Walgreens Battle Cry. Advertisement Analysis Essay Example

Advertisers are masterfully proficient at evoking emotions that draw us into buying products, shopping at certain stores, or visiting far off destinations. We have seen advertisements that make us hungry by showing us a big juicy burger piled high with our favorite condiments and toppings or freshly squeezed lemon on beautifully cooked lobster tails, but do we ever stop to think about what other feelings that a commercial can arouse in us? 

Walgreens| Battle Cry is an incredibly emotional advertisement that takes every moment of the thirty seconds to extract a rollercoaster of emotion. From the moment the women start appearing on the screen to the last beat of the bouncy rap melody, it is brimming with feeling. Particularly, it alludes to female cancer patients by using hopeful female positive music, disenchanting visuals of women in multiple stages of the illnesses with close-up camera shots and dark looming lighting, and steadfast statements to associate the brand with the ideas of comfort, understanding, and support and drawing the audience to the credibility of the Walgreens brand.

It begins with a positive, playful, upbeat riff to get your attention as hair piles on a sink. According to Kellaris & Kent (1993), “Music is commonly known as the art of organized sound, the purpose of which is to elicit an aesthetic response in listeners.” The upbeat female rap is called “F.E.M.A.L.E.” by the rap artist Sampa the Great. Its assertive beat along with the confident lyrics is a statement of female positivity. It grabs attention and inspires activity. As the beat gathers momentum, the women are seen dancing together, different wigs, strutting confidently around the room, seemingly celebrating and enjoying each other’s company. The music draws the audience to want to join them in their celebration and dance along.

The deliberate cinematographic choices of close frames of the women battling through the illnesses to get up and face the world and attend their nights out, support groups and yoga classes are emotional. “A camera emotion for that would be a camera that never feels settled. That is always slightly moving from left to right or up, down, that you’re never really happy with the frame. The frame is just always moving just ever so slightly and I’m talking subtle,” says Shane Hurlbut (2017), an American cinematographer, regarding a style of filmmaking named “underdeveloped." The camera movements seem almost downtrodden. With the camera actions, the lighting gives a feeling of heaviness and almost depression. No cinematic choices were made light-heartedly; they draw out the feelings of the women’s anguish as they face their days with these diagnoses.

The direct statements in the commercial lead to the credibility and proficiency of Walgreens with cancer patients. Walgreens states that they have “Specially Trained Beauty Consultants” and “Pharmacists with Cancer Expertise.” These are unequivocal statements that provide credibility and proficiency to the brand enticing viewers to trust their ability to provide the care that is necessary for cancer patients. In the assigned video, Rosenau (2012) states that “a logos appeal tells exactly what it does, how it works, what it’s used for.” Walgreens states that it has specially trained consultants and pharmacists with expertise in cancer which allows the audience to believe that there are experts to assist in their needs as cancer patients. Walgreens further their credibility by saying “Trusted Since 1901.” The that Walgreens has been a trusted brand for 118 years means it can be assumed that they have the knowledge and ability to administer the quality of services that these patients need. 

The music, cinematography, lighting, and phrasing of the Walgreens| “Battle Cry” ad wrench at the heartstrings and draw the watcher into the ad. The emotional allure alone draws us in and forces us to face cancer sufferers. We see the struggles they face every day to do things non-cancer sufferers do without a thought. Simply getting out of bed and going to a yoga class or going out for a special event is a complex task for these women. Walgreens seeks to support these women by giving them their normality and routines back. 

They offer beauty specialists to help them learn to fill in a bare eyebrow where the hair no longer grows. They have pharmacists with cancer experience to help them monitor possible medication reactions. The prudent decisions by the advertisers contribute to a very poignant and authentic visual and auditory story, drawing viewers to depend on the Walgreens brand for their needs as cancer patients. The emotions conjured by the creative choices of the advertisers show just how masterfully they put their ideas together to draw us into a Walgreen store for all our health and beauty needs.