Type on the search area: “The Showdown” Bird vs Jordan McDonald’s ad 1993.

GROUP ASSIGNMENT
INTRODUCTION
Super bowl is one of the most-watched annual sporting events on earth, and a big draw for
viewers who are not football fans are the creative, funny, and expensive commercials that
come with it. The Super Bowl ads provide entertainment to sports fans and non-sports fans as
they don’t require any knowledge of the game. Many Super Bowl ads have become popular
because of their vivid quality, unpredictability, bizarre humor, and use of special effects.
IDENTIFY THE AD AND SPECIFIC PRODUCT BEING ADVERTISED AND DESCRIBE THE
AD .COMPLETELY
The Super Bowl ad named “The Showdown” Birds vs Jordan McDonald’s ad 1993,
advertise the “Big Mac and Fries” from McDonald’s. The ad uses an advertising strategy
called celebrity endorsement as it features two basketball legends NBA players of all
time, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. The ad starts with Jordan bringing a Big Mac and
fries onto the basketball court, only to find Bird who challenges him for the meal with a
“game of Horse” which is a game played by two people on a basketball court. They
agree that the first one to miss the shot watches the winner eat the meal. Larry gets a
quick rule adjustment “No dunking”. Shot after shot with none of them missing the net
has these two great players escalating the game. Jordan says with a smile “think we are
gonna be here for a while, I suggest you go get the big mark,” this is a direct strategy of
convincing viewers to go and buy the McDonald’s Big Mac as they watch the game.
There is energizing music playing in the background and as they play the game the
scrumptious Big Mac is shown in the ad. The two players continue to make the game
more challenging, shooting the ball whilst kneeling with one knee, off the floor, off the
board with no rim, through the window and finally they end up calling shots on the top
of a sky scrapper though we don’t see who wins, the idea of doing the impossible is to
get a Big Mac. The ad ends with a McDonald’s logo and a song that goes “what you want
is what you get at McDonald’s”.

DISCUSS THE MESSAGE BEING CONVEYED

The message strategy refers to what is said in an advert and the message execution
tactics constitute the manner in which the brand message is communicated (Belch &
Belch, 2007:237, Wells et al, 2006:334. In this McDonald’s ad, the message being
conveyed is that the McDonald’s Bid Mac and Fries are so good that even the sports
stars are willing to compete for them all day long. The fact that none of them gave up
the competition shows that the McDonald’s meal is worth it and irresistible.

WHAT DOES THE AD APPEAL TO?

 The ad appeals to all sports fans and sports players to get the Big Mac from McDonald’s
because it’s worth it and irresistible. It also communicates that when you buy from
McDonald’s you get exactly what you want. McDonald’s is well known for its Just In
Time service delivery and product uniformity so whatever you order will always look the
same in terms of shape, size, and quality.
WHAT IS THE MOOD OF THE AD COLOURS USED, MUSIC PLAYED?
The ad plays energizing music throughout giving an energetic vibe to the target
audience, which associates the meal with energy-giving. Vibrant colours like red, white,
and yellow are used in the ad representing the McDonald’s brand. Aaker,1997 suggests
that certain dominant colors in advertisements generate a particular brand personality.
Among the nonverbal elements, color occupies more than 80% of the visual elements of
advertising in the persuasion process (Walker,1993). Red and yellow encourage
consumers to be confident, make the ad memorable and grab their attention concerning
the restaurant service (BOWKER, Joseph, 2016).

WHAT DOES THE AD SHOW PEOPLE, PRODUCTS, AND SCENERY?

The ad shows two male basketball legends Larry Bird who is white and Michael Jordan
who is black. The use of multi-racial advertising is significant as it allows your advert to
attract various races thereby enlarging your customer base. The advert was done on a
basketball court and outside the basketball court and on top of a skyscraper, this shows
the lengths one can go just to have a bite of the Big Mac. The Big Mac is also shown in
the advert alongside the McDonald’s logo showing how irresistible it is to the eye.

WHAT IS NOT DISCUSSED ABOUT THE PRODUCT?

Discussing everything about a product in an advert is important to convince customers
about the benefits of using your product and the cost of buying it. In the McDonald’s advert the
fries that Jordan says he has from McDonald’s alongside the Big Mac are not shown advert we
are only shown the Big Mac which is a burger, this shows that their main focus was to advertise
the burger, but it’s a disadvantage because in the food world people are convinced to buy what
they see and like. The price of the Big Mac and fries is also not discussed in the advert, this
could be a strategy to lure people into going to McDonald’s to find out and be enticed by more
of the products they offer. The health benefits or benefits of buying the Big Mac and Fries from
McDonald’s are also not discussed in the advert. The advert did not also discuss what
differentiates their product from other competitors considering that there are many takeaway
companies that serve burgers and fries as well.
WHAT IMAGE IS PORTRAYED?
The image is portrayed in this advert is that McDonald’s Big Mac and fries are as great as the
two basketball legends competing for it. The advert also portrays an image that makes the
meal seem worth it and irresistible, this is shown by the heights the two stars are willing to
reach as they compete for the meal.
IS IT TRUE TO LIFE OR PUFFERY?
Puffery is a marketing tool used to describe a product or service. It makes use of positive
statements about products that are not necessarily true (Preston,1996,1998). The ad is puffery
because in actual fact the Big Mac burger from McDonald’s is not so big in size as the picture in
the advert shows and contradicts the name of the burger “the Big Mac”. Puffery may lead to
dissatisfaction to the audience or consumer after using the product as it does not perform as
per their expectations (Perry Haan, Calberky, 2006). The statement “what you want is what you
get at McDonald’s” is not entirely true considering that after watching this ad the audience
expects to get a big burger when they order the Big Mac at McDonald’s but it’s disappointing
when what you want or the image you have in your mind is not what you actually get. Puffery is
also portrayed when the basketball stars compete for the meal all day long, this was all done in
an effort to show the lengths one would go to eat the ‘Big Mac”. The way the game was played
was over-exaggerated, and in normal circumstances, people wouldn’t compete to that extent
just for one meal.
IS THE AD A SLICE OF LIFE, FEAR, HUMOUR, SEX, OR OTHER TYPE OF AD?
The ad is filled with such a significant humor appeal. What resonated the most was the strong
chemistry between Bird and Jordan, it was funny seeing two rivals known for their
competitiveness taking part in such a crazy contest just for a Big Mac. Humor is powerful in
attracting consumers’ attention and creates a positive effect ( Weinberger et al,1995.
WHO IS IN THE AD IF A STAR WHAT IMAGE DOES HE OR SHE PORTRAY?
Celebrities have an attractive appearance which can affect consumers with its appeal, which
will ultimately lead to consumer confidence and the desire to buy products (Khan, Ruskhsar,&
Shoaib, 2016). The McDonald’s ad was executed by two basketball legends Larry Bird and
Michael Jordan. This could have been done in the hope that the two celebrities’ qualities like
expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness might be transferred to their brand.
IS THE AD MEMORABLE?
The Big Mac is very memorable because of the use of celebrities, humor, and exaggeration
which sticks in the viewer’s mind. This is an advantage to the business because it promotes
salesmanship, fights competition, and educates the consumer about your product.
WOULD YOU BUY THE PRODUCT BEING ADVERTISED WHY OR WHY NOT?
I would definitely buy the product being advertised because it looks so scrumptious. I would
also buy it because I am convinced that it’s a quality product, it is worth it and it would make
me look cool because the social elite also buys it.
In conclusion, this advert was a wonderful success because consumers like products that are
also consumed by people they admire or see as heroes like celebrities. consumers feel that they
can trust a product simply because someone they trust is consuming it. I loved this advert
because it incorporated exaggeration which was not offensive but very humorous considering
how the two went all out competing for a meal that they could have just shared. The use of
multi-race made me feel like the advert was targeting everyone without discrimination in terms
of race.

REFERENCES
Aaker, J, L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality Journal of Marketing Research, 34(August),
347-356.
Preston, I. (1996). Books on Google Play the great American blow up Puffery in advertising and
selling. University of Wisconsin Press.
Khan ,K,S, Rukhsar,A, & Shoaib, M.(2016). Influence on celebrity endorsement on consumer
purchase intention. Journal of Business and Management, 18(1) 6-9.
Perry Haan, CalBerky. (2016). Puffery: Its effect on consumers’ Trust in sales Dyad. Innovative
Marketing, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2066 pp. 122-128.
Walker, M. (1993). The power of color, Avery Publishing Group.
The Journal of advertising and promotion research vol 2. No 2. (Autum 2013), pp:85-115.
Weinberger, M, & Gula. C. (1992) The impact of humor in advertising. A review: Journal of
advertising, 21 (4) , 35.