Page 434

Watching Commercials

News programs and documentaries have the same main purpose: to inform you. But commercials have a completely different purpose: to persuade you. People who create commercials have several tried-and-true techniques for making people want to buy products. Here are a few of their favorite selling methods.

■ Slice of Life

A slice-of-life commercial looks like it was filmed on someone’s phone. It seems to show a bunch of real people having a great time drinking Brand X cola or wearing Brand X athletic shoes. These commercials can be convincing, but the people in them are actors. Each scene is carefully staged and rehearsed. It’s very possible that the actors holding cans of Brand X cola have never even tasted it!

■ Famous Faces

A famous-face commercial shows a celebrity using Brand X. This selling method is effective because many people want to be like their favorite celebrities. The idea is to make people think that if they buy Brand X cola, they will be more like the beautiful movie star or the superstar athlete who is in the commercial.