In creating this analysis, I aimed to connect the theoretical concepts from Ong’s Orality and Literacy with the video of a Super Bowl commercial. The Flamin’ Hot ad with its non-speaking animals and its community narrative tied into Ong’s ideas about oral cultures. However, my analysis takes it a step further, because the animals do not speak or have any written language. They communicate through a shared taste and experience.
In the production process, I chose to emphasize the sensory appeal of the Doritos as a universal way of communicating. This was important to tying the ad’s narrative to Ong’s theory. I also highlighted specific moments, like the sloth catching the deer’s attention or the animals uniting in song, to showcase how the ad visually represents nonverbal communication and communal bonding. These moments were carefully selected to show the process from individual interaction to collective celebration. This reinforced the idea of sensory experience as a unifier for the animals.
For the voiceover, I aimed to have a tone that was both analytical and engaging by balancing concepts from class with concepts about language and orality. The use of stills from the ad as visual backdrops helped the audiences analysis in the commercial’s imagery by allowing the audience to have more time to think critically about my analysis. It quite literally paused the comercial as well as the audiences mind, so they could have time to analyze the moment.
Everything in this assignment was done with a purpose. I made purposeful decisions so that I could really make my argument in such a short amount of time.