Beer, Horses, & Puppies- The Beauty of Neurocinema

    Advertisements (commercials), in my opinion, have always found a way to incite a reaction out of a crowd. Rather it is the heartbreaking ASPCA or the comedic Doritos commercials, people tend to remember them. These advertisements are designed to resonate with viewers in order to promote their product or cause by using different techniques that will entice the human nervous system. For this post, I will be focusing on an advertisement that is designed to tug at the heartstrings- Budweiser's "Lost Dog" commercial that aired during the 2015 Super Bowl. 

Retrieved from https://www.tubefilter.com/2015/02/02/budweiser-puppy-love-super-bowl-ad/

                                                                Budweiser Commercial

    For a company like Budweiser, everyone already knows what their product is so when it comes to marketing they have to find ways to make their ads stick out. In recent years, they have switched to a more emotional marketing technique based on something everyone loves, the Budweiser Draft Horses.  In this ad, writers focused on the story of a lost puppy that had to find its way home, with the help of the horses of course. They used mediums such as dramatic music and intense scenes to keep viewers' eyes glued to the screen; all while making sure the Budweiser logo was strategically displayed in the background. This marketing ploy sticks out to viewers because of how the human brain processes emotion. When we watch something sad, it activates the limbic system which is composed of these brain structures: the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, insular cortex, periaqueductal gray, and the nucleus accumbens. These structures work together to produce a reaction to this advertisement which will then cause the viewer to associate the product with the feelings they felt while watching the commercial. In the video, the puppy is rescued from the wolves and returned home with the help of its friends, the draft horses, and this stimulates the nucleus accumbens, or reward circuit, within the brain leaving the audience with a satisfied feeling that will linger in the brains and reinforce positive thoughts about the advertisement/product (Hallam, 2022). After watching this video, I am curious to know if next time you see a case of Budweiser in the store will you think of the lost puppy? I know I will!

Retrieved from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2346207-budweiser-super-bowl-commercial-2015-watch-lost-dog-ad

References

Hallam, L. (2022, June 16). The effects of advertising on the human brain - owlcation. Owlcation. https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/The-Effects-of-Advertising-on-the-Human-Brain