My Journalism course instructed me (Joseph) to observe ways in which I was influenced through media messages. As is their nature, advertisements tend to appeal to the feelings of prospective customers. Although I rarely buy things which I had not previously (and meticulously) considered purchasing, I noticed there is one way in which I am severely affected by advertisements.
While at Texas Roadhouse, I was looking over the menu, and I noticed some scrawled wording under the beverage section which read “Slow brewed Sweet Tea”. On the end of the word “Slow”, a cowboy hat was perched. I was leaning towards purchasing sweet tea instead of the considerably less-pricey glass of water.
I naturally like sweet tea and the words “Slow-Brewed” implied that extreme care and effort were put into the creating of the said sweet tea. “Slow-brewed” is much more appealing to me than “Instant”. “Slow-brewed” implies discretion and timing were considered important while this tea was created. The second thing which appealed to me, was the Cowboy hat, located on the scrawled wording. It (along with the theme of Texas Roadhouse) appealed to the inner “southerner” which is engrained in me. Believe me—if that hat had been a flat-brimmed skateboarder’s hat with a NY Yankees logo on it, I would not have bought that sweet tea.
The sweet tea advertisement, though it contained no catchphrases, effectively persuaded me to nearly purchase their product. It did so because it caught my attention through its marketing of sweet tea is distinctly southern, and through creating the impression that time and care were invested in its creation.
Through the observation of this fact, I now know that I am susceptible to advertising which markets itself as something which is “southern”. From now on, I will definitely use discretion when buying things marketed as such.
By the way, the Slow Brewed Sweet Tea tasted great!
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