Advert Analysis

Channel 4 Paralympics 'Meet the Superhumans' 2012 and British Airways 'The Race' 2012

British Airways Advert
Channel 4 Super Humans

The contextual factor of the 2012 summer Olympics and Paralympics was key to the narrative of both of these adverts, with one focusing on the athletes involved and the other targeting the spectators and travellers to the games. The narrative of the Channel 4 advertisement has a non-linear structure which is effective as it creates a backstory for the athletes giving examples of how some of them became disabled and subsequently gives the characters more depth. This is emphasised by the use of diegetic sound and absence of music with the song by Public Enemy 'Harder Than You Think'. There is use of diegetic sound with the athletes swimming and the basketballs bouncing to immerse the audience into the action and in tandem with the close up shots this creates a sense of intimacy as if the audience are actually there. This sense of intimacy is emphasised further through the use of close up shots with the athletes using a direct mode of address by looking straight down the lens with the non-diegetic track playing over saying 'thank you for letting us be ourselves'. The word 'you' explicitly targeting the audience and highlighting the theme of unity and inclusion between those with disabilities and abled body people.
The visual code of light, or rather absence of light in some places is effective in communicating the message of 'meet the super humans' in an attempt to disregard old opinions and stereotypes of what is to be a disabled person. The initial entrance of the athletes shows their silhouette of the athletes entering the shots, which effectively represents the idea that what people know about Paralympian's and the sports they can compete in is very limited, that they are 'in the dark' about these competitors. This is then juxtaposed with the second half of the advert where the athletes are heavily lit with bright close up shots which connote hope and shows Channel 4 to be 'shining the light' on these unsung heroes or 'Super Humans' of the games. The purpose of the advert was to excite and partially educate the audience about the Paralympics and therefore the theme of hope throughout is simultaneous with the narrative.

Similarly, with the British Airways advert, there was an outlining theme of hope to the narrative, with the advert following a young girl and her cases in a race against the other countries to make it to London 2012. The use of non-diegetic sound of a sports style voice-over is effective in explicitly linking the advert with the upcoming event. The title of the advert, 'The Race' is mimicked by the quick cutting of the shots which suggests haste and sets a fast pace to the advert like that of an actual race. The narrative structures of both adverts are similar with juxtaposing cuts during the commercial. In the British Airways advert the little girl watching the television on her flight contrasts with the tension being build surrounding the racing cases which emphasizes to the audience the smooth, relaxing atmosphere on their flights despite any chaos happening outside of the aircraft. This contrast was used to show the positive outcome of the characters despite what other events are happening which is similar to the Channel 4 advert which shows quick shots of the causes of the athletes disabilities such as an army explosion, troubles during pregnancy and then a car crash. This structure helps to create a relationship between the athletes on screen and the audience as it gives there athletes more a back story, this twinned with the music saying 'thank you for letting me be myself' adds to the overall feel of the acceptance and highlights the athletes ability to overcome adversity.