Thinking about TV adverts: Carling

Thinking about TV adverts:

The above TV advert is essentially about a lager/beer brand named Carling.

From this scene, Carling, or beer in general, is meant to bring joy and happy times in life (as shown, simply watching a football match with your mate) and it's incredibly worth it to go through ridiculous obstacles for a pint of beer.

It's of a guy who works in an office, as portrayed from the environment and his outfit - he's dressed in a shirt and tie smartly and his colleagues as well as manager visibly practice professionalism. From here, he gets distracted by the sight of his friend who stood outside a bar, persisting him to join for a pint of beer while enjoying the live football game being televised at 5pm. 

The main character is the worker who is very cunning in coming up with brilliant ways to plan an escape route out of the office and towards the bar for a readily waiting Carling beer in the hands of his friend. In addition, the whole advertisement is basically centred on him and his amusing behaviour, attempting to break free of his job by constructing mindless antics.

The setting is of an office with hardworking, focused colleagues. All of them seem to be engaged in some sort of work-related activity which introduces the idea of a competent, fast paced environment. There is also a stark juxtaposition existing between the setting outside of the office space (light, cheery lighting) and the office itself (blue, gloom lighting). This is to depict the contrast between a joyful and sticky situation.

There is not much narration going on or dialogue being conversed, hence the background music plays the most crucial role in establishing feelings and emotions of the viewers. This is done by the loud, suspenseful music being played throughout the main protagonist's intention to beat the retreat, raising tension and build up for the ending. Quintessentially like most action-packed movies.

The props that are used by the main character seem to contribute most to his silly schemes, yet he fails at the end by walking straight to a glass door. As mentioned, the lighting and music (including diegetic and non-diegetic sounds) both equally play huge roles in maintaining a well-versed mise en scene. The workers are also all dressed in appropriate office attires - as costumes - that just tells the viewers the objective of time and place. There is limited space in the office which can be insinuated as how the main character feels almost trapped with a dying need to just get out for a Carling beer, apparently.

Tracking shot is employed to render continuity and maintain a constant action with the main character. There is also a lot of eyeline match going on.

The cut-aways are fairly short and chronological, making everything seem faster and even more hectic. The brief yet abrupt clips can also raise excitement.

In conclusion, the point to be made across is fundamentally how Carling beer is worth getting into all the trouble and hassle for. A strong temptation emanates making it almost impossible to refrain from the beer itself.

The predominant concept of this advert is basically how certain individuals are willing to go overboard/all the way for a pint of 'refreshingly brilliant' beer which is obviously, Carling based on their widely publicised slogan. The theme centrals on how one tends to exaggerate and go beyond the limits for Carling.

I personally wouldn't buy this product as it's not something I'd go for, however, I find the storyline of this commercial to be very interesting in a quirky way.