Advertisement Analysis

For my second advertisement, I chose to analyse a 2010 Gaviscon advert.

12 Types of Advertising

- Ongoing Characters or Celebrities

In this advertisement, Gaviscon chooses to show the process of its product taking
affect by showing a group of small, fully white firefighters made of Gaviscon
holding a firehose filled with Gaviscon making their way to the woman’s heart to
sooth her heartburn. They chose these firefighters to symbolize the feeling that
heartburn has on the body and to show that Gaviscon can “extinguish” the
burning sensation in just 4 minutes.

- Demo

This ad demonstrates how to use Gaviscon in the fastest, most time efficient way
possible as to not take up the majority of the runtime showing how to take the
product, in large part due to the fact that the product is very straight forward.
Simply ingest a spoonful of Gaviscon if you are suffering with heartburn and in
less than 4 minutes you will feel the soothing effects and your heartburn will
disappear. The ad makes this very clear by showing the woman feeling the pain,
ingesting the Gaviscon and smiling after taking it.

- Show the Benefit Through a Symbol, Analogy or Graphic

At the mid-point of the advertisement, after the woman has taken the Gaviscon,
we are shown an exaggerated graphic of the group of firefighters entering the
heart. In the heart, there is shown to be a large, roaring fire on the floor,
symbolising the intense burning feeling of heartburn, then, the firefighters
extinguish the flames by spraying Gaviscon from their firehose, showing that
much like real firefighters extinguish flames with their hose, Gaviscon will get rid
of heartburn just as effectively.
- Show the Problem

At the beginning of the advert, the main focus of the video, the woman, is seen
at a social gathering enjoying herself when suddenly her surrounding become
blurry and she starts having tunnel vision, showing that heartburn and
indigestion can get in the way of everyday activities and interactions. Then, the
woman is seen squinting in pain and holding her hand to her chest as she begins
to suffer from heartburn, completely debilitating the woman and distracting her
from her social surroundings, then, we are shown the cause of her problem, after
swallowing a spoonful of Gaviscon we are shown that she is suffering from an
intense feeling of heartburn. The Gaviscon is quick to act and completely relieves
the woman’s pain so that she can get back to socialising.

- Exemplary Story

At the beginning of the advert, the woman is seen in pain and is completely
distracted from enjoying her party, however, after grabbing a bottle of Gaviscon
and taking a spoonful, the effects are shown almost immediately. After we are
shown the exaggerated graphic of the Gaviscon soothing her heartburn and
indigestion, the woman is seen smiling, letting out a sigh of relief and going back
to her party, showing that the woman is thankful that she has taken the product.

Psychological Triggers

- Hope

In this advertisement, one of the psychological triggers used to convince the

viewer to buy the product is Hope. The use of hope in this advert comes with the
promise that if you buy this product, all your problems will be fixed, if you buy
Gaviscon, you won’t have to be in this woman’s situation. Instead, if you buy the
product, you can grab it at a moment’s notice and not sacrifice any time during a
party or social interaction trying to relieve your heartburn or indigestion, with
Gaviscon, these problems will be solved in less than 4 minutes.
- Storytelling

The storytelling in this advert tells a story that we can all relate to, the woman is
at a party and is suddenly overcome with pain and sickness, in this case,
heartburn and indigestion. The woman proceeds to make her way to the
medicine cabinet, take some Gaviscon for heartburn relief and lets out a sigh of
relief as her pain is relieved and she can get back to socialising. By telling a story
that takes place at a regular house party with regular looking people, the advert
lets us know that this could happen to anyone and that when it does, Gaviscon
will be there to help.

- Fear

Fear is used very subtly in this advertisement, just as it is used subtly in almost
every advert. Fear is established by showing us that Gaviscon is the only thing
that could help the woman with her pain in this situation and that if she hadn’t
bought the Gaviscon, her party would have been ruined due to the distraction of
heartburn and indigestion. This subconsciously makes the viewer fear that if they
don’t immediately go out and buy Gaviscon, they could find themselves in this
very situation and regret not buying the one thing that could relieve their pain.

- Specificity

This Gaviscon advert does an excellent job at conveying the purpose of the
product in as little time as possible. The ad in total is only 30 seconds long but
the voiceover is just over half the runtime, taking only 16 seconds to describe the
purpose of the product and show a demonstration of how it works. The
voiceover promises that “Gaviscon starts to soothe in just 4 minutes and lasts for
up to 4 hours.” This voiceover, paired with the demonstrational graphic tells us
all we need to know about the product in just 16 seconds in a quick, concise
manor.

- Honesty

Much like the Lemsip advertisement, this Gaviscon advert is honest with its
audience. The ad doesn’t promise to instantly relieve your pain and get rid of
your heartburn forever, it does however promise to show signs of relief in as little
as four minutes and to keep the feeling of relief strong for up to 4 hours. Honesty
is important when creating an advertisement for a product because if you are not
specific with what you want to say and honest with the results, the consumer will
very quickly decide to stay away from your product, whether it be their first
purchase or a repeat purchase.
 Bibliography

Gaviscon Advert:
https://youtu.be/Vx4t5ZFBEeo

12 Types of Advertising:
https://chloewalkermedia.wordpress.com/simons-project-2/unit-19-
advertising-production/12-types-of-advertising/

Joe Sugarman 31 Psychological Triggers:

https://www.dseeker.com/psychological-triggers/