Dual Coding

Okay when I read this week's blog topic I immediately thought of this one commercial that I have just recently started to see, a commercial for Buckley's Cough Mixture. They have a number of commercials out that feature the same scenario. The have someone blind folded with two cups in front of them doing a taste test. Each cup has a label. One is labeled Buckley's and the other is labeled something like: bathroom puddle, spring break hot tub water, or work out perspiration. After the taste test the person says that the contents of the two cups taste the same and that they must be made by the same company. The screen cuts to a graphic with a picture of the Buckley's medicine bottle and two check boxes that are checked off that say "It tastes awful." "It works."

Now while I am pretty sure that I won't be running to the store to get this item the next time I have a bad cough, these commercials sure did stick out in my mind after the FIRST time I saw one of them. Those commercials often stick out in my mind because of the disgusting things they have their testers drinking along with their product. When I think of Buckley's I don't necessarily think of a good cough medicine right away but instead an image of those taste testers pops into my mind.

That is an example how Buckley's has appealed to my sense of taste and sight to allow me to make a connection in my mind to their name, although it may be a somewhat negative connection it is none the less a connection.

We talked about in class about how Hardees' commercials are geared toward men in that they always show big, greasy, thick, filling, cheeseburgers and say that if it wasn't for Hardees, some
men would starve. Now I agree that the target audience is definitely men but I disagree with the message interpretation that Angie gave. I found it interesting that when she saw it, she believed that the Hardees commercial was saying that men couldn't cook so that is why they go to Hardees. When I saw the commercial I thought that it is saying that men go to Hardees because all the other burger places don't ever give enough food and it if it wasn't for Hardees we would starve. I also found it interesting that Angie didn't even mention the women in the Hardees' commercials, because that is one of the main points that stick out in my head. I actually can't think of any Hardees commercials that come to my mind that don't have some woman in skimpy clothes or she is doing something seductive while eating a Hardees' burger or doing something before the burger shows up on the screen,

Anyway I thought that the dual coding that Hardees used was interesting in that it made a much stronger connection to its name in my head than it did in Angie's just because of what they decided to show visually and even what was audibly heard was interpreted differently because of gender. And as a little side note, every time I see those big nasty burgers on screen my mouth just absolutely begins to water even though I hardly ever eat at Hardees.