Budweiser Commercials: Subliminal Threats

Robert Scholes wrote, “On Reading a video text.” In Scholes essay, he investigates the processes used in a Budweiser commercial. He describes videotexts as a complex dynamic of power and pleasure (Scholes 1). He also emphasizes the importance of teaching media literacy in schools. In a Powerade commercial viewers see half Jimmy Grahams life in a mere minute. The title of the commercial is “Jimmy Graham #Just a Kid.” Viewers would not know the young boys name until the end, if not for the title. The young boy is from Goldsboro, North Carolina. The boy entered into a community orphanage in 1998. The young teen faces many struggles and barriers in his life. The barriers attempt to keep him from succeeding. Powerade depicts a slogan at the end of the commercial that states "Power …show more content…
Watching a commercial may not influence an individual to go out and buy a Powerade or burger. However, commercials have subliminal messages that many viewers do not see. The subliminal messages could be selling something else along with their product. Some commercials have religious, socioeconomic, and political subliminal messages. Other companies sometimes pay for these messages. They can also be the views of the company and producer. It is important that individuals understand the messages. It is important that individual’s views do not sway without research. Understanding commercials are dependent on an individual's education and life experiences. Young children and adults are more influenced by commercials than the older generations. The elderly are less interested in material goods and less influenced by branding. Branding is powerful and influences society. Branding is why many people walk around with Starbucks cups. Also, why young women spend hundreds of dollars on a purse. The United States is a bourgeois society. It is a capitalist society where the "American Dream" is full of materialistic