What the Hail?

Advertisers target certain demographics with each advertisement they create and they use methods called hailing and interpellation to get the attention of the target demographic. This involves explicitly identifying those that they wish to reach (“hey you with the _____”). This method can be extremely successful in reaching the audience but it can also fail in its attempts.

For this entry, I chose the Sailor Jerry commercial to examine. This advertisement is a collection of images that portrays a sort of alternative lifestyle which is made to seem appealing. This alternative lifestyle includes, among other things, tattoos, girls and lots of alcohol in a very laid back, party-like setting. The text points out that “the point is that all media texts, all forms of language and representation, carry ideological meanings” (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012, p. 181-2) and this advertisement is no exception. The ideological meaning portrayed in this party-like atmosphere is one of manliness, which is represented through the tattoos, the partying and the implied copious amounts of rum consumed.

The text has a quote that describes hailing and interpellation very well through the use of a personal example; “my teachers ‘hailed’ or ‘interpellated’ me, Michael, as ‘the wild Irishman’ and I accept this, recognized myself, and internalized the ideological values of the wild Irishman as my identity” (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2012, p. 185). This ad seeks to hail potential rum customers by presenting a lifestyle that is laid back and free of responsibility, showing only the positive points of a party-centric way of life. The numerous girls that are seen throughout the commercial only strengthen its appeal to male viewers and presenting an alternative lifestyle is always appealing to consumers, and is now appealing to producers as well since the counter culture is now bought off the shelf.

  This ad appealed to me personally because of my liking of counter culture, which was not incited by this commercial. The lifestyle that was portrayed in the ad, namely one of no cares and lots of partying and fun, would appeal to most of the population, especially those that work hard and behave according to society’s rules. Behaving according to the rules of society would be obeying and conforming to the norms and laws that are present and constantly enforced in one’s culture. This ad however did not make a connection to the product that was explicit enough for me to associate the images from the commercial with this rum only. The only connection between the rum and the images of the commercial is that the people shown might have consumed rum prior to these activities.

This advertisement succeeds in hailing a very broad demographic with the use of the girls and the portrayal of a care free lifestyle, especially since it seems that the average person is becoming busier as time progresses. However, the lack of connection between the images that the commercial presents and the rum that it is trying to sell is simply not explicit enough to make me want to try this rum. This ad campaign has failed to hail me personally but will likely be reasonably successful due to its broad focus.

References

O’Shaughnessy, M., & Stadler, J.. (2012). Media and Society. 5^th Ed. South Melbourne, Oxford University Press.