Interpellation (cont.)

Now that we have a fundamental understanding of what interpellation is, let's look at a few ads that utilize the concept.

The first is an ad campaign run by Wendy's. Take a look:

(photo courtesy of brandautopsy.typepad.com)

Here, Wendy's is trying to appeal to an audience of people that are trying to lose weight. There are very few people that wouldn't like to lose a few pounds, so by whittling down a "target audience," Wendy's has successfully included a majority of Americans. This advertisement speaks to anybody who wants to lose weight or is currently trying to lose weight, as well as speaking to members of gyms, people looking to join a gym, or people that want to lose weight but don't have the time (or especially the money) for a gym membership. This advertisement essentially advertises that Wendy's is a diet alternative that is better than a gym membership because it costs less. While they may not be advertising their burgers and fries, they are advertising chili and a baked potato alongside the salad. Last I checked, baked potatos and chili are not the most sure-fire ways to lose weight.

But this advertisement works because it speaks to people that want reassurance that skipping the gym is okay, even when they're trying to lose weight. The ideology of wanting to lose weight but not necessarily doing the work is therefore reinforced, and an audience is therefore interpellated. This analysis of the content of the ad complements our previous analysis of its design principles and typography.

The following Burger King ad accomplishes something very similar:

(photo courtesy of nutritionresearchcenter.org)

The marketers are assuming that the audience is primarily working class, or perhaps college-aged. What makes this ad different from the previous Wendy's ad is the way in which the projected audience is analyzed. The Wendy's ad makes mention of both health and cost, whereas the Burger King ad does not aim to be health-conscious whatsoever, but merely mentions cost-related issues, like being able to both pay rent and eat. While this ad is primarily targeted at working class Americans, there can also be crossover. Most people, whether strapped for cash or not, enjoy saving money. The last time you bought something on sale, you probably felt accomplished--as a people, we seem to love bargains! Even if you're not a renter and you do have enough money for food, this ad might catch your attention because it implies bargains and deals. Therefore, this audience is interpellated as being either working class or college-aged, but the secondary audience is interpellated as those that like to save money.

As a side note, it is also interesting that this ad uses both blue and yellow. My personal interpretation of that is that they are clearly using the yellow to boost appetite (see the Color post for more information), and the blue is used not to suppress appetite, but to produce a calming effect. The marketers are assuming that their audience doesn't have a disposable income, so the blue might calm their concerns while also welcoming them to their local Burger King, as if to say, "we understand your concerns here, and here, our food is affordable."

This should probably strike you as being "false advertising" at this point.