This video was posted by Saucony on April 27th, 2011. It was posted on its YouTube channel "AtSauconyWeRun". It is an advertisement for Saucony running shoes. The YouTube channel slogan alone could be interpreted as a play on the phrase "In God We Trust", which evokes an American pride and likeness among Americans. "AtSauconyWeRun" could be trying to ride this bandwagon of pride to play a role in the influence of their shoe brand.
This video stars athletes who are training in unique and beautiful landscapes. They are all runners and they all sweat A LOT. All of the people in the advertisement look like they are at the peak of fitness and are QUITE the human specimens (...hello there!). Everyone in this video is very good-looking (in my opinion), perhaps suggesting these running shoes will help a person reach fitness goals and/or beauty.
The author of this advertisement, Saucony, uses vibrant colors and determined facial expressions to portray confidence among the athletes. This is a persuasion technique. In the beginning of this commercial it asks the question, "What is strong?" It goes on to ask several more questions directed at the viewers including, "Is it YOUR best time or YOUR worst day?"Over and over again, it shows men and women working hard with intense music in the background. This is occurring while a masculine, breathy, motivating man is speaking mysteriously throughout the video giving possibilities of what the definition of "strong" might be. (How does one get this job??) All the while, he repeats the words YOU and YOUR, insinuating that strength can only be found within yourself.
The language used within this ad was very open ended, leaving it up to the consumer to decide what strong means to them. This manipulates the viewer into thinking that he/she somehow plays a role in or can relate to this strive for physical strength that the runners share. Personally, I think that this video glamorizes self pride. Whether this is a tactic to motivate an audience or simply persuade people to buy Saucony's shoes…mmmm I'm leaning towards the former.
It seems like all of the runners shown in this advertisement have a fairly well-to-do economic background, considering they all have quality, name-brand running gear. Also, to be able to travel/live in these picturesque places might be expensive. Socially, they all appear to have been brought up with the idea that pride is essential to success. Achieving victory (personally or otherwise) could be all that these runners strive for, thus creating this same state of mind for the consumers of Saucony's shoes.
Ya i agree that this advertisement portrays pride through athletes. I think that this shows pride because these athletes believe that they can run in these extreme environments. I also think that there is some lust in this advertisements because all of the athletes in this video have hot bods and look like greek gods.
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