The BBH created ad is based around the theme of 'You Vs Unconditional Love' where the ad goes through one man's lifetime bringing up his daughter who has increasing demands for an ice cream, bike, horse, car and a house. The ad ends with his daughter then having to go through the same thing with her own child, whilst the original male character effectively 'kicks back and relaxes.'
Initially when I first watched the advert I understood the exaggerated generalised costs and role of being a parent and enjoyed it for that. However, in lecture recently (and in media studies in year's 12 and 13 at sixth form) we're always told to deconstruct an ad and work out why it is the way it is and who it is being targeted to, etc. Well for starters one thing I didn't understand is the very 'American' looking house and surrounding of the ad. Another thing also is that generally the child in this is also very American in terms of her demands, such as a horse, pink car and pink house. NOTE: When I say American, I mean what you typically see in American films that seems to stereotype American cultures.
I see the playful, albeit very generalised, symbolism of the advert. However, I thought to myself would it still have the same effect or an even better effect if it were to have a typical British Dad who obviously works long hard shifts in an office or doing manual work, whose daughter is much more British in her behaviours and cultures. Such as having driving lessons rather than being given a car, having a birthday party once they hit secondary school age or the mass amounts that need to be bought for the start of secondary school such as uniforms, PE kits, equipment, etc, or even Christmas and birthdays having received an iPod or another expensive gadget. The target audience here is parents who maybe want to help out their children with buying a house, I'm not quite sure how a parent of say 40 or 50 years old, for example, will necessarily connect with the ad. I personally would shave thought this would catch the attention of the children in question and then let their parents know about it.
However, the point of this advert is for the mortgages Barclays are adding and I was going off track, so, instead of an ice cream it would be all the things that are needed as a child such as school uniforms, instead of a bike it would be an expensive gadget, instead of a car it would be driving lessons and tests and instead of a house it could be the child going off to university and then eventually moving in with a partner and then going through the same thing with their own children, etc. I just feel this would be more typically British but let's just say we take the Barclays ad for what it is a symbol of parenting and the costs it involves and how Barclays can help....
The ad has been accused of "encouraging 'parasitic' behaviour" and has received eight complaints that children at home may attempt to copy the child who is demanding materialistic things of her dad. As much as I see this point that the demands are somewhat ridiculous I can see it is meant to be an exaggeration of the truth. I believe that children will try to copy the behaviour, because that's what they do, but then this can't be the only advert/ program/ film that displays this kind of behaviour for children to see. The ASA is currently reviewing the advert but a spokesperson for Barclay has issued a statement saying that generally the ad has had positive feedback for it's creativity.
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