Lucozade Media Language

How does the Lucozade advert use media language to promote energy drinks?

The soft drinks campaign advert, ‘I Believe’, for Lucozade made in 2013 uses elements of media language to produce a mix of science, aspiration and passion. The £4 million campaign was made in order to educate consumers about the brand and how the product ‘improves’ sport performance. The brands owners wanted the advert to reinforce how they were combining scientific expertise with product innovation in order to help athletes across the UK reach their sporting potential.

In the advert, the product is promoted using a clinical composition. A white frame is used to mimic a computer screen; this makes the advert seem truthful and more factual. The ‘scientifically proven’ unfinished claim in the bottom right hand corner of the frame reinforces this ‘truth’ and a sense of seriousness within the advert.

The advert uses a colour palette of predominantly blue and yellow with a black contrast; this reinforces the product packaging and its colours and helps the advert to have a consistent colour scheme. Mirroring the colours used on the products packaging in this way aids recognition of the product and the brand more subtly and use colours instead of words; the audience will recognise the brand without having to see the logo. The yellow background behind the slogan along with the sans serif font shows a clear contrast, allowing the viewer to clearly read that ‘this is a different league’ It also makes the slogan look like it was written on a computer and links with the idea that the campaign uses pseudoscience.

The unfinished claim ‘in a different league’ has the largest font size on the advert, indicating the importance of the text in creating meaning for the product. This connotes that Gareth Bale is in a different league and, by association, so is Lucozade Sport. The medium close up of Bale with a direct gaze personalises him, helps create an emotional link and positions the audience, connoting that if they invest in the brand they will be similar to Bale-an aspirational target for most of the audience. Bale has a status as the most expensive footballer, making him somewhat an icon. His eyes are photoshopped a deeper blue to complement the background and add to the colour scheme. It can also be understood that Bale is the essence of Lucozade. The main slogan, the image of Bale and the product are all aligned in a way to create meaning when read together. This placement anchors the meaning that not only is Bale in a ‘different league’ due to playing for Real Madrid and his sporting ability, but also connotes that Lucozade is in a different league to other drinks.

The advert can be seen to reinforce ideological assumptions about lifestyle in relation to fitness and, importantly, consumerism and individualism. The preferred reading of the Lucozade ‘I Believe’ campaign advert is that Lucozade is better than other drinks for hydration during sports. There is an additional preferred reading that able-bodied men are interested in sport and therefore more likely to be successful athletes then, for example, women or people with disabilities. Positive stereotypes of white men can be seen to be reinforced; this is not only through the use of Bale as the celebrity endorsement but also the uses of blue clearly gendering the product and sport as masculine. Using Bale as the face of the campaign is a key selling point selected by producers. The sole use of Gareth Bale as the celebrity endorsement makes him a metaphor for successful sportspersons. In the bottom left corner, the positive affirmation ‘yes’ connotes positivity and gives the consumer belief that if the buy the product, they themselves will be like Bale.