Environmental Advertisement Analysis

GE's Wind Energy Commercial




General Electric (GE) aired a commercial advertising their product, wind energy, on NBC’s television network. The plot of the commercial is a young boy, standing on the edge of a cliff, holding out a jar to collect wind. Upon capping off his jar of wind, he makes the long journey home to what appears to be his grandfather’s birthday celebration. Just as his grandfather is about to blow out the candles on his cake he pauses to open the jar, given to him as a gift from the boy. The gust of wind escaping the jar is so powerful that it blows out the candles and soot out the chimney.
Throughout the commercial the song, “Catch The Wind” by Donovan is played in the background. No other audio or text is featured until the very endwhen there’s a man’s voice saying “capturing the wind and putting it to good use. Wind energy from GE.” There is, however, some slight audio from the actors of the commercial who speak to each other very briefly in Spanish. As the beautiful background images fade away, a white background appears with a few flashing images centered on the screen of a their website (ecomagination.com), a windmill, a green leaf, NBC’s logo, and a wheel’s spokes. I believe the song is a great fit for the commercial. It is lighthearted and the lyrics are about wind. The ratio of images to text/audio (other than music) is quite heavily emphasized on image. The use of more pictorial elements tells us that GE is trying to sell their product through the glamorized images of the natural countryside. GE wants the viewer to associate such images with their company and their wind power in general.
The theme, as it appears, is to promote wind energy and show just how powerful it can be. Other themes represented in this commercial include, romanticism, goodwill, and family. Romanticism is portrayed on the train with the little girl and the little boy. She smiles at him and, typical of a young boy, he makes a scowling face. Goodwill is seen with the young boy being given a ride by a passing stranger on a moped. The boy is walking along a country road, clearly has a long way to go with nothing in sight, and the moped comes up behind him, passes him slightly, then stops to lend a hand. The theme of family comes at the end of the commercial with the birthday celebration. It appears that this is a very large and loving family. The use of all these themes gives the viewer a sense of serenity and peace. It is a very lighthearted and uplifting commercial to watch.
The mood created by this advertisement is happy. It tells a cute little story. However, the story goes on for a majority of the commercial before you realize what the advertisement is selling. I believe this is not necessarily a good thing for GE. The attention of the viewer is limited and best practices say to get your name out there before people lose interest. GE does do a great job, though, of capturing the attention of the reader through its compelling little story. It almost keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what the boy is going to do next. This may make up for the fact that their brand is not mentioned until the very end. This, again, emphasized GE’s reliance on images to sell their product.
Wind energy could potentially play an important role in American society. It is currently being promoted as a better, alternative source of energy. Every person in the United States uses some form of energy on a daily basis. This product could potentially be apart of our daily lives. This commercial, however, is far from informational about the product. It doesn’t say what it is, how it works, or how you can get the product. Instead, it simply gets the word out there that wind energy exists. I almost feel that GE is getting the consumer on board for the shift toward alternative energy sources.
I believe the main target audience of this commercial is anyone who pays an utility/energy bill. More specifically, because of the emotional appeal deriving from the young boy, I feel it is geared toward parents and families. The boy is so protective of his jar of wind, as seen in the scene on the train where he draws it in close to him when the little girl eyes him up. When he gives it to his grandfather, his whole family gathered around, the look on his face draws a smile to your own. I believe that anyone with a child can relate to such and act, which is why I believe it’s targeting parents.
Images seen throughout the commercial include many ties to the presence of wind. For example, the blowing scarf the young boy is wearing, the crashing waves of the ocean, the laundry blowing on the close line, the birthday candles blowing out, soot shooting out the chimney, and the windblown hair and apparel of the family members at the birthday celebration. I feel these images really tie to the theme of the commercial and product being advertised very well. They remind the viewer of the commercials underlying message. Other images tie to the underlying theme of “ecomagination”: GE’s coined term for their efforts toward more environmentally friendly products. Images which promote such a term, are generally “green” in nature and included in this specific commercial are examples of blue skies, big, blue ocean and river, green pastures, green trees, mountains, animals (cows, goats, chickens, horses), and a beautiful countryside throughout. The houses pictured in this advertisement were not typical American houses, but rather small hut-like houses way out in the isolated country. The use of such images allows the American consumer to fantasize about living in beautiful places with the underlying association to GE and it’s wind energy. They are symbols of nature.
Some figures present in this ad include what appears to be a Spanish family. Every member of this family, including the young boy, has a smile on their face all throughout. The ages range from the young boy to the old grandfather. None of the people are what you would expect in a typical commercial model. Instead, there is a very average country family: overweight, thin, makeup-less, simply dressed, and wrinkled. They look very natural. I believe that the use of models would have taken away from the message GE was trying to get across. They want to come across as a genuine company looking out for the best interest of their consumers.