Buy Me Because I'm Monstrous!
by Matthew Gardner
In a capitalist society, commercial sales is the key to a successful
business, and companies spend billions of dollars each year trying to figure
out what makes shoppers buy. In order to optimize sales of a certain product,
companies must figure out what types of advertisements appeal to their target
audience. In many cases the audience is children, because children are one
of the biggest audience bases in the world. Therefore, figuring out what appeals
to children can mean big profits in the business world. Often times, monsters
are used to catch the attention of children and subsequently convince them
(or their parents) to buy the product. But why monsters? Why are monsters
used to advertise so many different products? In order to better understand
the buyer’s appeal to monsters, let’s examine several products
that employ the monstrous and figure out why they are used.
One of the fastest growing companies in the world right now is the internet
giant, monster.com. The company is aimed towards finding new jobs for their
customers. The companies purpose is clear, but their name and logo are far
less apparent. The companies logo depicts a strange looking monster, that
doesn’t appear to be scary despite its spiky skin and its large teeth.
The monster may seem to have no clear link to the company but upon closer
analysis, the monster has a much clearer purpose. Losing your job is often
a very difficult time for an individual and even more so for a family. People
searching for a job, often wish to find one and become stable again as quickly
as possible, because jobs provide comfort. So what does the monster have to
do with finding a job? Well, first of all, the name monster.com, comes off
as being very stable and powerful, which is comforting to the person searching
for a job. No one wants to use a job searching company that is weak and unstable.
The mascot is also well formulated for the purpose of the company. “The
monster” is almost comical, yet not intimidating. The company chose
the logo wisely, because the name in combination with the mascot makes job
searchers feel confident that their search will be over soon and they will
have a comfortable and fun job. The nature of losing a job is very uncomfortable.
So monster.com seeks to relieve that discomfort in any way they can. Traditionally
monsters are frightening and scary, but this monster is friendly, yet somehow
stable and powerful. This particular monster is one that you want to have
on your side. Considering the purpose of the company and the audience that
they advertise towards; the company made a wise decision in choosing their
name and their mascot.
One of the most interesting uses of monsters in advertising is depicted in
the Capital One no hassle card advertisements. There are a few different commercials
on the air, but the basic premise is the same in all of them. In each of the
commercials, someone has a problem with their credit card balance and the
person is in imminent danger from various different types of monsters who
are coming to collect on the credit card bill. Fortunately, they only need
to mention that they own the no hassle card and the monsters submissively
melt away. This is a very effective use of monsters in advertising. Credit
cards are a place for concern in many people’s lives, because they can
go over their limit and spend too much money. The monsters are the embodiment
of the danger involved with credit cards in the commercials. However, all
of those problems wilt away upon the mention of the no hassle card. The monsters
are used in this case to scare the customer into feeling comfortable with
the no hassle card. Though the commercial itself is obviously meant to be
comical, the fear associated with credit card problems, is legitimate. So
if the credit card can stand up to the scary monsters that attack when you
are over your credit limit, than it must be a wise investment.
A common place to observe monsters working hard in the advertising world is
in the cereal isle of your local grocery store. Monsters are often used to
grab children’s attention in the store in order to convince their parents
to purchase the cereal. Examples such as Count Chocula or Cap’n Crunch
are both favorites among kid’s cereals, but the most recent member of
the monster cereal community is the Hulk. But why cereal? Traditionally breakfast
has been a battle between child and parent as to what they will eat. The child
always wants to eat what tastes good, or foods filled with sugar, while the
parent is concerned with nutrition. So it is the cereal company’s job
to find the happy medium between child and parent. The Post company approached
this problem by making a healthy cereal that also contains marshmallows shaped
like the hulk. In addition to the marshmallows the cereal comes in a box with
a huge hulk on the front as well as games and riddles to entertain children.
In this case, the monster is used to distract children from the healthiness
of the cereal, while the cereal remains healthy to satisfy parents. This way,
children feel as though they are getting away with eating good tasting cereal
and playing with monsters at the same time. The intrigue and unfamiliarity
that monsters carry allow it to be a great tool in many assorted types of
advertisements.
One of the most traditional and scariest monsters known to mankind is the
dinosaurs. Everyone learned about dinosaurs when they were young and everyone
was fascinated by them. Dinosaurs find their way into the sales and marketing
world in many different ways, one being fruit snacks. Dinosaurs are great
monsters to put in fruit snacks because several different varieties can be
made and children enjoy being able to name their favorite dinosaurs as they
eat. The use of dinosaurs is clearly aimed at a specific audience, mainly
boys. Simply put, kids enjoy dinosaurs because they are big, ferocious and
they are fun to play with and think about. Making dinosaurs into fruit snacks,
capitalizes on childhood desire to play with monsters.
One of the daily battles between parent and child is the struggle
over brushing teeth each night before bed. Fortunately, monsters have been
used through advertising to solve this problem as well. The Tasmanian devil
is a crazy spinning monster glorified by the cartoon show Loony Tunes. The
devil was imprinted on a toothbrush and sold in a loony tunes package. Not
only does the devil attract children in the store by its box, but it also
makes brushing their teeth less of a battle. If children know that their toothbrush
has something that they like on it, than it becomes less of a concession to
brush their teeth. Putting the Tasmanian devil on a toothbrush is not only
a great marketing ploy; it is also a convenient and hygiene conscious way
to get children to brush their teeth.
Along with brushing teeth, bathing is one of the other chores
that children are always trying to avoid. However, incorporating monsters
into the process makes it both fun and easy. Mr. Bubble is the strange pink
monster whose face smiles on the front of bubble bath bottles. Though he is
legless, he still maintains a smiley face that makes bathing look more than
fun. It’s ironic that a monster is used to make a bath comfortable,
when monsters are supposed to be scary. In the case of bubble bath however,
a friendly looking monster is used to make the product more appealing to the
consumer in order to make more money. The friendly monster on the bottle makes
the bath less of a battle and more fun to the child and therefore makes the
product more appealing to the parent who is able to bath their child with
less trouble.
In other circumstances, a monster can be used to make a frightening
situation less scary. Ironically, a traditionally scary icon is placed on
the front of band-aid boxes as a marketing agent. Elmo’s (the friendly
monster from sesame street) face can be found on the front of band-aid boxes,
along with other monsters form the show. In this case as well, the monsters
are friendly and are used to make the child more at ease. Once again, monsters
are familiar and enjoyable to children, thus putting them on band-aids is
both helpful and enjoyable for children as well as great marketing techniques.
The traditional monsters that are found in novels and movies
are generally frightening because of some marginal quality, strange body shape
or general malice towards humans. However, there is a drastic change in the
character and composition of monsters when they are used for advertising.
Different qualities of the monsters are accented in order to make the product
more endearing to the consumer.
Though monsters and the monstrous are often cast away to the
margins of society, they often have qualities that are somewhat admirable;
such as bravery, strength, intelligence and tenacity. These are all characteristics
that are considered desirable in society. Therefore, when someone buys a product
advertised by a monster, they often relate to the characteristics of the monster
they have purchased. In other words, we identify with characteristics that
we admire, and buy accordingly.
Monsters can be observed everywhere in society. From movies,
to books, television and many other means; monsters are used for different
purposes. The use of monsters in advertising is becoming more and more apparent
as time moves forward, but nevertheless, monsters have a buying power that
is unprecedented in the advertising world. Marketing agents across the country
are always trying to figure out what the consumer will like the best and what
will persuade them to purchase a specific product. However, monsters have
always and will always be at the forefront of sales in America. The use of
monsters in sales has worked beautifully in the past and as monsters evolve
in media they will continue to evolve in advertising. The appeal of monsters
to the consumer community is lasting, because as long as monsters in every
day life continue to evolve, monsters will never lose their appeal.
