Wreck
It Ralph is a smorgasbord of story and elements. Its plot
includes many different worlds, its worlds include many different characters,
and its characters interact with many different advertisements. And when I say
many, I mean many. To name a few,
Wreck It contains in-story advertisements such as Subway, Nesquik, Laffy Taffy,
Oreo, and if you would like to count them, all of the characters from past-time
arcade games such as Pac Man and Bowser. These product placements are very easy
to spot, but do happen to be very clever.
The first advertisement
seen is Subway. The advertisement comes in the arcade as a little girl sets
down her stack of quarters right next to a Subway drink cup which is solely focused
on for about twenty seconds. This advertisement lack pathos. The subway cup is
placed in a scene without any emotion or feeling. It is just the cup in the
scene. It also is not food, it does not look appealing, it does not make you
hungry or crave subway. On the other hand, this could be a marketing strategy
on Subway’s part. Subway may be trying to make its way into a place it typically
is not, the family, as opposed to trying to make you crave it. Wreck It is a family movie and Subway is
a restaurant not only suitable for family, but good for it. By putting Subway
in a family movie full of candy and dessert ads, Subway gains ethos. It is
something that is healthy to feed your children. It is more ethical or morally responsible
to advertise more nutritious items, giving credibility. Essentially Wreck It Ralph is “making an argument based on the character of the company”
(Lunsford pg.53). When examining the ads by Subway for Wreck It Ralph, it becomes apparent that
this was the case. Subway’s VP of global marketing was quoted as saying that “[Wreck It Ralph and Subway] both have something
we can offer everyone in the family” (Variety.com). I believe that Subway and Wreck It Ralph are truly able to achieve
that goal.
The other advertisement
I truly enjoyed was Nesquik. While on a search in the Sugar Rush game, two of
the main characters fall into a deep pit off of a candy cane branch. The pit is
brown and powdery, like Nesquik chocolate milk powder. This gives the argument
ethos as it looks realistic. The characters start to drown in the sand and a
sign pops up. “NesquikSand”. This was a very clever advertisement, mixing the
characters predicament of being in quick sand with the title of the product. Wreck It
Ralph was able to assimilate the advertisement into something that fit the
story and was funny. By doing so the ad gained pathos for causing laughter and
logos for making sense. Since Nesquik is such a renowned and familiar product,
the pure exposure of its logo is argument enough. The logo itself has become so
well known that it creates pathos. Seeing the logo makes you think of a
chocolate ‘stache, sitting with mom at the table, and of a spoon in a brown
glass of milk. This is explained in Understanding
Movies by Giannetti when he asserts that ““Sometimes
images have the ability to persuade by sheer pathos”. This ability stems from
the commonality of Nesquik. The product is also fitting of the movie as
it is a child targeted food just as the movie is a children’s movie. The
advertisement that came from Nesquik to Wreck
It was relatively the same, just placing the two together. The same effect
works here since both the product and movie are well-liked and well-known, the
pure presence of the ads are enough.
I think Wreck It Ralph is the cutest movie I
have ever seen. In terms of product placement, it is hard to say if it matched
up (product placement is hard to make cute). Though the advertisements all
contained ethos, pathos, and logos, they have been criticized for being too
obvious and overdone. I, however, have decided that sometimes obvious works.
The advertisement in Wreck It Ralph, though easily recognizable, effectively give
off the impression intended by the products. For that, I give the product
placement 3 pickles. (Maybe I am biased because I love chocolate milk.)
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