Effective news writing must take into account to the delivery channel. That’s the point in these modules.
Producing scripts for radio or audio podcasts, write for the ear!
Scripting news video reports write for the eye!
That may not sound like a big deal, but it is. When the eye fights with the ear, eyes win. Every time.
It’s hard to make sense of verbal information that conflicts with what you’re watching. When a TV news report leaves the reader seriously confused, the culpret is nearly always a miss-match between images and words.
Report that a bank was just robbed while showing video of parked police cars, flashing lights, outside a Fred Meyers, and most viewers at home will be scratching their heads. Some will picture the perp has taken refuge in the store. Even regular customers may forget the little bank branch located just inside the supermarket. No kidding, this happened when I was working for the TV station. Images overpower creating cognitive dissonance in the minds of viewers, blocking reception of the intended message.
Advertisers know this. Try and listen to what’s being said while watching this commercial.
For this week’s discussion: Give an example of a commercial or some other video/word conflict that left you scratching your head.
Then take this concept into account scripting a few choice words, or phrases, for the newscaster to read supporting what viewers are watching unfold in the brief video cuts you chose to include in the A12-Haul Road Trucker script.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU5T1dkTZvQ&list=PL7QtGDC0awE8mmRP3TSrI0XvGFbt_sIhH&index=5
This fruit by the foot commercial is an insane fever dream. It almost feels like a parody commercial that would be played on Adult Swim at 3 in the morning. The song is annoying to say the least, it makes no logical sense and was an absolute stretch to try and make it related to fruit by the foot. It also seems to be trying to pander to a younger audience but completely misses the mark. I cant even imagine this being on a constant rotation for me in the ads that youtube or any other website shows me.
Totally agree. Puzzling waste of life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ef7xw2J500
Here is a link to a commercial on a fast-food burger and how it is made. It shows the burger on day one and as seconds go by in the commercial the hamburger from burger kind just dissolves down more and more and more. It totally blew my mind because I didn’t know that hamburger meat molds. Once again as the days go by from Day 1 all the way down to Day 34 he burger looks really nasty and moldy. But how and why? I have itched my head 3x while typing this lol.
This ad appears legit. At least, the Orlando News station that reported on the commercial is real as far as I can tell. A great example then of images overpowering an ill-conceived message.
Do I want Burger King using preservatives after watching this? Hell Yeah!
Geico ad’s used to be fun to watch because of the little guy that talks to the camera and tells us what Geico is all about. Recently, Geico ads have just been really random. They show a clip of someone doing something totally unrelated to care insurance than try to relate that back to what they’re selling. I always cringe at these ads because they are so random, flat out weird or unnecessary. I understand their message, but still confused as to why they chose to go with that type of ad.
Sometimes it’s all about remembering the name…literally.
This is a 2017 McDonald’s commercial. Until the very end, we don’t know what the commercial is for and once we figure it out, it doesn’t make sense. The rundown of it: the kid doesn’t have his dad and wants to learn more about him. His mom names off qualities and the kid doesn’t have anything in common with him until they get to McDonald’s. They both love the same sandwich which is the grossest (in my opinion) sandwich they serve, a fish fillet one. Why couldn’t they advertise a more popular one, like a burger?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1XM4INk8l8
Anna, REALLY interesting variation! The mother-son Q&A commercial simmers with loaded words, repeatedly dashing the kid’s hopes for some connection with his deceased father. His hunger is finally rewarded, visually and audibly face smeared with a McD’s fish burger just like Dad!
This commercial is absolutely CRAZY! I believe we have watched this same commercial in your class last semester. As I watched this commercial over and over, I realized more and more that they kept larger words moving words across the screen like “chance” just so you can keep your eyes off of what the side messages that are below that are much smaller that are listing more important information such as the side effects. The narrator even states that it does not work for everyone and it can lead to DEATH. A lot of people will not even notice that part of the commercial. Imagine taking a medicine to treat an illness and it makes it worse. Like our Professor stated above, “when the eyes fight with the ears, the eyes always win.”
Keshaun, It IS hard even trying to listen!. Totally insidious!
In general, Super Bowl commercials are a weird animal unto themselves. This one is so out there. Am I supposed to feel bad that an anthropomorphic peanut died? But I’m still supposed to eat his products, what? The one where Mr. Peanut died and has now been resurrected? Honestly, what are they trying to sell me?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSeBuY9F2hE
Jade, Truly strange… especially when Mr. Peanut is reborn jabbering like a chimp. (Because monkeys eat nuts? How is that a selling point?) Words echo the bizarre funeral…rebirth. Only goal in this one is attention for familiar peanut “pitchman.”
This commercial was about preventing school shootings, not buying supplies. Did you not watch it until the end?
Best ad campaign ever: Quiznos. https://youtu.be/aZrks-BPeLQ
This will go down in history.
I don’t know Tiffany. I’d be scared Quiznos is going to play that song wile I’m trying to eat. Soothing words do mark the food’s arrival at the end.
This commercial aired during the SuperBowl in 2016 I believe it was. It starts out with a puppy/monkey/baby hybrid, and leaves you confused the whole time until the very end where it says “Three awesome things combined.” A very interesting advertisement for Mountain Dew.
In case you’re still confused, it’s trying to sell a drink that is Mountain Dew, juice, and caffeine. Hence, the whole “three awesome things combined” part.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp5TY6bK6GQ
Both Puppymonkey and and Baby Shark came out the same year. The #PuppyMonkeyBaby commercial aired during SuperBowl, might have been first. This does reflect the fact few words are needed to grab attention when a new visual is creepy/strange/uncomfortably playing. Second or third time I’m switching channels on this.
This commercial is interesting. It’s an insurance ad but the main subject in the commercial has nothing to do with an insurance issue or need. A Lebron James look alike is a “motaurâ€, half-man, half-motorcycle. The motaur has been used as a subject in a few commercials for Progressive Insurance. It seems insurance companies have moved away from demonstrating why or what their insurance is needed for, and have begun using humor to sell their product. Where this commercial is humorous, it could leave some viewers confused as to what the ad is selling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bdo2WWuzmM
Another truly strange visual journey. The dialogue focuses attention on man/motorcycle, providing context when the viewer gets a second peak. Not how it ends with an uncluttered view of PROGRESSIVE’S logo, reinforced by the unseen voice.
This Michael Jackson cereal commercial, I don’t really understand. The reason it is so confusing to me is that because it is a commercial, meaning it is supposed to be endorsing a product. Yet in this video, Michael’s brothers basically just agree that this cereal is gross, and even Mikey won’t eat it. I don’t get why this video would be a commercial, if they only things they say about the product is negative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OwIPS_nch0
It wasn’t a real commercial. This was a spoof on a Wheaties commercial, maybe on Saturday Night Live or a similar program, where the recurring main character is a little caucasian boy named “Mikey.” “Mikey likes it” was the tagline. People are still saying that today.
Case solved! Thanks Tiffany
I agree Melanie, I think this must be a parody, possibly for a TV show at the time. Some of YouTubes of this label it as “Life cereal parody.” In any event, I don’t think it’s a serious commercial. The rules don’t really apply, any video of the brothers off stage would claim some attention in itself back then.
This commercial is for sure one that left me confused. When the young boy asked his dad to get a gun, I believed it was going to be about gun control. Then the commercial went to a black screen with words about Family Fires. I then thought about actual fires. Then the next screen defined Family Fires as gun control. It just left me confused.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJrJHFt_CcY&list=PL7QtGDC0awE8mmRP3TSrI0XvGFbt_sIhH&index=13
Interesting! Just how everything seems to be normal and fine the kids asks if the dad has a gun. It throws you off, but makes sense why the screen went black and made you read the words that popped up. It’s an eye opener.
Some commercials miss the mark. The Ad Counsel funded public-service campaign was called “End Family Fire,” which would have made more sense than the stark black screen “Family Fire” text at repeated twice before the full name briefly surfaces in a logo.
The campaign was –no-surprise!– denounced by firearms supporters. Here’s what one industry lobby said:
“Contrived and Off-Putting
Let’s start with the portrayal of the contrived exchange between the father and the son in the launch video. Maybe that dialog would feel real to advertising people who have no real personal connection to gun ownership, but we’re certain it will be seen by gun owners completely off-putting. And yet it’s gun owners that this marketing/advertising team say they want to reach… the advertising firm behind this campaign does not understand gun owners and, as a result, focus group testing or not, they end up with scripting that speaks to their own sensibilities and to that shared by Brady campaign supporters. They may not think they do so, but the effect is to belittle genuine concerns for protecting one’s family…
I have seen quite a bit of commercials in my day. One commercial that stood out to me was one called Back- To-School Essentials- Sandy Hook Promise. This commercial made my heart sink and even made me cringe. The commercial starts off with various kids excited about getting new supplies for the new year. As the commercial evolves, more students are sharing why they need these essential items like shoes, colored pencils and scissors. Mayhem occurs, kids are screaming. Shoes are needed so they can run away from a shooter. Colored pencils and scissors are needed to so they can defend themselves against a shooter. It starts very happy and then turns very dark in a manner of seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ykNZl9mTQ&list=PL7QtGDC0awE8mmRP3TSrI0XvGFbt_sIhH&index=2
wow! This made me cringe and very sad as well. I have never seen this commercial. The fact that they tried to tie in school supplies and something so devastating like a school shooting, wow.
In my opinion, both this and the Family Fire campaign are bombs. Even the visuals in this are offensive in the school-shopping flavored mock effects. A recent flop of this sort was South Dakota’s spendy “Faces of Meth” campaign which drew ridicules for big portraits of old ranchers, football players and others with the words “METH. I’M ON IT”