Movie Trailers

Advertising and subliminal messages have been pummeling the American people for as long as anyone can remember. These days the average American can’t even go 15 minutes without seeing at least one message. Every company, large and small, spends a huge portion of their money of catching the eyes and ears of the American people. It may seem like a waste of time to put so much money into something as trivial as a billboard ad, but studies say the little ads people see every day actually have a huge impact on what they buy. Everyone wants to say that commercials don’t have any effect on them, but who sees a Taco Bells commercial and doesn’t think to themselves, “Mmmm, that looks good.” Another form of advertisement that has a huge affect on the masses are movie trailers. The clip for the new the new James Bond movie, “James Bond: Quantum of Solace,” is a perfect example.
This is the trailer for Quantum of Solace, the sequel to last year’s hit James Bond movie, Casino Royal. The trailer starts off with little talking but soon switches to not stop action and gunfire. This trailer does a great job at appealing to all audience. The first and most prominent audience is the action movie crowed. The trailer is full of nonstop action. From gunfire to over the top special effects this trailer tries to show the upcoming thriller will keep even someone with extreme ADD at the edge of their seat. The trailer also has a lot of sex appeal. Sex appeal is one of commercialisms best friends. There’s even a saying to go with it, “Sex Sells.” Throughout the trailer it periodically cuts to hot women to catch the attention of all the men in the audience. , this trailer isn’t strictly maid for men. The main character (James Bond) also has his shirt of a few times in the trailer. The trailer also tries to catch the female viewers attention by adding clips that seem to hint that there’s a love story. Getting both genders interested in a movie almost doubles the profit the movie will make, but most action movies have a hard time getting women’s attention. Other aspect of the commercial that tries to catch the viewers attention is the music. The music fits perfectly with the trailer giving it a kind of tense feel that seems to build up till the end. This makes the viewer want to see the movie to see what happens at the end of all the suspense. The trailer for the new Bond movie shows a new twist on the Bond series but still tries to hold the aura that the originals have that keeps the fans coming back for more.

The second trailer, Batman: The Dark Knight has a lot of the same aspects as the Bond trailer. Both of them start of slightly slow but quickly move into intense action. They both have theme music that seems to build up as the trailer progresses. Also they both play the sex appeal card, Though the dark knight doesn’t use it nearly as much, by have good looking people of both sexes as the main cast for the movie. Though the dark knight took a little darker, it still seems to be appealing to both sexes. It would seem that most action movie trailers take a very similar approach when advertising to the masses.
Advertisement is a huge part of consumerism and every day Americans daily. The trailer for Quantum of Solace is a perfect example of have commercials try to get into our heads and make their products seem like just what everyone wants. Over the years commercials have become very good at pleasing almost all of the human senses, and getting into our heads without even knowing. Some might say that these action movies trailers even make Americans looks like fools who can’t hold their attention unless there’s an explosion every two seconds. But then again, I can’t judge because I like a full throttle over the top action movie just as much as the next guy. As much as commercials get critiqued by politics and the media, there’s no point in complaining. Advertisements work, and as long as it gets people to buying their stuff, advertising is here to stay.

Zach cosby
Laura