Honda CRV Can Take You There

I saw this commercial in my eleventh hour of Hulu surfing. I thought it was kind of cute the first time, but after the third time, it got pretty annoying. Since I'm feeling optimistic, I'll discuss the things I liked about it first. It features a cute, wholesome girl fulfilling her dreams of travelling to all fifty states in United States. The entire commercial is shot in a soft light and features still photos, as if the audience is looking through a scrapbook that the girl has put together after her trip. I feel as though this could appeal to the need for affiliation, which is furthered by some of the pictures containing other cute people, or the original girl being driven around by her (most likely) friends. Because most of the pictures are taken by a third party, it also implies that there are people who are enjoying the trip with her. 

Another major appeal in the commercial is to the need to escape. Some very iconic tourist destinations are shot, like the Golden Gate Bridge or the Mount Rushmore sign in South Dakota. She's always on a beach or in front of a cozy house, and those images are highly appealing to a driver who feels like getting away. She is always in a shirt from her newest destination, which I thought was a cute idea. An ad technique that is manifests itself in this is "transfer/association." The ad wants the viewer to believe that if you buy this car, you can have never-ending adventures, or that if you buy this car, your "leap list" dreams can be fulfilled. But on that note, why is it a leap list? Is there some sort of patent on the term bucket list? Oh! The commercial also uses "plain folks," because she isn't in fancy clothes or eating in fancy restaurants. Because of this technique and the casting, I would place the car's target audience at youthful, middle class adults who aren't looking for  a luxury vehicle. 

Because there is no voice over or text for the most part, one of the most important things is the music. And they were not subtle in their music choice. Throughout the whole song, it's a cute little tune that's upbeat and happy, just like the girl. And it features whistling, which I thought was meant to make it seem more grassroots or down to earth. The music isn't pretentious, so you could have this soundtrack too. My problem with the little diddy is when "live it up" is added as lyrics. All subtly is thrown out the window, because it's blatantly trying to connect memorable experiences to the car. And I'm just not buying it. I thought the concept started as a good idea, but it just didn't work in the end.