Heineken advertisement

This is a a Heineken advertisement about a 'walk-in refrigerator' in the house and from my point of view the idea is something similar to a walk-in closet which is commonly found in houses with contemporary themes. The idea of a walk-in closet is to have one's garments/apparels/clothing, accessories, and maybe footwear placed in it for convenience sake. The commercial shows how the male owner of the house uses the idea and creates a walk-in refrigerator. Then, the story goes on to exhibit similarities in actions and emotions displayed by members of each gender when they are exposed to the walk-in concept (refrigerator for the males and closet for the females).

The advertisement shows an example of a linear communication model. The encoder and decoder are Heineken and its advertisement viewers respectively. The channels used are the internet and any other visual mass media. The social constructionist and to a certain extent cultural studies perspectives of communication are expressed in the advertisement. I believe our society has shaped us to think that females should express their emotions in this manner when they see a walk-in closet that is filled with mirrors and clothing, accessories etc. It is likened to how we generalize males love beer. The cognitive customs and our cultural traditions compels us to process information this way and we would not be able to break out of it unless we are exposed to different beliefs or values. It has also affected the way we construct our specific gender role in society, taking the advertisement as an example, how women seek superficial material satisfaction and also how men are inclined to alcohol consumption as a form of recreation. These answer the aspect of the social constructionist perspective. The ‘pop culture’ that people of the present are subjected to play a part in molding today’s minds. From teenage soap operas, television series to magazines, they promote influential cultural systems that configure our modern day society.

In my opinion, I feel that the advertisement is making fun of the way women express themselves by making use of men enacting the same response. They are also trying to say that their product can be put on the same level as how for example, branded material comforts appeal to women. Lastly, they emphasize the value of the product by putting it in a ‘walk-in’ compartment which the people in the advertisement held in high regard.