Film and Media Studies - History of Broadcasting - Advertising the American Dream - Essay Example

Pepsi takes this parable a step further with their commercial. Before drinking the Pepsi, the boy is uninspired and most likely tired of the life he is currently living. After drinking the Pepsi, he is filled with energy and uses this energy to practice drumming around town. He does not have a drum set, probably because of his family’s economic status and capital, and he does not need one because he drank Pepsi and now he can achieve the once-thought-of-as impossible. A young Hispanic boy starts off in by an apartment complex in this commercial, and by using an urban Hispanic setting with a monotone color scheme, a sense of confinement is instilled and something must be done about it.

With this set-up, Pepsi comes in to “save the day” or, in this case, this boy’s life from normality. Pepsi’s product promises to lift this particular Hispanic youth out of a lower-middle class inner-city barrio environment into a drummer for a popular band. Once the boy has tried the product, he becomes inspired giving him confidence and motivation to follow his dream of becoming a drummer. And while everyone else is still living their mundane lives, he has transcended this barrio environment to pursue his dream.

He ascends to the high-class stardom status instantaneously in the commercial. He is suddenly taken out of the boring lifestyle he was living in, ages about ten years older, and is put in a rock band on stage entertaining a massive crowd of fans most likely with his professional drumming. The boy’s younger years are portrayed in the sunlight, but not necessarily in a cheerful, happy way. The sun just seems to be part of the whole monotonous picture. When the boy’s dream is finally reached, the whole set-up is changed.

Instead of it being day, it is night (or at least in an indoor stadium or concert hall). The only light is the light coming from the stage lights, which represent the