Research Blog: Commercial Conventions

Research Blog: Commercial Conventions

      I decided to do a Bissell Vacuum commercial. These types of commercials usually take place within what would be considered a typical household and feature the vacuum while in action.

• These commercials usually include shots of the vacuum in use on different surfaces. These different surfaces include surfaces like tile, wood, and carpet.

• Props for these types of commercials often include spilled items such as a cereal, pet food, etc. These commercials also many times use samples of a certain type of flooring. For example, a sample piece of carpet that isn't necessarily installed.

• Many of these commercials also include a shot of someone trying to use other vacuum cleaners that are not their brand and struggling with it. This further emphasizes to the audience that their vacuum is better than the average vacuum from their competitors.

• Many commercials about vacuums include a scene in which someone makes a mess or spills something that then later on has to be cleaned up with the vacuum. Some commercials include a baby or child that makes this mess in order to connect with parents in the audience and make the commercial seem relatable to them. Other commercials just have an adult making the mess.

• These commercials often include costumes of people wearing regular, average looking clothes that can be relatable to the audience. None of them are wearing anything fancy, athletic, or specific, they all wear clothes that would be considered regular clothes.

• Throughout vacuum commercials, the shots of the vacuum cleaning tend to be in slow motion so that the audience can get a better view of the vacuum while in action. While this is happening, there tends to be music in the background while text on details about the vacuum appears on the screen.

• The score of these commercials tends to include soft music playing in the background, sounds of the vacuum in action, and the sounds of props, such as cereal, being initially dropped.

1. Some Conventions and Codes throughout Bissell commercials include the Bissell logo, which is a tiny logo in the shape of a triangle, and a typical household setting. The household setting makes it relatable to the audience since that is similar to where the typical viewer lives in.
2. The Bissell slogan is "Home to a deeper clean". This slogan can help the audience and average consumer associate the Bissell with a well cleaning brand.
3. The Bissell logo can be displayed throughout the entire commercial, even on products that the commercial isn't necessarily about. This is done to promote Bissell's other products but also to show ethos by demonstrating that since they have many other products in the cleaning field, they have much experience on the subject and can be trusted.
4. These commercials use pathos by acknowledging the audience's frustration with cleaning sometimes but then showing the audience how their vacuum can cause less frustration and less stress.