iPad Air - Your Verse - TV Ad

Thesis:

The commercial’s main argument is that the iPad Air can help you create a “verse” of your life and help you learn from this verse and share it with others.

Triune Brain:

Neocortex- In the iPad Air commercial the neocortex, or rational brain, is activated when the narrator starts talking as you are watching the series of events happening on the screen. The narrator’s words make you start to think about the message it is trying to send. Is life really a play and you are just a verse in it? Will owning an iPad air actually allow you to contribute your “verse” to this “play”?

Limbic- The limbic, or feeling brain, is activated when watching the iPad Air commercial when the music starts playing. It is also activated by simply watching the commercial. The limbic brain processes how the music makes you feel and what the pictures are supposed to mean.

Reptilian- Also known as the oldest of the three brains, the reptilian brain is activated by the music, and the tone of the narrator’s voice. The intensity of the music and in the tone of the voice we here makes our reptilian brain think that the iPad Air must be something really important if the narrator is talking so intensely and passionately about it.

3 Shifts/Trends:

Technological Shift- The iPad Air demonstrates a technological shift because it shows how you can access anything through a digital platform; the digital platform being the iPad Air. The shift from analog to digital is shown in the commercial simply by what is being advertised for the iPad Air is most definitely a digital product. 

Personal Shift- A personal shift is also demonstrated when the commercial shows everyone having his or her own device. With new media such as the iPad or even iPhones or iPods, media has shifted from being mass media to personal and participatory media and this commercial gives a perfect example. Everyone can look up anything they want on their own personal devices without having to interact face to face with anyone.

Cultural Shift- This particular commercial emphasizes the cultural shift really well. With the use of the iPad air, anyone can know what you are doing, where you are, and how long you will be there for. Life shifted from being private to having everyone watching your every move. Some people may not like being monitored, but this particular commercial makes you feel like making your life known to everyone is a good thing. It makes you think that if you experience a great event, other people will want to experience it with you, therefor you should share your experiences with your friends and family.

5 “Facts”:

1. We write poetry because we are part of the human race.

2. If you use the iPad Air you will be able to contribute a verse to the play we call life.

3. The iPad Air makes you feel passionate about life.

4. We live for romance, poetry, love, and beauty.

5. If you own an iPad Air you can experience things you thought you would never get the chance to do.

3 Principles:

“Reality” Construction/Trade-offs- The reality that the commercial for the iPad Air creates is you believe that you can do all of these cool and exciting things if you owned the iPad. You would be able to travel the world and go to concerts and be able to share all this with your friends. Living in the 21^st century, this reality is pretty accurate. We all have phones and iPods and iPads that we take everywhere with us and share our experiences with the world. There are however, a lot of trade offs. What if we don’t want people to know where we are and what we are doing every moment of our lives? We have to sacrifice our privacy if we want to have the luxury of owning these items. The commercial also doesn’t tell us if we are able to use the iPad Air without Wi-Fi. The commercial shows people on the Internet sharing and posting things, but it doesn’t tell us if they are paying for their Internet connection or if they are connected to Wi-Fi.

Production Techniques- The production techniques in this commercial are pretty obvious. The dramatic music, and passionate voice of the narrator make their viewers feel like they are there in the moment and make them want to experience what they are watching first hand. The scenes used and how they are shot also influence the viewer on their decision of whether or not they want to buy the iPad.  Each scene is showed more than once, each from a different angle, and the people in the scene are always holding and iPad. The iPad has a picture, or writing on it describing what they are seeing in front of them. This makes the viewers want to be able to do the same thing when they are experiencing something worth sharing.

Value Messages- The value message promoted in the iPad Air commercial is that we live for things such as romance, love, and beauty and if we can’t capture these things and share them with others you won’t be able to contribute your “verse” to the “play”.

5 Persuasive Techniques:

Symbols- The iPad Air symbolizes freedom and creativity and encourages the viewer to use the iPad to share their once-in-a-lifetime experiences with the world.

Simple Solutions- The simple solution given in this commercial is if you own an iPad Air you will be able to experience events such as those shown in the commercial.

Rhetorical Questions- The rhetorical question used in this commercial is at the very end when the narrator says, “What will your verse be?” This implies that you can only create a verse if you own the iPad Air.

Plain Folks- Plain folk is used in this ad by placing the iPad in hands of people that are normal and not famous. A coach is video taping hockey players practicing and playing it back to them, a photographer is using his iPad to take a picture of a breathe taking view, a storm chaser is using his iPad to track the storm while standing in the field watching the tornado in front of him.

Repetition- Repetition is used by showing the same scenes more than once, from different camera angles.

3 Course Themes:

1. The iPad Air shows how much media has evolved overtime. The iPad does everything your personal computer can do, but now you can take it with you. Media becomes mobile.

2. The iPad Air can do a variety of things from taking pictures and videos to acting as a GPS making our lives easier and more manageable than they have been in the past.

3. The commercial shows the impact that new media has on our everyday lives, making us easier to contact and our private lives very hard to keep private.