Monday, February 2, 2009

Berlitz - Why English is so Important

The Berlitz commercial tells a story about a German coast guard operator who seems new to his position and who is confronted with a distress call on his first day. At the start of the commercial he’s shown the ropes of the job by what seems to be his supervisor. After a short while, a distress call arises and forces him to open a dialog with a sinking ship. It is here that we see how his lack of knowledge of the English language puts him in a critical situation. He mistakes the ship’s we’re sinking for we’re thinking which makes him ask what are you thinking about? It is then that the Berlitz logo pops up and that it’s clear that it's an ad for learning English. The humorous tone channelled throughout the ad and the Ode to Joy theme toward the end are marks that are generally used in commercials for viewers to remember them. The advertisement makes viewers think about what a tragedy it would be if one’s English was as poor as the coast guard communicator’s.

1 comment:

Greg Millard said...

That is a wonderful synopsis of this fabuluosly funny ad. I would like to know which advertsing agency wrote and produces these ads. Doews anybody know.

I actually featured this ad on my blog

www.gregorymilard.blogspot.com

Thanks,
Greg Millard