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.
How interesting that State Farm managed to find someone who looks so similar to Chris Paul that the two could be considered twins! The assists in the advertisement truly do show that "Cliff Paul" is as helpful to others and Chris is to his teammates. I agree that this is a very effective campaign and State Farm didn't even need to use any sort of racial stereotypes to convey their message. This advertisement could have easily been done with any other look-alikes to stars of any other ethnicity in the NBA.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very clever and also effective that State Farm related "assisting" customers to playing basketball. However, I do agree that State Farm did not necessarily need to have a character of a specific ethnicity. Did the advertisers choose Chris Paul, a black athlete, for a specific race-related reason?
ReplyDeleteAlthough this ad is not racist/not meant to be at all, if you think about it, is this similar to Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima is any way? The whole idea behind the ad is "born to assist", and while doing so both Chris Paul and Cliff Paul are smiling the whole time. Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima were also perceived as people who loved to serve, as displayed by their giant smiles in all the images. In the present day, most people would not think that this State Farm ad is related to Aunt Jemima or Uncle Ben in anyway, however if you stretch the idea behind the campaign there are similarities.
ReplyDeleteGreat points, thank you. I will re-examine this and see if I can incorporate these thoughts into my blog.
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