Dissertation on "What Are the Benefits and Limitations of Animated Characters in Contemporary Advertising?"

Dissertation 20 pages (5194 words) Sources: 15

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Animated Characters in Advertisements

The History of Animated Characters in Advertisement

The Efficacy of Animated Characters in Advertisement

The Benefits of Animated Characters

The Limitations of Animated Characters

Conclusion and Areas for Further Investigation

Unlike the early days of animation and mass advertising when animated characters were still novel and largely unknown quantities, the choice of whether or not to use an animated character in a contemporary advertisement must be informed by the ample research and analysis regarding the benefits and limitations of these characters that has emerged over the intervening years. However, determining these benefits and limitations is not so simple as drawing up a list of positives and negatives, because the utility of animated characters depends upon a number of subjective details one must consider, to the point that what might be considered a limitation in one instance could actually be a benefit in another. This is not to suggest that one cannot effectively determine the benefits and limitations of animated characters in contemporary advertising, but rather than one must recognize that answering this question first requires a determination of the standards by which benefits, limitations, and utility are judged.

Like with nearly any facet of an advertising campaign, the decision to deploy animated characters must first depend on the target audience, whether it be adults, children, men ages 18-25, or any other combination of demographics. A look at the history of some of the most iconic animated characters will help one to appreciate how different characters influence different demographics, as well as provide a context for the use of animated characters in contemporary advertising. After determining the target demographic, one must then consider how much animated characters actually influence the purchasing behavior of that demographic, and what kind of animated character might be most effective. This step is particularly important because extensive research has shown that advertising affects children and adults differently by producing different kinds of associations between characters and products, and furthermore, than animated characters, and indeed, all advertising, is not nearly as effective as advertising and marketing textbooks would have their students believe. Understanding this allows one to consider what animated characters are particularly adept at, which is assigning certain unspoken qualities to a brand or product, for better or worse, and generating positive or negative associations.

Recognizing what animated characters can and cannot do allows one to ultimately define the two qualities of animated characters that function as the axes around which any other benefits or limitations rotate: control and longevity. Animated characters grant unprecedented control over the expression of meaning, and their fictional existence means they can persists long after their originators. However, this control and longevity may also function as a limitation, because the cultural meanings which animated characters express are not static, and particular characters may not be popular enough to sustain themselves in the long run. In the end the choice to use an animated character is always highly subjective, but this study can at least begin to detonate some of the unhelpful assumptions surrounding the use of animated characters in contemporary advertising as well as reveal some the particular strengths and weaknesses of the medium.

Chapter 1: The History of Animated Characters in Advertisement

Animated characters in advertising first took off with the widespread dissemination of the television, because although newsreels and movie theaters may have featured animated advertisements, many of the most famous animated characters did not arrive until the 1950s, when more and more people were able to afford their own television.

However, like animation in general, their emergence can be traced back to the illustrated mascots of the nineteenth century, such as "the Quaker oats man, [who] has been around since 1887."

Again, like animation in general, the animated characters of the 1950s were not aimed exclusively towards children, but rather represented a novel approach towards consumers in general. While today there is a widespread association of animation with children, to the point that one textbook claims that "animation is obviously a particularly good medium for advertising aimed at children" without offering any evidence, when the Leo Burnett advertising agency first developed famous characters like Tony the Tiger, the Jolly Green Giant, or the Pillsbury Doughboy in the 1950s and 60s, the campaigns were aimed at adults and children alike.

The continuing centrality of these characters to the marketing of their respective products reveals the utility of animated characters in general, but also serves as a jumping off point for a discussion of animated characters as they relate to different demographics.

The animated characters mentioned above have remained largely unchanged throughout their history, with the exception of Tony the Tiger, whose advertising materials have gradually shifted away from a general audience and recently has focused much more on children. This is because for many products, a character that appeals to a broad audience is most effective, because a variety of people often influence buying decisions for these products. For example, the products produced by Pillsbury and Green Giant are general household foodstuffs, and as such, a character than can appeal to everyone in the household would be most desirable. In the case of Tony the Tiger, as sugary cereals became associated almost exclusively with children, the character design and theme changed accordingly.

The case of Tony the Tiger reveals a general trend in the use of animated characters in advertising from their initial emergence to today. Although the initial spate of animated characters of the 1950s and early 60s appealed to general audiences, as time went on they began to differentiate themselves according to specific demographics, so that characters like Tony the Tiger and the Keebler Elves were increasingly marketed towards children, while characters like the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Jolly Green Giant, and the Brawny paper towel man were directed towards women, and to a lesser extent men, above and beyond other members of the household, based on the assumption that women would be responsible for the majority of household purchases. This assumption was then reinforced through the programming during which these advertisements aired, as evidenced by the fact until very recently, "men engaged in twice as many occupations as women, who dominated the commercial airwaves as housewives."

While recognizing this gender disparity will become important later when considering the limitations of animated characters, for now it is only necessary to recognize that these animated characters have gradually been aimed at more and more specific audiences.

Thus, while characters from the first wave of animated advertising went from targeting a general audience to more specific demographics, subsequent characters were designed from the start to target specific groups, and now the "reinvention" of older characters in order to attract a new audience is a relatively common occurrence. For example, when the king character representing Burger King was first created in the 1970s, he "was a cheery cartoon character who performed magic tricks with cheesy sidekicks like Sir Shakes-A-Lot and the Wizard of Fries," but "in 2004 Crispin Porter + Bogusky reintroduced the BK King as a quirky, and some say creepy, character that appeals to young men."

The reinvention of the BK King represented a shift away from fast food advertising geared towards children and towards advertising geared towards young adults, as a variety of social and economic changes meant that more and more young people had disposable income and made their own decisions when it comes to purchasing fast food.

Of course, this trend is merely a single symptom of the overall tendency towards more and more precise demographic targeting, but it is worth pointing out in the specific case of animated characters because it factors so heavily into determining the benefits and limitations of using an animated character in contemporary advertising. When determining whether or not to use an animated character, one must consider the product, target demographic, and the character itself, because, for example, deciding to use the Pillsbury Doughboy to market a new product brings with it wildly different considerations than deciding to create an entirely new character, especially because that character will likely have to focus on a clearly defined demographic, whereas older characters can still appeal to a much larger audience merely due to their age and ubiquity. However, just because the use of any particular animated character carries with it a nearly insurmountable number of specific, subjective considerations, this does not mean that one cannot provide some general guidelines for what works and what does not, and the first place to find some of these guidelines is in the academic research regarding the effect of animated advertisements on the audience, especially as it relates to purchasing behavior and brand identification.

Chapter 2: The Efficacy of Animated Characters in Advertisement

In order to effectively address the benefits and limitations of animated characters, one must first do away with some lingering assumptions regarding animated characters in advertisements that have thus far prevented a reasonable discussion of the subject. These assumptions are born out of two ideological extremes, but essentially make the… READ MORE

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