 25th.
The
VW commercial features
Jimmy Cliff, the legendary reggae musician, performing a specially prepared version of the Partridge Family song "Come On Get Happy." He joyfully sings the song and beckons troubled people from well-known viral videos of the past to join him on a verdant hillside for some much needed attitude adjustment. The general similarity of this scenario to the classic
Coca-Cola commercial, "I want to teach the world to sing," is worth noting.
This spot is highly entertaining. Even more, it serves up a gleeful antidote for the general attitude of negativism that has been widely promulgated lately.
Hat's off to
VW for this cultural "Attitude Adjustment."
Copyright © 2013 by John Eighmey. All Rights Reserved.
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