Porsche 911 Carrera Commercial

At the heart of this commercial is the need to escape. The young boy is confined in a classroom and all he wants to do is be outside with the Porsche. Although he is clearly too young to drive, he is already afflicted with a passion for the luxury sports vehicle and it consumes his thoughts not only in class, but also in the library and throughout his school day. The very second the bell rings, he rushes to the Porche dealership and is allowed to sit inside the car. He takes a deep breath as if he just went to outer space and back. To this little boy, a Porche is an escape. Through this sports car, he can escape the mundane activities of his daily life to a place where he can go speeds up to 177mph and where he can zoom by the entire world.

The commercial also evokes the boys' need for autonomy. He cannot wait until he grows up and is able to afford this car (in approximately 20 years). He wants to grow up and make enough money to be able to afford a car as fine as a Porche.

Through this need for autonomy, he also has a need to achieve. This commercial makes is very evident that the Porsche 911 Carrera is a very expensive car, which can only be afforded by very elite, successful people. For this young boy, he knows that when he gets his license in a few years he won't be able to afford his dream car. Instead, he tells the man at the car dealership that he'll be back in about twenty years, insinuating that it will take that long for him to save up enough money to afford a Porsche. The commercial, therefore, evokes the need to achieve success and the need to achieve money.

Axe Inxtinct Commercial

Where do I start. Well, first, at least within the norms of Lehigh, boys love video games. If there's anything college has taught me is that to boys, video games like Call of Duty and Halo are right up there with girls and beer. I remember when Call of Duty 2 came out, I didn't see my best guy friends for over a week. They just sat in their rooms and played for hours and hours and hours. Perhaps boys love video games because they get to escape into a world where they are invincible. They are strong, muscular men with weapons and no matter how many times they mess up in the process, they always win in the end. And another thing I learned about men: men love to win. So I can see why Axe chose to use the video game theme for this commercial. 


Axe tapped into the need for sex. All three of the men aren't trying to win this very picky woman over so they can have a meaningful conversation about politics. Let's be honest, they're trying to win her over to get laid. This tone is there because of her apparel and appearances -- she is wearing a tight, revealing shirt and very high heels. To them, she is a sexual object which they must conquer in battle.


The need for affiliation is also present in this commercial. The men competing for this woman are simultaneously involved in a war-themed video game. For males, playing video games can be a social activity and a setting where males bond over a common interest. This commercial evokes a need to belong to the group of men who socialize and play video games together.


This commercial also evokes the need to achieve. Humans, by nature, want to compete, to be successful and eventually, to win. This commercial shows three men competing for one woman and in the end, the man who wins that woman uses Axe Inxinct as his weapon of choice. Those who created this commercial are telling consumers that in order to win in the game of love, you need Axe as your secret weapon. They are tapping into males' need to beat out other males for females' attention, sexual desire and love.

TROEGS Pale Ale Commercial

Clearly, the most obvious need this advertisement is appealing to is the need for sex. As we all have heard over and over again, sex sells. And those who created this commercial certainly used sex to sell their beer. They had a half naked, hot chick in a sultry voice sexually stroking the side of the phallic-shaped beer bottle to evoke sexual desires and needs in its consumers.

Beisdes sex, this commercial also evoked other needs, such as the need for attention. As human beings we all want to be looked at and noticed, especially in a positive light. The woman selling this beer has an air of confidence which demonstrates that she knows she's being looked at and being given attention. If you drink this beer, perhaps you can get that kind of attention, too...maybe even from a girl like her!

The need for curiosity is also being evoked by this commercial. The woman insists that you "try one today," making you curious about what it takes like and encouraging you to buy a Troegs and try it immediately.

To a certain extent, this commercial also appeals to physiological needs, like the need for food, air, water and shelter. Many frat brothers at Lehigh would vehemently argue that beer is a basic human need, up there with water and food and porn... while our survival may not depend on beer, I guess it can fall into the physiological needs category as a form of drink.

Lastly, this commercial certainly resonates aesthetic sensations. The girl holding the beer is clearly visually appealing and attractive and that is being used to sell the product.

Let's Talk About Needs Baby, Let's Talk About You And Me...

As discussed previously, we are constantly bombarded by thousands and thousands of advertisement messages constantly and consistently. So how do we sift through all those messages to chose products we want to buy? Advertisers rely on 15 ad appeals of basic needs which appeal to people as they are making judgements about ads:

1. Need for Sex
2. Need for Affiliation
3. Need to Nurture/Be Nurtured
4. Need for Guidance
5. Need to Aggress
6. Need to Achieve
7. Need for Prominence 
8. Need for Attention
9. Need for Autonomy
10. Need to Satisfy Curiosity
11. Physiological Needs
12. Need for Aesthetic Sensations
13. Need to Escape
14. Need for Safety
15. Need to Dominate

Most advertisements fulfill some or most of these needs in order to appeal to consumers. After all, humans have many needs and when they are not fulfilled in their love lives, their friendships, their careers, their social lives or their academic lives, they look to fulfill those needs some other way. Advertisements just provide the venue. 

Let's Start With The Basics

Advertisements are ubiquitous. They are everywhere you look. You can't walk down the street, get coffee, go to class or even brush your teeth without being bombarded with advertisements. The omnipresence of advertisements produces a vital need to analyze and understand them and their affect on society. 

Daniel J. Boorstin, an American historian, professor, writer and attorney, once said that advertising is the "characteristic rhetoric" of a democratic society. “If we consider democracy not just a political system but as a set of institutions which do aim to make everything available to everybody; it would not be an overstatement to describe advertising as the characteristic rhetoric of democracy” (Media/Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media). 

Rhetoric is the art of public speaking to convince. Where rhetoric and advertising meet is where they both serve the purpose of helping people we relate to each another in a free, democratic society. Advertisements bring people together through common basic needs and desires, such as conformity and belonging. Those people who are on the edges of culture and society are always trying to identify with the culture of the inside in order to belong. Advertisements allow those people to do so through the products they sell to people. They create the rhetoric through which a never-ending conversation in society occurs. All of this because of advertisements…