Unit 1: Introduction to Media Processes and Technical Skills & Unit 2: Introduction to Design and Research Skills - Task 1: Advertising Production

The two adverts I have compared are Monty the Penguin, the 2014 John Lewis advert, and 1914, the 2014 Sainsbury's advert. 

1914 - Sainsbury's (2014)

Monty the Penguin - John Lewis (2014)

Although these adverts tell very different stories and are selling two completely different brands, they both present the theme of an unlikely friendship between two different people, or species. 

In the John Lewis advert, there is an unlikely friendship between Monty, who is a penguin, and his owner, who is a human boy. As for 1914, it shows the unlikely friendship between a German soldier, Otto, and a British soldier, Jim, in the First World War meeting on Christmas Day, what is known as the Christmas Truce. These adverts evoke an emotional response in audiences, also known as the advertising technique Pathos, as these evolving friendships are able to put their differences aside and spend Christmas Day together. At the end of Monty the Penguin, it is revealed that Monty is actually a toy penguin and not a real one that we have seen throughout the entire advert. This shows to an audience how vivid his imagination is and how much he loved and believed that this toy was his best friend. Audiences may be able to empathise with this friendship as many people can understand having that one toy that they treasured and would never let anything happen to. As for 1914, audiences will be either upset or, possibly, angry that Otto and Jim were never able to really become friends because of their own countries differences in view and politics, and understand after the happy ending of the advert that they will have to continue fighting each other, which they are forced to do. But also, audiences will feel heart-warmed that these two soldiers were able to stop fighting, whether fiction or not, for a few hours and let these foes come together and celebrate Christmas Day. 

Both of the adverts also consist of a wide variety of shot types to be able to detail and present the entirety of their stories. 

In John Lewis' advert, they use two shots a lot to shot the relationship between Monty and the little boy. These shots are used to project to audiences the amount of fun and time the two have together, whether they are playing in the garden, a room of the house or at the park. They are in every scene together and having most of the shots being only the two of them indicates their close bond. As for the Sainsbury's advert, it doesn't consist many two shots but, when it does, it usually shows either Otto or Jim with another soldier to show that they are never alone in the trench and usually have someone nearby, and also shows how confined the space in the trenches were. 

The two adverts also use many wide shots and master shots, both to show the geography of the scene and also to involve everyone surrounding the two main focuses in each story. For Monty the Penguin, there are a few scenes in the living room, either decorating for Christmas or watching a film all together. This is to show all the family love and care for each other and want to spend time together. There are also many of these shots when Monty and the boy are in a public area. When they go to the park, it shows the boy's mum and sister have joined them, as well as showing families and friends attending the park and spending their own time together. For 1914, many wide and master shots are used to be able to understand the locations they are in, as they are in the trenches and no-man's land is usually shown all around them and also covered in snow. These shots are used so audiences can understand the harsh conditions these soldiers had to be exposed to. There are many of these shots to also show soldiers in the background, or see them fully in the shot, for audiences to understand that many men fought in the war and to understand what the conditions were like for them. 

Some over the shoulder shots are used in the adverts to understand the perspectives of the characters that the separate stories follow. In both the adverts, this is used to be able to see an item that a character might be holding something or, in John Lewis' instance, creating something. In Monty the Penguin, an over the shoulder shot is used when we see the little boy creating a Christmas card, with a drawing of Monty on it. Audiences can understand how much Monty means to the little boy and we can see that his card is made with a very sentimental value. As for 1914, over the shoulder shots are used to look at what gifts Otto and Jim received from their families for Christmas, as well as the end of the advert when we see the soldiers holding the swapped around gifts back in their trenches. Audiences can empathise with the soldiers as they can understand the feeling of joy when they get a gift from a family member, or someone they love. 

Over the shoulder shots are also used in Monty the Penguin to show Monty's longing for someone to love, as he we see a shot of him looking towards a couple on a stroll and holding hands in the park. This evokes a heart-breaking and upsetting emotion in audiences as we see the scene from Monty's perspective and understand that he is feeling lonely. In 1914, over the shoulder shots are used to show the greeting and farewells of Otto and Jim, this is done by using the 180-degree rule. For audiences, they can see how nervous and happy they are to meet each other as they have both been fighting on opposing sides for a while and don't really know what they are both going to think of each other. This makes this greeting more emotional as they both set their differences aside and realise they are both the same, scared soldiers doing what their country thinks is right. The farewells between the two also evoke an upsetting emotion in audiences as they both don't want to go back to fighting one another in the war and want to become allies.





Music is a crucial part to both adverts, as well as dialogue and sound for 1914.

For the John Lewis advert, the song 'Real Love', originally by The Beatles, covered by British singer Tom Odell is played throughout the advert to accompany the story. The song is very gentle as a slow piano melody backups up Odell's vocals. The lyrics of the song match to the story perfectly as the song is about loving someone and the story presents Monty and the boy's friendship, as well as the love that Monty is trying to find. The music makes audiences understand that the story is about love and friendship and evokes a heart-warming and sentimental emotion. 

As for the Sainsbury's advert, the way the music is used is very different compared to John Lewis.1914 starts with gunshots being heard from afar as the fighting continues into the night of Christmas Eve and soldiers are heard talking and rushing around the trenches. After this, the German army starts to sing 'Silent Night' in their own language. The British army then join in, singing in English, and start to sing along with the Germans. Transitioning to the next day, Christmas morning, it is all silent as the soldiers are still sleeping, apart from Jim. He then decides to leave his trench to try and make peace with the Germans but, this then backfires as the German army believe they are under threat and start to get their weapons, hearing sounds of distressed soldiers and the noise of them readying their guns to fire. As this happens, intense music starts to play and heightens the atmosphere, causing audiences to feel nervous and worried for Jim's fate. The music suddenly stops as Otto yells something to his fellow soldiers, it is unclear as it is in German but, audiences are able to understand that he has called for them to put their weapons down. As Otto follows Jim and leaves his own trench, a slow and gentle piano melody starts to play as the two armies then greet each other and make a truce, also seeing and hearing Jim and Otto meeting each other. The song starts to build-up as the two armies join together and celebrate Christmas, and audiences can now recognise that it is the song Silent Night. This makes audiences feel less at ease now as both armies are getting along and there is no confrontation between the two. After a while of playing football together and getting to know one another, the music stops and gunshots are heard in the distance. The soldiers are then heard frantically packing up their belongings and going back to their trenches, then seeing and hearing Jim and Otto say their goodbyes. As they both get back to their trenches, the piano melody starts to play very slowly again as they both now realise they have received each other's gifts they got for Christmas. Audiences feel upset for a brief moment but feel very cheerful again as the soft music plays over the sentimental gift swap. 

These two adverts were made to sell their own brands/products, and it isn't until the end of them that they actually reveal their company names. Before this, they both give a message to directly tell audiences what the true meaning of their adverts are. 

In John Lewis' advert, they share the message "Give someone the Christmas they've been dreaming of". This links back to the little boy imagining that Monty is a real penguin and being gifted with another penguin toy on Christmas day, this was something he had been wanting as in the middle of the advert Monty is trying to find love, and as this is part of the boy's imagination, this signifies that he was dreaming of getting this toy for Christmas. The advert also addresses to audiences that the Christmas that 'someone', doesn't specify who, that they have been dreaming of might be a certain product that they want to be gifted with, and the place they can get this from is the department shop John Lewis. The brand name is only mentioned at the very end of the advert so that audiences don't get distracted or drawn away from the story. Also at underneath the logo is the hashtag "#MontyThePenguin", this is show so audiences can share this tag on any social media platform so that the advert can get more attention.


As for the Sainsbury's advert, the message that they share is "Christmas is for sharing". This also relates back to the story of the advert as Otto and Jim have swapped their Christmas presents, Otto getting a chocolate bar and Jim getting a biscuit. Although, the chocolate bar appeared a few times in the advert, it didn't show the Sainsbury's brand on the packaging and didn't let on that they would eventually be selling this bar in the Sainsbury's shops. After the message has appeared, the Sainsbury's logo appears and transitions to the statement that they have partnered with the Royal British Legion to create the advert. The Royal British Legion is a charity that provides all types of support for veterans and their families, and after the success of the advert, Sainsbury's started to sell the chocolate bar from the advert for 50p each and gave all the profits to the charity. So, when the advert says "Christmas is for sharing", the advert also means to 'share' and make donations to the charity by buying the chocolate bar from Sainsbury's. 1914 does the same as John Lewis with the brand logo only appearing at the end of the advert so the audience doesn't get drawn away from the story.