drinks advertising: carling

Carling - http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Carling-Polar-Night-Out-Its-my-Birthday-Carling/69519

This advert is aimed at an older audience of people who drink alcohol. The premise is of a group of Arctic explorers who are inside a tent during a storm get persuaded to go out because its one of their mates’ birthday. The advert uses humor in that they’re even considering going outside for a drink, and then when one of them says ‘is that smart?’ the reply is ‘I think it’s smart-casual actually’. The whole advert is quite surreal, as they are comparing their situation to that of someone wanting to go out to the pub to celebrate someone’s birthday despite the weather being bad.

One of the last shots shows them in a group and the tagline ‘you know who your mates are’ appears, this allows the audience to compare the characters to themselves and their mates, because the advert promotes male bonding and togetherness.

The Carling advert doesn’t use a mascot, to an extent, as it uses a carefully selected cast to represent their chosen demographic that will relate to the appropriate audience.