TheDifferencesofHumorousCommercialsinChinaandAmerica

Abstract： This report will make an elaborate comparison of humor between a Chinese humorous commercial and some American humorous commercials. The report will give a concise description of an MM’s Chinese commercial first. Then， the report will put emphasis on comparing the Chinese one with several commercials center on their similarities and differences of humor. The similarities will be divided into two parts， the characters and artistic presentations the commercials use； and the incongruity theory they apply. The differences will also be categorized into two parts， the cultural differences in individualism， collectivism and uncertainty avoidance that cause different humorous ways of advert. Finally， the conclusion part will summarize the whole report.

Keywords：TV commercials， humorous commercials， humor in advertisement

摘 要：本論文將進行對中國幽默廣告和美國幽默廣告中的幽默元素進行詳細的對比分析。首先這篇論文將會介紹MM’s 巧克力中國區(qū)的廣告，然后將對此廣告和其他類似的幽默廣告在相似性和不同點上進行對比。相似性將會分為兩部分來介紹，一方面包括廣告角色和藝術(shù)表現(xiàn)形式，另一方面是廣告所使用的不一致理論。不同點也將從文化差異分析，包括個人主義和集體主義還有不確定性規(guī)避。最后，總結(jié)部分將會對文章進行一個簡短的概括。

關(guān)鍵詞：電視廣告；幽默廣告；廣告中的幽默；

文章編號：1674-3520（2015）-05-00-02

1.Description of the Advert

Name： MM’s Red Bean’s Adventure TV commercial.

Region： Mainland China.

Plot： Two large-sized chocolate beans are having a party with three people. They are playing “Truth or Adventure”. The red bean is chosen to take an Adventure. Then， a female friend asks the red bean with her finger touching on the bean’s belly “Do you dare to strip naked？” Suddenly， the red bean jumps on the table， strips its red candy shell （clothes）， and dances happily. However， people find that inside the red bean is chocolate， because the red bean is naked. They become really greedy and bite the red bean. Finally， the red bean complains to the yellow bean “where are my clothes？”

2.Comparison

The main viewpoints， analyses and inferences of Chinese advertising environment in this report are originated in MM’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China）.

（1）Similarities

a. Characters and Artistic Presentations

An effective advert should be designed with AIDA model （attract， attention， interest and desire） formulated by E.St.Elmo Lewis in order to leave profound impression to the audiences （Strong 1925）. Accordingly， both countries accent on using video technique to create living cartoon characters as humorous elements to attract attention by showing exaggerated and imaginary scene. In Red Bean’s Adventure （China）， the animated large-sized chocolate beans can speak Chinese and easily pose gestures of farcical exaggeration on the purpose of strengthening visual impact， rendering artistic effect， and creating humorous effect. Also， MM’s in America has created six different chocolate beans with different personalities to compose serial funny stories.

b. Incongruity Theory

Arthur Asa Berger （1992） has introduced some significant theories on humor include the incongruity theory. The Red Bean’s Adventure （China） shows that the chocolate beans have enjoyed the party before they were found they are actually chocolate. The story has variance on plot. And MM’s commercial called the Coming of Blue Bean （America） also has unexpected results when the green bean and orange bean are found kidnaping blue beans for the sake of fame. Laughter as a response to the perception of incongruity. People’s reactions to these unpredictable and amusing results are usually surprised. And laugh at their personal incorrect or 1 expectation. According to Boyd （2004， p. 20）， a British PhD， “Humor frequently contains an unexpected， often sudden， shift in perspective， which gets assimilated by Incongruity Theory.”

（2）Differences

a. Cultural Differences

Individualism and Collectivism： MM’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China） emphases on depicting the individual in relation of friends or groups， and uses metaphor and metonymy such as “Where are my clothes （shell）？” to create humorous effect. For these reasons， China tends to have collectivistic culture characterized by high-context communication. On the contrary， commercials of MM’s in America are usually giving close shot to a certain chocolate bean with less oral description but more observational elements， assert to America seems to have individualistic culture with low-context communication （Hofstede 1980）. Therefore， interpersonal relationships and joking relationship in America is more informal and casual than that in China.

Uncertainty Avoidance： In America， the backgrounds of commercials are of great variety： island， wild jungle， ocean， sky， etc. However， the MM’s commercials in China are always shown some parties or families. As Hofstede （1991， p. 60） illustrated， “The use of formality in interaction with others and apparent resistance of change are all characteristics of high uncertainty avoidance”. Hence， the multifarious executions not only attract audiences， but also represent that the American society tend to be of low uncertainty avoidance while China seems to be of high uncertainty avoidance. Thus， the forms of Chinese humor are usually Cross-talks and Sketch with less background changes while American humor often exists in physical comedy and slapstick （Greig 1923）.

Research shows that in individualistic countries with low uncertainty avoidance， it seems that consumers prefer humor-dominant messages. On the contrary， in collectivistic country with high uncertainty-aversion attitudes， humor can be used as a Trojan horse to convey the required information to the target group （Hatzithomas 2011， p. 60）.

3.Conclusion

To conclude， the previous chapters have discussed in details about the similarities and differences of commercials between MM’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China） and other commercials in America. The conclusion has reached that both countries have used similar animated characters and applied incongruity theory of humor to create humorous effect. The cultural reasons for differences of humorous commercials in China and America can be linked to the different degrees of collectivism and uncertainty avoidance.

Reference：

[1]Berger， AA 1992， An Anatomy of Humor， Transaction Publisher， New Brunswick.

[2]Berger， PL 1997， Redeeming Laughter： the comic dimension of human experience， Walter de Gruyter， New York.

[3]Boyd， B 2004， ‘Laughter and literature’， Philosophy and Literature， vol. 28， no. 1， April， pp. 1-22.

[4]Greig， J 1969， The Psychology of Laughter and Comedy， George Allen Unwin， London.

[5]Hatzithomas， L 2011， ‘Humor and cultural values in print advertising： a cross-cultural study’， International Marketing Review， vol. 28， no. 1， pp. 57-80.

[6]Hofstede， G 1980， Culture’s Consequences： international differences in work-related values， Beverly Hills， California.

[7]Hofstede， G 1991， Culture and Organizations， MacGraw-Hill， London.

[8]Strong， EK 1925， The Psychology of Selling and Advertising， Literary Licensing， New York.