girls vs boys *toy ad edition*

lately, i have been watching a lot of nickelodeon, a channel i never really watched when i was younger. but i did watch the kids' channel qubo. i noticed how the ads for kid audiences seem to have very similar templates and style of execution. when it comes to toys, most toys seem to be similar to the ones 7 years ago. same barbies, nerf guns, play doh, really wack electronic skateboards/ripsticks. i am also still surprised about how genders play a role in toy ads. i don't think there should be gender specified toys and i thought that idea would have died down as the years went by. but commercials for "boy toys" are still aggressive and fast paced with this male narrator (whose voice hasn't changed in the past decade) yelling. meanwhile, commercials for "girl toys" are still very pink and are usually girls singing in the background while teen girls dressed to look younger are playing with the toys.

this is an ad i've seen so much recently, and it is for "shopkins lil secret lockets". it is obvious that it is geared towards young girls because of the girls singing in the background, girls playing with the toys, and the excessive amount of the color pink. i think the producers used the need for affiliation. there were multiple lines implying that if you buy this, you're buying a new friend: a doll you can take around in a locket. "a symbol of friendship you can wear too" and "inside each locket, a teeny best friend" tells the audience that you should this toy to get new friend, which who doesn't want? i think this commercial also uses avante garde. they use words like "new" and "explore" and "so many to collect" to encourage kids to buy this because it's different and hasn't been done before. the name "lil secret" also implies that only kids with this toy would understand that the locket necklace is actually a "tiny world inside". i think these advertising tactics are obviously working because of its long-lasting success throughout the years with similar templates for similar toys.

this ad is called "nerf fest is here!" and is obviously an ad for the popular "boy toy" nerf guns. this is the same exact narrator for almost every aggressive "boy toy" commercial who is yelling the script really fast. here is the need to agress. all the different names of the guns or "blasters" are just over the top to make it sound dangerous like "twinshock", "deadbolt", "raptorstrike" and "motofury". i honestly don't know what any of that means but it just sounds like they put together two aggressive sounding words to make a name. and with each gun, they show teen guys knocking down things like walls and metal along with killing cartoon zombies. i did not expect this but this ad used the magic ingredient tactic when describing one gun's "innovative switchfire technology". they make it sound really cool but really it's just a knob where you can adjust your "firing mode". the ad's choice of sound affects is also the cherry on top. they have very intense rock instrumental with a lot of bass along with pounding and thud sound effects when adding the title of each gun. along with the shopkins ad, their strategies are clearly working to convince their audiences to buy their product. even though they used the same tactics 10 years ago, i guess they're just that effective.