Analysis Of The Stephen Colbert Pistachio Super Bowl Commercial

The commercial I’ve chosen for this paper is the Stephen Colbert pistachio Super Bowl commercial. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sports events in the world, and in America is one of the best places for companies to advertise their products. The Super Bowl is where companies put everything they’ve got into their ads, and Wonderful Pistachios did just that. The star of their commercial is Stephen Colbert, a well-liked, famous TV personality. He is coupled with an eagle, which is a symbol of American pride. By using these two things together they are able to grab people’s attention that a pistachio commercial otherwise wouldn’t get. Throw comedy into the mix, and the commercial becomes one of the better Super Bowl commercials.

One of the

They have to linger on your mind better than the commercials before it, and everyone is pulling out all the stops. From the second the Wonderful Pistachio commercial comes on, Colbert instantly grabs your attention by stating, “Hello America.” One of the most noticeable things at this point is the room Colbert is in. It’s full of portraits of himself wearing suits and green ties, subtly associating him with Wonderful Pistachios and creating an image of importance. He’s also sitting next to a bald eagle, which is also wearing a suit with a pistachio green tie, therefore associating the pistachios with American values. He then goes on to state that he was hired by Wonderful Pistachios for a commercial. His next line is a jab at normal commercials stating, “But come on, they’re wonderful, I’m wonderful, they’ll sell themselves.” Saying this he is making a play on normal Ethos association. Most commercials get spokespeople to transfer their ethos, and by saying what he says, Colbert brings his own brand of comedy into the commercial while giving a nod to the

It comes on and there’s an immediate difference. Everything is pistachio. Colbert’s suit, the eagle’s suit, even the lamp has become related in some way to Wonderful Pistachios. In the background there’s a neon ‘Wonderful PISTACHIOS’ Banner. Colbert comes back on saying that apparently sales haven’t skyrocketed in the past 30seconds due to a lack of branding. This is another way that Colbert injects his own humor into the commercial. The room is absurd as well as the way Colbert is dressed. Colbert’s normal humor style is absurdist comedy and pointing out political ironies. Toward the very end of the commercial Colbert is pointing out things in the room that are pistachio themed when he says, “Wait for it, Pistachio.” As he opens his head as though it were a pistachio, revealing a miniaturized pistachio version of his