Sell sell sell!

Now that this Blog is underway let's have a little chat about car advertisements. They’re everywhere, let’s be honest, and they can come in all shapes and sizes. They can be odd, scary, insightful, colourful and sometimes downright daft, but they always have a point. Anything from “this is a really fast car” (see BMW M5 commercial), to “this car is fun and full of good stuff” (see Skoda Fabia cake commercial”. Whatever a car advertisement says it will always have a point to it, and this point is intended to convince you, the public that you should buy it.

But how specifically do they do this? The BMW M5 commercial I’ve just featured, is in my opinion, rather silly. It features a jet car racing along a dessert, but then reveals that the camera filming it is fitted to the BMW, thus emphasizing the speed and power of the car. Perhaps daft but it certainly makes a point. It places the featured car (in this case the M5) in a scenario where only it can effectively perform. Not many cars could keep up with a jet car, this seems obvious to most of us, so therefore the strength of the M5 is advertised. The commercial is being literal and direct in its claim “Fastest Saloon Car on the Planet”.

Another advert, that I actually rather like, is the Honda Accord commercial. In this multiple components of the car are laid out separately in a room, in a complex arrangement, with the intention to trigger a chain reaction that ultimately advertises the car. An odd concept, but the point of the commercial seems to be the precision and reliability of the Accord. In this case however, the commercial doesn’t centre on one aspect such as the engine, but all aspects, from suspension to the speakers. This seems to have an approach that is more rounded but also, more abstract. Rather than just showing what the car can do, they’re showing us what the components can do when put to another use, thus demonstrating their dexterity and reliability.

Then there’s the previously mentioned Skoda Fabia commercial. Who knows what the publicity board members thought when that one was suggested. They must have been very, very tired to have given that one the green light. It isn’t just the idea though, but rather the actual logistics of doing it that strikes me, especially when you watch the mini “making of” documentary which is on the Skoda website. However, as so often happens in this world, the craziest ideas can work a treat. For those who don’t know it, a live action sequence showing several stages of the process documents a team of chefs/engineers building a full scale replica of a Skoda Fabia hatchback out of cake to incredible detail. The body-work appears to be sponge. The lights are jelly and the roof is dusted with icing sugar. Even the engine sits where it should, has liquorices fan belts and treacle for engine oil. It is highly impressive. However, and this is a rather important point: Unlike the other two, not at one point does the commercial feature the real car itself, or what it can do. The commercial doesn’t use the actual product to sell itself and this is very interesting. Skoda isn’t using the car itself because they’re using its image. Or to be more specific, the image they want it to have. The slogan “Full of Lovely Stuff” does sit well with the car itself but brilliantly with the cake replica and this is what Skoda want .

I’ve used these three commercials as examples as they each have a very different approach to selling the car. All are to the point but the ways they make it are very, very different and I think you’ll agree that these are certainly performances.

Audio Introduction

Project Proposal

In today’s ever increasing multi-media society it seems we are having to perform and put on an "act" so to speak, more and more. As the mediative form is growing and adapting it is encompassing more and more of our lives, from checking our E-mails, to recording a television program and editing it at the touch of a button. Not only is this on a personal level for you and me, but also on a far larger economical and industrial level. As communication technology develops major industries will be the first to benefit. This benefit for them however will of course effect us; technology tends to have a knock-on affect.

One major result of this knock-on effect, is competition, or in this case, industrial rivalry. And this is demonstrated perfectly in the motor industry. For over a hundred years now the internal combustion engine has been the bedrock for mass transportation. Cars, Lorries, tractors, ships, trains all utilize it. In fact the only transport medium that doesn't utilize it in a big way is modern air travel. So important was this invention that manufacturers have endeavoured to improve and develop it ever since.

For this project my hope is to analyse the current automotive world from a performative perspective. We see performance in practically every aspect of this world. For instance, car adverts are performances to show off a car and attract our attention. Car manufacturers attempt to out-do each other when building a car, be it with technology or economy. This, in its way is a performance to gain customers. And arguably cars themselves can perform. Either aesthetically, technologically, or literally as far as the engine is concerned.

This blog will be my workbook so to speak, displaying relevant material and arguments I have discovered. It will also be my grounding for a practical piece on the topic in hand. This piece will take the form of a documentary analysing both the car world but also commonly held opinions and thoughts of myself and others.