Blog #2: Is this campaign effective?

State Farms commercials featuring the Paul brothers appear to be very popular and highly successful.  Many people idolize Chris and it carried over to Cliff as well, seen as Cliff Paul now has a twitter page with well over 28,000 followers.  Clearly, he attracts many fans who adore him and his argyle and hopefully translate to new State Farm clients.  The advertisement strives to use Chris' positive connotation of success on the court, specifically in the field of assist, and to pair that with Cliff, because they are twins so they should have similar success in their respective fields.

Another aspect of this advertisement, however, is the hidden racial stereotypes that are prominent with a closer look.  The employment of these stereotypes are successful as well.  For instance, they dress Cliff in argyle, which on the surface seems like a stylish and well dressed worker, but it alludes him to one of the most prominent African American's in advertising: Aunt Jemima.  Aunt Jemima is a former kitchen slave turned face of a company, but the important thing to note is her role as a slave.  State Farm alludes to slavery many times, most notably through the commercials title, "Born to Assit" just as many African Americans were born to serve their white masters a few centuries ago.  State Farm uses this similarity to signify that their workers are here to serve their clients, or masters, ever need.  Furthermore, to show that this is indeed intended, every person Cliff is shown assisting to is white. 

I think one of the main reasons this campaign is so effective is because the racial stereotypes are so subliminal.  At first watching, I hardly noticed any racism--just the fact that it was the Pauls' dreams to grow up assisting in their professional fields.  However, after I closely watched the ad while looking for racial stereotypes I was able to find many.  Thus, one the surface level this advertisement achieves its goal: illustrating the superior service provided by State Farm and their agents because they have been assisting clients their whole life, seen as its in their blood. More over, this advertisement achieves another one of its goals: to portray racial stereotypes alluding to many previous ethnic characters in advertising.  The marketers do both and they do it well.

 The State Farm advertisement campaign featuring Cliff Paul drew many similarities to Aunt Jemima.  The State Farm ad had a racist connotation that African Americans, such as Cliff, have service in their blood.

Blog #1- Chris and Cliff Paul State Farm Commercial

 
I chose to examine the highly popular advertising campaign of State Farm through the use of Chris and Cliff Paul.  State Farm uses Chris due to his intrigue as the famous, All-Pro basketball player, yet his brother Cliff achieves a similar star status through his role as an excellent State Farm agent in assisting his clients.  This commercial begins with the two Paul twin's being separated at birth, however, they go on to have very similar childhoods due to the fact they are both "Born to Assist." As Chris Paul grew up he is always on the basketball court and he found his niche by playing with a style that makes others around him better through his great assists.  Cliff, always wearing his stylistic argyle, would grow up to always be there to help people at the time they needed it the most.

This advertisement plays upon the dreams of many young children to become a professional in their favorite sport, but State Farm's campaign leads many to believe Cliff's dream was to become an agent at State Farm and he assists people all throughout his life to achieve his dream.  State Farm uses the Pauls' to evoke Ethos through Chris--the All-Star basketball player whom many fans adore--and Cliff--the trusty State Farm agent with a life long experience of assisting--to evoke Logos.  Furthermore, it is Cliff who is the star of the ad because he gives off an aura of a calming presence and someone who anyone would be comfortable asking for advice or help.  The glasses he wears since presumably the moment was born show his intelligence, while his clothes which always feature argyle illustrate his comforting nature similar to that of a relative who one asks for advice.

This campaign is very effective because it contains the attraction of a superstar that many fans admire, the invocation of childhood dreams that everyone hopes to follow, and then it ends strongly by alluding to the bloodline of all State Farm agents in the fact they are all "Born to Assist," just like many of the most successful basketball players.

The use of African Americans in this advertisement develops an interesting other dimension.  First, the fact that they are "Born to Assist" draws the eerie similarity to slavery, where African American's job was to serve their white masters.  Furthermore, it also draws similarities to the first African Americans in advertising--Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben--because both Paul brother's are always smiling and also always assisting to white people.  The fact that they are always assisting to white people not only draws upon the racial stereotypes portrayed in this advertisement with ties to slavery, but it also appeals to white people in a deeper, unconscious level.  This advertisement is targeting anyone seeking an insurance agent, and it appeals to African American's because they see a similarity in the advertisement from a surface level look; and for whites, not only may they be a fan of Chris Paul in the NBA, they are also comfortable with the idea of African American's role of serving to their needs, and thus they would want an agent who is "Born to Assist" their every need.

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