SMELLY Squirrel

Bridgestone Tires make their mark on the mind of every driver with their fun, exaggerated advertisement emphasizing safety as the main priority. The writers for this commercial working for Bridgestone know how to influence any person looking to buy new tires with this memorable commercial. Not only do the tires have great ability to swerve and grip the road safely at high speeds, saving peoples' lives; they can save the lives of every cute little animal that may be in danger. The ad sticks with every person who has ever seen it because it evokes both ethos and pathos from each viewer. Drivers are confronted with animals in the road on almost a daily basis and everybody knows the feeling of either running over an animal, or immediately after passing the animal and thinking, "did I just squash it?" Pathos lies in the sadness felt by the dominating machine flattening the poor helpless bird, raccoon, or in this case, squirrel. The perspective of the squirrel along with several other onlooking animals is comical because of the human qualities they are given, their little mouths screaming; but sad in the fear they express at the realization of the tragic death of the squirrel. The logic behind the two emotions being evoked appeals to the two different sexes. Men probably relate to the comedic aspect of the commercial and the shear ridiculousness of screaming animals. Women might remember the cute little animals and sympathize with them. Very little language is used, mostly loud screaming for larger animals and quieter screaming for the tinier animals. The message is relayed in a very serious tone at the end and is done in a persuasive, matter of fact way. Bridgestone's commercial was successful because it was memorable. Their message was executed by appealing to several different emotions combined to create a very powerful thirty two second commercial.