This past Sunday, I accompanied my boyfriend, an avid Steelers fan, to watch a football game at a Steeler's bar. I usually do not keep up with sports, so I am not as familiar with the graphics, advertisements, and overall set-up of sports entertainment. Of course, we have all seen the Super Bowl and its ads but the structure of NFL entertainment is different during the rest of the season.
I noticed that almost every aspect of the program is sponsored by one of three major industries; telecommunications, food and beverages, and automobiles (particularly trucks).
The ads are not only targeted to men but they are all pushing the image of masculinity. You're a real man so you need tough tortilla chips that can handle salsa. I also love the Ford trucks ads that only air during sporting events because they are targeted so specifically to the American male football lover. Power, authority, and toughness are attributes that these advertisers use to sell products. It's interesting to see how different the angle is for almost every other network program. Take a look at the Tostitos commercial that I saw during primetime network programming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-sWa517Yh4
While this addresses the health benefits of Tostitos chips, this ad has a different focus http://www.spike.com/video/lazy-co-workers/2695146
The men are relaxing and enjoying their food while the woman is sitting, completing the group's work. During many of the Football ads, children and women are rarely portrayed and there is a much more fraternal tone taken.
While my observations are pretty easy for anyone to notice, I still get a kick out of seeing how targeted these commercials can get depending on the market. It often takes not being a part of that market to see just how demographically designed it is.
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