While not a huge fan of these commercials, I think the argument can be made
that the watcher would pair a humor response with the product rather than
disgust or sorrow (the dog growls at the guy at the end of that second one,
so while he looks dead, he's portrayed as being alive and rather ticked).
Certainly I have heard others laugh at the tv to the first commercial, so
that's the response the advertisers are going for.
But I do think they'd provide good examples of differing reactions to ads
and whether they have the conditioning effect intended by the advertisers.
David W.
At 09:03 AM 4/16/01 -0600, Jim Guinee wrote:
>Has anyone seen the new 7up commercials?
>
>There are at least two that have been shown in my area. In both, a nicely
>dressed African-American man is touting 7 up:
>
>1) One is a taste test, where he has people taste the "alternative
>beverage,"
>that alternative usually being something really gross (e.g., sour milk).
>
>2) In the other, he whips a 7up can and commands a cute little doggie to
>"fetch." The dog chases down the can, gets under it, and gets whomped on
>the noggin. At the end of the commercial, the dude is picking up the can
>and the dog is upside down, all four legs in the air. He may not be dead,
>but
>he looks like it.
>
>Doesn't this seem like a really bad use of classical conditioning? I would
>think viewers might connect 7up to being nauseated (taste test) and
>being distressed (puppy).
>
>If I was teaching gen psych, I'd be curious as to how students would evaluate
>these commercials as good/bad examples of CC.
>
>
>************************************************************************
>Jim Guinee, Ph.D.
>
>Director of Training & Adjunct Professor
>President, Arkansas College Counselor Association
>University of Central Arkansas Counseling Center
>313 Bernard Hall Conway, AR 72035 USA
>(501) 450-3138 (office) (501) 450-3248 (fax)
>
>"You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things --
>to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently
>motivated to reach challenging goals."
>-- Edmund Hillary, New Zealander mountaineer and explorer
>
>**************************************************************************
David T. Wasieleski, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology and Counseling
Valdosta State University
229-333-5620
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dtwasieleski
"I am a humble monkey, sitting up in here again
But then came the day
I climbed out of these safe limbs...
Now I am the proudest monkey you've ever seen..."
--Dave Matthews Band
"Proudest Monkey"
