PG Tips Advert Analysis

PG TIPS ADVERT 1- In the video, Al and Monkey are talking about how PG Tips' teabags are better than any other. Al remarks an old slogan from PG Tips; "There's no other tea to beat PG". Monkey shows that the bag is pyramid shaped so that the teabag can move around the mug more, letting more flavour go into the tea. Monkey tests this against a round teabag (and a Digger) and explains that the PG Tips tea is more flavoursome. In the poster, Monkey is in a pose that resemble that of a models at a photo-shoot. The asterisk and the extra information is a parody of modern models and the use of Photoshop to enhance the images. The slogan is large in size and memorable. The pose and cleaner looking font makes the image look relaxing suggesting that the consumer will be relaxed while drinking this brand of tea.

PG TIPS ADVERT 2- In this video, Monkey is asked how to describe the taste of PG Tips and so he takes a sip. He begins to shout about how nice the tea tastes and everyone looks. This is a funny parody of some movies or clips where the person is shouting about how amazing the food is. This shows that the taste of PG is so good that the whole world is recognising someone shouting about how the taste is so good then proceeding to order their own. This is a slight sexualisation on the taste of PG but is still suitable since there is no explicit content shouted nor has anyone really suggested that Monkey was acting in this way.

PG TIPS ADVERT 3- In this advert, Monkey is getting ready for something. He opens the cupboard to find many different herbal and fruit teas. He proceeds to use one of them to make a flavoured tea. Monkey drinks and then we can see him say "OOOO" with the camera going into his mouth. This is a visual representation of the taste. We can see many women in fruit outfits dancing and Monkey himself playing some Orange looking bongos. This suggests that the tea is exotic and flavoursome and is definitely something to taste. This sells to the audience because there is still the entertaining comedic side of the advert but it still maintains the resolve of the advert. Having people dance [whole smiling] synchronously suggests that it is a festival of taste.

I will be analysing the first advert of the three: This ad is for selling the Unilever product PG Tips to their audience. Using comedy and concise information, they are able to achieve this effectively.

The primary audience consists of 35-55 year old females, most likely married and possibly have children. Primary audience would probably be white and heterosexual orientation and be middle-class with a house. The class letter would most likely be the C1 group or possibly the B group. The psychographic of this primary target audience would probably be part of the succeeders group. The secondary audience would probably be the older 60+ demographic, married for several years with adult children and most likely retired. The same gender audience applies here since women are more known to be subservient and are more known to make/do things around the house.

The form of this advert is part of a mini-series. A mini-series is an amount of adverts that shows the audience that the location, mise-en-scene and characters are the same and that each of the adverts conform to a type of formula. The advert is filmed live action making it relatable to the real world. The mini-series follows Al and Monkey as they talk about PG Tips.

The style of the advert is meant to be humorous. This makes the advert light-hearted and therefore makes the product seem a lot better. Humour is also a good way to convey a good relationship [between Al and Monkey] and shows that PG Tips is one thing that brings them together.

One example of the humour used in this advert to sell its tea where Al is childish and also wants to compare PG Tips to a regular tea bag but also a digger.

The advert uses a more subtle way to sell the product. Al starts off with saying "Monkey" and then goes on to ask a question about the tea which catches the audiences attention. When Al drinks the PG Tips tea, he gives out a "aaaah" like he is just relaxing and the tea tastes good. The advert uses celebrity endorsement to also help sell the advert. The advert makes the consumer want a cup of tea since the advert emphasizes how good PG Tips taste.

In this advert, Al asks Monkey about PG Tips and how it is much better. This makes the advert informative but the humour twist also makes it light-hearted. The comparison between regular teabags and PG Tips makes the audience enticed to buy the product rather than using large text and narration and making the customer need to buy PG straight away. 

An Example of a laid-back environment since Al and Monkey are sitting and chatting.

Using a comedy figure in the advert also suggests that the advert is entertaining. The language used by Al and Monkey is also easy to understand and funny. 

Al pretending to be a Kung Fu master, gives the advert a comedic twist.

The lighting is very high-key and ambient suggesting it is a very bright and happy location, and they use mid-shots and wide shots so the viewer doesn't feel too constrained and since the advert has wider shots the audience feels more free and less constrained. Al and Monkey are wearing dressing gowns which suggest that the environment is very relaxed which also suggests that the feel and environment are very laid-back but also very bright and relaxed. The editing is very slow which also reinforces the laid-back and relaxing nature. When there is music, the music is upbeat which makes the viewer feel happy. Some sound effects are cartoon-y, like when Al waves his hands like a kung fu student.

An example of the wide shot with high key lighting. Relaxed environment, Al and Monkey in pyjamas.

We can also see that the kitchen looks very bright in terms of lighting and colour. The big red and white table cloth shows that the kitchen has a small dinner table and the counters and cupboards reinforce this ideology of a kitchen since the layout of all the appliances (like sink and toaster and kettle) suggests that this is a kitchen. The outside environment as seen through the window is very green and bright suggesting that it is a warm day which makes the scene feel brighter and colourful.