Rex Bachmann
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2001
- Messages
- 1,972
- Real Name
- Rex Bachmann
Since "commercialism" has become---has always been???---central to "American culture", and there is another recent thread on "worst commercials", I'd like to conduct an informal survey on a specific commercial that's been playing on American television fairly recently, which I've found striking for what it may or may not say about American society. (I don't know whether this belongs here or in the "After Hours" section, but am placing it here since the other thread discusses commercials. If it needs to be moved, so be it.)
The scene: a well-appointed kitchen with a central counter with overhead lighting above it and a modern oven built into the wall.
A 30-something man with a thinning, fair-haired comb-over dressed only in his boxers, white tee shirt (actually the undershirt with no sleeves and straps holding it up over the shoulders, I believe), and socks "moon-walks", robot-dances(?), and does other "hip-hop" moves to disco music (to which he sings along). He watches and then removes pizza from the oven at the sound of a "ready"-bell. He then sniffs the pizza: "Who duh cheese? You duh cheese."
A woman around the same age dressed in a business pants suit, whom we are no doubt supposed to take as his wife, has come in behind him and observes him frolicking thus. She says, crinkling up her nose in a slight grimace: "Did the delivery man see you like that?" (or "I hope the delivery man didn't see you like that.")
Startled for a second, he picks up the box and holds it up, top-front, so that we can see the label. Looking into the camera with a devilish grin, the man says, "It's not 'delivery'. It's DiGiorno."
[At this point, an announcer goes on about DiGiorno frozen pizza pie: "So good, they'll think it's 'delivery'.", or some such.]
At the end of the announcer's voice-over narrative, the man, still in his underwear, does a kneejerk "hip-hop"(?) dance across the screen to the same(?) music in front of his wife(?), who stands there looking on helplessly (somewhere between amusement and exasperation). "WHOOooooo!" [Fade-out]
My questions are these:
(1) What do you make of this? What's going on here?
(2) What message do you think the designers of this commercial mean to leave with the audience?
(3) Who is the audience for this commercial?
(4) What impression is left with you, the viewer?
(5) Do you like or dislike the commercial, and why?
Since any response sample is not likely to be representative of the viewing audience as a whole, I need to get a profile of the respondents to this survey. If you yourself have seen this commercial and want to participate, please tell also the following:
[a] respondent's (i.e., your) "nationality": whether you're an American; if not, please tell your country of origin and how long you have lived in America (USA).
respondent's native tongue: Native language English? If not, which language?
[c] respondent's provenience: For American respondents, where did you grow up? (Not(!) "where were you born?") That is, what part of the country?: desert Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas), coastal California, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, upper Midwest, lower Midwest, northern plains states (Wyoming, Nebraska, Dakotas, Montana, maybe Idaho), central plains states, Western desert (northeastern California, Utah, Nevada, (parts of) Colorado), Hawaii, Alaska).
[d] approximate age of respondent: Please state in terms of upper, lower, or mid(dle) decades (e.g., "mid-teens", "lower 40's", or "upper 20's")
[e] respondent's gender: male or female?
This is just an informal survey to satisfy my own "scientific" curiosity on interesting social phenomena. The personal information will only be used to try to evaluate ("profile") the audience as a whole.
Thank you very much for participating.
The scene: a well-appointed kitchen with a central counter with overhead lighting above it and a modern oven built into the wall.
A 30-something man with a thinning, fair-haired comb-over dressed only in his boxers, white tee shirt (actually the undershirt with no sleeves and straps holding it up over the shoulders, I believe), and socks "moon-walks", robot-dances(?), and does other "hip-hop" moves to disco music (to which he sings along). He watches and then removes pizza from the oven at the sound of a "ready"-bell. He then sniffs the pizza: "Who duh cheese? You duh cheese."
A woman around the same age dressed in a business pants suit, whom we are no doubt supposed to take as his wife, has come in behind him and observes him frolicking thus. She says, crinkling up her nose in a slight grimace: "Did the delivery man see you like that?" (or "I hope the delivery man didn't see you like that.")
Startled for a second, he picks up the box and holds it up, top-front, so that we can see the label. Looking into the camera with a devilish grin, the man says, "It's not 'delivery'. It's DiGiorno."
[At this point, an announcer goes on about DiGiorno frozen pizza pie: "So good, they'll think it's 'delivery'.", or some such.]
At the end of the announcer's voice-over narrative, the man, still in his underwear, does a kneejerk "hip-hop"(?) dance across the screen to the same(?) music in front of his wife(?), who stands there looking on helplessly (somewhere between amusement and exasperation). "WHOOooooo!" [Fade-out]
My questions are these:
(1) What do you make of this? What's going on here?
(2) What message do you think the designers of this commercial mean to leave with the audience?
(3) Who is the audience for this commercial?
(4) What impression is left with you, the viewer?
(5) Do you like or dislike the commercial, and why?
Since any response sample is not likely to be representative of the viewing audience as a whole, I need to get a profile of the respondents to this survey. If you yourself have seen this commercial and want to participate, please tell also the following:
[a] respondent's (i.e., your) "nationality": whether you're an American; if not, please tell your country of origin and how long you have lived in America (USA).
respondent's native tongue: Native language English? If not, which language?
[c] respondent's provenience: For American respondents, where did you grow up? (Not(!) "where were you born?") That is, what part of the country?: desert Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas), coastal California, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, upper Midwest, lower Midwest, northern plains states (Wyoming, Nebraska, Dakotas, Montana, maybe Idaho), central plains states, Western desert (northeastern California, Utah, Nevada, (parts of) Colorado), Hawaii, Alaska).
[d] approximate age of respondent: Please state in terms of upper, lower, or mid(dle) decades (e.g., "mid-teens", "lower 40's", or "upper 20's")
[e] respondent's gender: male or female?
This is just an informal survey to satisfy my own "scientific" curiosity on interesting social phenomena. The personal information will only be used to try to evaluate ("profile") the audience as a whole.
Thank you very much for participating.
I haven't seen this particular commercial, but know the general gist of the DiGiorno ads. Yeah, we get the idea, the pizza is so good, we think it's delivery, and of course, all delivery Pizza is so tasty...eh hemm..Domino's anyone. 
