Never Say No to Panda
Reed Millek
Anna Hoffman
First Year Writing Sec. 9
6 February 2013
Never Say No to Panda
A series of television commercials to sell Panda Cheese were released in 2010. They were produced in Egypt by Arab Dairy, the manufacturers of Panda Cheese. The premise in each commercial is alike, someone offers someone else Panda Cheese, they decline, and a Panda shows up to terrorize their surroundings. In my favorite, there is a dad and his son going grocery shopping. The son spots the Panda Cheese and asks if he can get it, but the dad tells him no. Right then, a Panda shows up on the opposite side of their shopping cart, while the song “True Love Ways” by Buddy Holly Plays. The Panda stares at the dad for a prolonged amount of time while the song plays until he grabs onto the cart and knocks it over, spilling all of his items on the floor and stomping on them. On the second part of the commercial, the dad and son go shopping again and when the son asks for the cheese, the Panda shows up earlier this time and stares while Buddy Holly plays again. Feeling intimidated, the dad opts to buy not one, but two boxes of cheese to satisfy the Panda before everyone walks away peacefully. The commercial ends with a close up of the cheese being held by the Panda, with their famous slogan written at the top of the screen, “Never Say No to Panda.”
The commercial seems to be aimed toward a younger age group. People around ages 16-25 would find the advertisements funny, which is something this audience group looks for in a commercial. The sheer indifference the Panda seems to show with its face while wrecking everything just makes it even more enjoyable to the younger audience. The commercial could also be targeted towards children. Since they most likely won’t know any better, the ad could cause fear and force them to ask their parents for the cheese so they can be safe. This might make the parents feel a little resentful towards the ad, but once they explain it, the
Anna Hoffman
First Year Writing Sec. 9
6 February 2013
Never Say No to Panda
A series of television commercials to sell Panda Cheese were released in 2010. They were produced in Egypt by Arab Dairy, the manufacturers of Panda Cheese. The premise in each commercial is alike, someone offers someone else Panda Cheese, they decline, and a Panda shows up to terrorize their surroundings. In my favorite, there is a dad and his son going grocery shopping. The son spots the Panda Cheese and asks if he can get it, but the dad tells him no. Right then, a Panda shows up on the opposite side of their shopping cart, while the song “True Love Ways” by Buddy Holly Plays. The Panda stares at the dad for a prolonged amount of time while the song plays until he grabs onto the cart and knocks it over, spilling all of his items on the floor and stomping on them. On the second part of the commercial, the dad and son go shopping again and when the son asks for the cheese, the Panda shows up earlier this time and stares while Buddy Holly plays again. Feeling intimidated, the dad opts to buy not one, but two boxes of cheese to satisfy the Panda before everyone walks away peacefully. The commercial ends with a close up of the cheese being held by the Panda, with their famous slogan written at the top of the screen, “Never Say No to Panda.”
The commercial seems to be aimed toward a younger age group. People around ages 16-25 would find the advertisements funny, which is something this audience group looks for in a commercial. The sheer indifference the Panda seems to show with its face while wrecking everything just makes it even more enjoyable to the younger audience. The commercial could also be targeted towards children. Since they most likely won’t know any better, the ad could cause fear and force them to ask their parents for the cheese so they can be safe. This might make the parents feel a little resentful towards the ad, but once they explain it, the