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Writer's pictureNick Saward

Liam Neeson and Barry B. Benson???


Clash of Clans 'AngryNeeson52' ad (2015)


Audience appeals is very important for defining specific target audiences and understanding what captures their attention. The best way to capture a target groups attention is to include something that they like in your add. For my first subject that appeals to audiences I have chosen the 'AngryNeeson52' ad from 2015 about the hit mobile game Clash of Clans.




This ad was made for the 2015 Superbowl, which is famously known for having wacky and memorable commercials. The ad fits in that stereotype as Liam Neeson is overreacting about another player attacking his village in the game. Having Liam Neeson in the ad is also a massive appeal to a lot of people because he is a recognisable actor known for films like Schindler's List, The Taken trilogy and Star Wars: Episode 1. Including an A-list actor in this ad says that the games player demographic is huge, from your average Joe to LITERALLY LIAM NEESON.


The colours of the ad are also integral to marketing the game as the game's colour palette is bright and expressive, but the real world and the coffee shop all have grey and dull colours. This is could be a hidden message that the game is more interesting to its players than real life. Even when the gameplay at the start switches to real life the colours are still popping out of the screen, possibly telling us to get lost in the fictional game.


The real life segment of the Camera slowly zooming in on Liam appeals to any movie-goers or fans of the Taken trilogy. Liam's menacing voice and harsh eye contact with the phone screen is a reference to the first Taken movie, specifically the scene where Liam's character says "I will find you, and I will kill you" when he is talking to his daughter's kidnapper over the phone. The camera zoom also adds suspense to the ad with no clear end to the affect; mirroring the experience you would get with Clash of Clans (lots of suspense and no clear end).


People who play Clash of Clans would be appealed by the new ad that the company (SUPERCELL) had made. As an avid player of COC myself, seeing the game being broadcasted to a wide scale made me happy. The new players would bring more competitiveness to the gameplay and help promote and expand the game to family and friends.




Barry B. Benson - main character from 'Bee Movie' (2007)


Barry B. Benson is the protagonist of the 2007 film 'Bee Movie'. To me is one of the most important characters in cinematic history, because of all characteristics in and out of the film about him. It is no wonder that more than 69% of America think that he is the perfect movie protagonist, one of these reasons is because he appeals to so many jokes through his witty humour and incredible character development.




Barry appeals to all ages. The reason for this is because Barry's humour is multi generational, meaning that his jokes appeal to both young and old. 1 key factor in which he appeals to older people is because he is voiced by legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry had his own TV show throughout the 90's called 'Seinfeld' in which he stars as himself. The show at one point was so popular that the final episode was more remembered by people than Classic singer Frank Sinatra's death (both of which happened on the same day).


Another way Barry appeals to loads of people is his character traits. Throughout Bee Movie, Barry questions himself whether being a Bee is important at all. This simple thing alone already shows self-identity something we have all dealt with at least once in our lives. Another character trait Barry shows is not giving up. Mid-way through the movie (when Barry is in court) he shows this by fighting for humans to respect the Bees' honey and that Bees are the rightful owners of the 'Gooey delight'


Barry even appeals to people interested in fashion. The way he does this is by picking eye-catching coloured shoes and jumpers. The colours black and yellow are a reference to the hit song 'Black and Yellow' by Wiz Khalifa. Interestingly the song is used in another animated films trailer, being 'The Lego Batman Movie'. The poster of that movie has two main colours and they are also black and yellow. This shows that if you are a fan of the Bee Movie you will also be appealed by the Lego Batman Movie.


The last way Barry appeals to the audience is through his catchphrase "You like Jazz?" This catchphrase is appealing because who doesn't like Jazz? It is no wonder that the same year Bee Movie came out (2007) Jazz CD sales increased by a whopping 420%. The way Barry says the iconic line also shows his unfiltered side, appealing to shy and introverted people so that they don't feel uncomfortable after everything they've said.

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