Dodge Charger: All-American, Macho, Tough, and Makes Good Commercials

I never had a poster of a Volkswagen Passat on my bedroom wall. For that matter, I didn't have a poster of a Doge charger, either. Yet the message of the commercial still comes across, despite my lack of interest in how macho my car is (and the fact that I don't have a car and that I'm not planning on getting one any time soon).

In dissecting this ad, it is important to note that it was shown during football games. I saw it first watching football with my cousins, who said that they loved it. My cousins are from Texas. Figures, right? Most people who are closely watching football games, and also paying some attention to the commercials that accompany he games, are men. It is also more common for men who watch football to care about a car's macho-ness and reputation for style and speed than women who don't. The target audience for this ad, therefore, is the type of men who grow up with posters of Mustangs and Ferraris on their walls, and bring those principals of speed and power with them as adults in to how they purchase cars. This commercial draws on the childhood dreams of men, that when they grow up they might have a muscle car like the Dodge Charger.

The imagery of the commercial also contributes to its effect. It begins with a cloud of smoke, and, as the narrator is speaking, the car emerges dramatically from the cloud that it created. This scene supports the explicit message that the Charger is a total muscle car, that it embodies the boyhood dreams of the football-watching men, whose boyish tendency towards the drama of destruction is piqued by the smoke-like effect of the raging dust cloud.

The entire commercial is centered around the purpose of associating the Charger with the emotions of tough machismo and disassociating it from the small, non-American Passat. It ultimately succeeds in conjuring the emotions that it wishes to create. It is short an to the point. All in all, it's really a very good commercial in terms of its potency and technique. I wouldn't buy a Dodge Charger after seeing that commercial, but then again, I am a little bit odd.