Crush...Yiff...Destroy!

Charisma · Venter Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 234

Not about furries as such, -but the effect of anthropomorhism in the media and why it is used. Ther are footnotes attached to this, but I've left them out as the footnote numbers won't paste from Microsoft Word

Why Is Anthropomorphism Used In Advertising?

All through written human history there is evidence of Anthropomorphism. From Greek mythology to Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, people have always applied human characteristics to something which is not. We tend to anthropomorphise much of what we have little understanding of, to make it more like ourselves. Hurricanes can be called ‘aggressive’ or even given names to personify them, and on a cloudy day people are known to say that ‘the Sun is hiding’. All around us and every single day, we refer to objects, animals and natural phenomenon as if they were one of us in order to be able to explain and understand them better.
Advertising is consciously aware of the power of anthropomorphism and uses it to their advantage. Marketing is concerned with identifying what consumers want, and that is to understand clearly, and for the product to communicate to them that it will meet all their desires.
An in-depth study carried out by Cadbury to identify what really makes people happy has revealed that the average adult spends £2,050 a year on increasingly complex methods to boost their happiness levels. In an attempt to cash in on this desire to be happy, Cadbury then created a brand-new advertising campaign in order to help people believe that chocolate could act as a short term pick-up during their busy or boring day and let them have more fun. To put this message across in a straightforward way, Cadbury turned to The Character Shop to get them to create a set of mechanical anthropomorphic animals. These crafty talking animals would act as alter egos for their fed-up human counterparts in the new set of television advertisements. These animal side-kicks would then attempt to convince them to have some Cadbury chocolate and to just relax and have some fun.
Anthropomorphic animals are more commonly used within the media to appeal to children and young adults as a way of exaggerating expressions and ideals. Children find it easier to relate to a cartoon character than an adult and look up to these product symbols as heroes and follow them accordingly. Companies may use this knowledge to their advantage in order to lure in their younger market with cartoon animals. Quicky the Nesquik Bunny has been used to attract children to the Nesquik brand since 1973 and remains one of the most popular and recognised characters in the world. Even though he is used in advertising in over 100 countries worldwide, Quicky is loved by children in all different cultures as he is conveyed as a friend that all kids want, and is always looking for fun and games. If Quicky the Nesquik Bunny were a normal human boy, I doubt he would come across as so likable by so many. His cartoon rabbit form is able to span across all cultures very effectively.
Using anthropomorphised cartoon characters to advertise products which should only legally be sold to adults has been proved unethical by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of America. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was aware of the importance of younger consumers, as written in their confidential documents;
“Younger smokers are a key market for RJR because improved RJR performance among younger adults could contribute more to the long term profitability and positive share momentum than could be achieved from gains in other age groups”.
In other words, if RJR were to lure in smokers while they were still young with an advertising figure that appealed to them, then they would be smoking for longer compared to existing older consumers. RJR’s method of pulling them in for bait was Joe Camel, who featured in their advertising campaigns for nine years before he was banned by the FTC for encouraging under-age smoking by giving it a ‘cool’ and ‘glamorous’ appearance.
Other reasons of using anthropomorphism within advertising which does not necessarily have to be aimed at younger audiences include the recent Febreze advertising campaign, featuring Dino the ‘Febreze Dog’. Febreze chose a dog to represent their air freshener for a number of reasons. As well as making it clear that the product is safe to use around pets, creative director Bob Sullivan says, “he’s very expressive and when he smiles, it just warms you up”, which brings us to the fact that the dog has two roles in these ads –he’s the straight man but is also used in contrast to human behaviour.
Anthropomorphism can also be used in advertising to literally give a product ‘character’ and an actual attitude, whether it is an inanimate object or otherwise. By adding human attributes to new technology to make it appear clever and stylish works on both a humorous and sub-conscious level. One that springs to mind that has adopted this tactic is the recent Citroen C4 television advert. It shows a car which turns itself into a Transformer-like robot that then dances with impressive movement and style. The slogan at the end of the advert then says, “Alive with Technology”, to play with the double-meaning that this new car is both technologically advanced and alive in a literal sense. Apple Mac also uses a very similar approach in an advertisement where one of their computers in shown imitating a young adult in a shop window. The Apple Mac seemingly moves of its own accord and cheekily sticks out its CD-ROM tray as opposed to a tongue, to give the impression of its improvisation and intelligence.
In conclusion, advertising directors tend to apply human characteristics, behaviour and physical features to foreign entities in order to exaggerate whatever they wish. This then makes their message to their target audience easier to understand and relate to. After all, humans are better able to relate to something when they see themselves in it.

Rankin · TOP POSTER! Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 1514

Didn't you post this awhile back, only to have that topic closed not once, but twice?

Charisma · Venter Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 234

No, I wrote this only yesterday.
If theres a problem with it being to off-topic can someone tell me because I wasn't aware the other threads got locked.

m_estrugo · Vociferator Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Posts: 353

You forgot anthropomorphized vehicles. Kinda like the lil' cute cars featured on an old Bardahl ad I saw when I was a kid. I think it was Argentinian or something. And there was a VW Beetle cuddling with a VW Minivan. Isn't that cool? :)

Charisma · Venter Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 234

You forgot anthropomorphized vehicles. Kinda like the lil' cute cars featured on an old Bardahl ad I saw when I was a kid. I think it was Argentinian or something. And there was a VW Beetle cuddling with a VW Minivan. Isn't that cool? :)

I mentioned the Citreon C4, and could only think of the Mini's 'Its a Mini Adventure' ads. I'm sure theres alot more though. People like a car with character and intelligence after all.

m_estrugo · Vociferator Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Posts: 353

Speaking of anthropomormized vehicles... Disney featured a lot of anthropomorphized objects on their shorts. And they even made models of them!

They look so cute. :)

Skunkfuckers Inc. · Needs to get out more Joined: 20 Jan 2004 Posts: 980

Using anthropomorphised cartoon characters to advertise products which should only legally be sold to adults has been proved unethical by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of America. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was aware of the importance of younger consumers, as written in their confidential documents;
“Younger smokers are a key market for RJR because improved RJR performance among younger adults could contribute more to the long term profitability and positive share momentum than could be achieved from gains in other age groups”.
In other words, if RJR were to lure in smokers while they were still young with an advertising figure that appealed to them, then they would be smoking for longer compared to existing older consumers. RJR’s method of pulling them in for bait was Joe Camel, who featured in their advertising campaigns for nine years before he was banned by the FTC for encouraging under-age smoking by giving it a ‘cool’ and ‘glamorous’ appearance.

Talk of Joe Camel keeps reminding me of this; random VCL image link of the day (work safe, I assure you).

Speaking of anthropomormized vehicles... Disney featured a lot of anthropomorphized objects on their shorts. And they even made models of them!

http://www.collecto-mania.com/disney/2002/pedro.jpg
http://www.collecto-mania.com/disney/2001/Susie.jpg

They look so cute. :)

Those were awesome! I loved those old shorts and that style of "fuck, they're cars and stuff so let's make them as adorable and irresistable as possible".

Nowadays cartoonyness is making it's way into real life car designs, which is kind of cool and understandable when you realize how much a car's profile registers anthropomorphicly in our subconcious. The front end is like a 'face', because that's what our minds are geared up to recognize, and would go to explain why such cars as the Pontiac Aztec look bizarre to us (it looks like two faces on top of each other, or the topmost amber lights look like clownish eyebrows).

Charisma · Venter Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 234

Nowadays cartoonyness is making it's way into real life car designs, which is kind of cool and understandable when you realize how much a car's profile registers anthropomorphicly in our subconcious. The front end is like a 'face', because that's what our minds are geared up to recognize, and would go to explain why such cars as the Pontiac Aztec look bizarre to us (it looks like two faces on top of each other, or the topmost amber lights look like clownish eyebrows).

I forget which car it is, but they play that song that goes "I see you baby, shakin' that ass" over the add because the car has an unusual back end.

OMFG does anybody remember Jumbo? the jet plane?

Quantum Coyote · Venter Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 221

Not about furries as such, -but the effect of anthropomorhism in the media and why it is used. Ther are footnotes attached to this, but I've left them out as the footnote numbers won't paste from Microsoft Word

So we've established that anthropomorphic beings, animals in particular, are popular and nearly universal, have a long history, and are a powerful tool for advertising and communication.

But now I wonder, for what reasons are animals the most often personified/anthropomorphised objects?

Skunkfuckers Inc. · Needs to get out more Joined: 20 Jan 2004 Posts: 980

So we've established that anthropomorphic beings, animals in particular, are popular and nearly universal, have a long history, and are a powerful tool for advertising and communication.

But now I wonder, for what reasons are animals the most often personified/anthropomorphised objects?

Because warm, air breathing land mammels are soft and cute and the closest thing to what we are, anatomy and all. Even digitigraded legs are pretty close to human legs, they're just differently proportioned, and the tails are basicaly extentions of the spine.

mouse · Needs to get out more Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 1030

Because warm, air breathing land mammels are soft and cute and the closest thing to what we are, anatomy and all. Even digitigraded legs are pretty close to human legs, they're just differently proportioned, and the tails are basicaly extentions of the spine.

Even more than just all mammals. For some reason I remember a page in some book in some science class that had 3 pictures - A human embryo (or fetus, or whatever stage of developement it was..), an animal one, and a fish one.. and they were all almost identical. It was really weird.

And ugh, I hate like 95% of new vehicles. I wanna see huge 50's cars with fins again. Or 60/70's land yachts. Thats where it was AT.

Dr. Dos · Venter Joined: 11 Oct 2004 Posts: 244

hey we had the same book.

The animal was a turtle fetus. That was crazy looking.