If You Love Tacos, You Should Probably Get AT&T

Something about the holidays really makes me want to pick apart commercials.  Combine that with my love of tacos, and breaking down this latest AT&T commercial was a no-brainer for me.  I'm sure just about everyone has seen it.  The basic premise is this black guy gets pissed, because everyone is having a taco party without him.  At the end, he realizes he was invited, but his phone is just slow.  Damn, he must have felt stupid.  For those unfamiliar with it, here is video for your enjoyment:

First off, let's break down the basic demographics of this commercial.  The advertisers really went out of their way to be inclusive in this commercial, and I really think they nailed the demographics.  They put in three men and three women, so excellent equality there.  Further breaking it down, the women are white, Asian, and black, while the men, are two blacks and a white.  That gives us three black people, two white people, and one Asian.  Why is there no one of Hispanic descent?  They are already the center of our story, as they are represented by their most beloved food, tacos.

In the commercial, the angry black guy accuses his buddy of thinking Eric, the awkward white guy, is weird.  Let's face it, the white guy had to be the weird one, otherwise this commercial is racist as shit.  If there was only one black guy, and they called him weird, you would just assume that the white character hosts Klan meetings during his time away from work.  Even if you focused on the white woman as being weird, the underlying message would be that he thinks she's weird because she's ugly, or more likely, a lesbian.  But just because the white woman isn't weird doesn't mean she isn't essential to the commercial.  Imagine if the white woman was replaced by a Hispanic woman.  Then, we have a group of minorities all calling the white guy weird, that's reverse racism and has no place in advertising.

In the previous paragraph, I referred to one of the character as the "angry black guy."  That sounds like a horribly racist stereotype, and it is, but it works in this commercial.  Let's look at a quick snapshot of the commercial.

As you can see, this is where it becomes a necessity to have three black people.  The two normal black people are positioned on the opposite side of him.  Without saying a word, the layout of this commercial is positioning him as different than the other black characters in this commercial.  Another technique they use to show how he is different is that he is always the only face that you can see when he is focused on. 

Meanwhile, when they focus on the group, there is almost always two people's faces in the frame. 

This establishes them as part of the normal group, and him as an outlier.  Because of this, he doesn't represent the black community, the two other black people do.  Instead, he represents the outlier; that is why his behavior is erratic.  It's also why he doesn't have AT&T.  Within the parameters of this commercial, I think AT&T does a very good job of subliminally telling you things that you probably did not understand at first glance.  It's telling you to sign up for AT&T, be part of the cool crowd, and have all the free tacos your stomach can handle.  I'm so glad I have AT&T.

-Joe

P.S.  I totally understand why the angry black guy was pissed.  I'd be pissed too if people were having a taco party and were too lazy to stop by my office (if I had an office) and tell me.  Don't text me important information, just stop by and tell me like a human being.

P.P.S.  There's a lot of creepy things on the internet, Muppets with People's Eyes ranks right up there with any of them.

Sneaky Taco Bell Guy - Advertising's Implications

I am sure everyone has seen the Sneaky Taco Bell Guy commercial. He goes into Taco Bell looking to get a special deal on a 5 layer burrito. Some people seem him as creepy, some people love him; I am a part of the latter group.

The commercial is pretty entertaining on face value. With a guy who is so cheap he is looking for a special deal at Taco Bell combined with the fact that this Taco Bell happens to employ the best looking Taco Bell employee of the history of the company, there is a lot to like about this commercial. Here is the commercial for those who don't own a television:



The deeper meanings of the commercial are fascinating as well. It is one of the few commercials where we see multiple people, and they are all white. Nearly every commercial uses minorities of some sort to show diversity, but Taco Bell does not do this in their most widely used commercial. Why? Well, they really didn’t have much of a choice.

There are three characters in this commercial:
Sneaky Taco Bell Guy
First Taco Bell Employee
Denise - Taco Bell Employee with the Hookup

I’m going to use African Americans (AA) in my example as I feel it is most prevalent, although I feel that all minorities can be substituted and provide similar results.

I we make the Sneaky Taco Bell Guy an AA, the discussion turns away from the 5-Layer Burrito and turns into how cheap the AA is. They are trying to get some sort of special deal, even when going to a dirt cheap place like Taco Bell. Clearly, the AA must be unemployed, or he just wants to save his money so he can buy some booze later on. This is extremely offensive to AA everywhere, so it is really a risk that is not worth taking on Taco Bell’s part.

If we make the first female employee AA, it is a simple case of a white man not trusting an AA with his Taco Bell order. Only the white employees are smart enough to handle his amazing prowess at ordering at Taco Bell.

If Denise is black, it portrays the stereotype that AA do not value their jobs and will hook up people with special deals, hence screwing over their company. The white guy knows that no white person would lose their job over this, but an AA would most definitely give him a 5-Layer Burrito for 89 cents.

So, clearly, it would be a very bad idea to make one person AA in this commercial, but could it work with multiple? No.

If the guy and first T-Bell employee are AA, it will reinforce the stereotype of AA only wanting white women, so that probably isn’t the best message for Taco Bell to send.

If it is the guy and Denise, it is going to make it look like AA do not trust white people, or that AA will hook up each other with special deals that white people are not allowed to know about.

If both employees are AA, it portrays that only AA would work at Taco Bell. Let’s face it, Taco Bell is not a glamorous job, and it could definitely be conceived as racial stereotyping that AA are not educated and could only manage to get jobs working at Taco Bell.

If all three are AA, it makes AAs look cheap as well as Taco Bell being too cheap of a place for a white American to eat at. It also portrays the poor stereotype of the above example.

Personally, I love this commercial, but it did surprise me that there were only white people in it. As I delved deeper (and let’s face it, way too deep) into the meanings behind the commercial, I feel that the Marketing people made the necessary decision in the Sneaky Taco Bell Guy Commercial.

Yep, I have too much free time.