The girl in the raisin bran fishing commercial did not die of raisin bran overdose.
Director of Research and Development for Fishers Foods Janice E. Duncan explained that the girl was faking her death for a Fishers Foods commercial to encourage people to eat more raisins and cereal throughout the day.
This post will review the specific controversy over this widely-popular advertisement and explore its implications for marketers using actors or other forms of paid actors in commercials, while also exploring some other ads based on acting that have been controversial as well.
The answer is discussed here for, who is the girl in the raisin bran fishing commercial?
On January 4, 1989 an advertisement for Raisin Bran Crunch cereal premiered on television.
The ad, which aired during Saturday morning children’s programming as the breakfast cereal was the fastest selling new brand to come along in five years.
According to John G. Beugler and Patricia A. McDaniel of the Journal of Advertising, this was due to the ad’s “originality and creativity.”
Due to this success other companies began producing similar commercials with actors pretending or faking either death or injury and lying in a bed attached to wires and tubes for dramatic effect.
Here are some points discussed about The girl in the raisin bran fishing commercial-
1. The commercial was controversial.
This commercial, which was received positively by over 50% of the population and disliked by 37%, was one of many commercials based around the idea of a person pretending to be in a dangerous situation and still reacting and acting like a normal human being (Allison & Roberts, 1995).
However, to some people this was not possible since it would take enormous amounts of physical strength to pull off the scenario.
2. Commercials were not banned from television.
After The girl in the raisin bran commercial aired there were demands from viewers that these types of commercials be banned from television.
However, according to Jim Booth of Adweek advertising was still extremely active on television even with the increasing number of commercials that people were mad at.
3. Commercials can lead to more dangerous situations.
Because of the high demand for television time advertisers began creating more dangerous scenarios in their commercials to create more relevant advertising content viewers would want.
For example, in one commercial actress Gillian Anderson portrays a woman running through the woods while talking about the benefits of Mountain Dew soda due to it being natural rather than artificial sweeteners designed for people who are diabetic or heart patients.
Another example is in one Bud Light commercial the Budweiser frogs are shown in a wrestling ring fighting to advertise their beer with one of them becoming injured.
As you can see, advertisements are designed to make the audience believe that using their product or service will make you happy or make your life better in some way.
4. Commercials are based around viewers’ opinions.
Marketers pay attention to what viewers are saying about commercials because their feedback is important when it comes to the success of their company.
If a company is creating commercials that people are not interested in then they will lose revenue and may be forced out of business. Therefore, the public has power over what companies will do to create better content for their audience.
5. Commercials can have positive effects on society .
Commercials have the potential to shape the behavior of consumers for the better by helping them understand emotions, attitudes, and values of individuals in different environments (Dervin & Voight, 1993).
Within television commercials, viewers are taught how to act socially. This allows for them to understand their own emotions and the reactions that others will have in different situations.
For example, when people see actors faking injuries they learn that faking an injury is acceptable because the person did not actually get injured. This helps viewers learn how to act socially by understanding other people’s reactions which is important when you are in a public place.
6. Commercials can affect you in real life .
People can be affected positively or negatively by commercials that they watch on television. In fact, the emotional impact of watching a commercial for a product may eventually affect daily behavior.
As mentioned in the previous slide, when people see actors faking injuries in commercials they learn that faking an injury is acceptable because the person did not actually get injured.
This helps viewers learn how to act socially by understanding other people’s reactions which is important when you are in a public place.
7. Commercials can teach you about social behavior .
Commercials have the potential to shape the behavior of consumers for the better by helping them understand emotions, attitudes, and values of individuals in different environments (Dervin & Voight, 1993).
