Audience and Advertising 10 Marker

 

How might target audiences of The Lego Movie interpret the advertising campaign differently? (10)

A younger, active audience may have a negotiated reading of the poster campaign due to the ways the characters are presented. This is evident specifically in Vitruvius’s poster; this character as a whole is an intertextual reference to the Lord of the Ring’s character ‘Gandalf’, which younger audiences may be able to associate with. However, younger audiences who are easily influenced may perceive the way he’s presented as a mockery, particularly because he teams up with a working-class builder – unusual for both this character and for younger audiences to understand. Despite this, the poster’s background includes a dragon and a castle, and some younger audiences who are fans of Lord of the Rings may accept and be attracted to the movie from this intertextual reference. The same can be applied to Batman, who is once again unusually associated with both Vitruvius and Emmet.

Furthermore, an older target audience may have a preferred reading to the advertising campaign as it brings about a nostalgic feeling. Older target audiences can associate with Lego as they may have grown up playing with it and so connect with Lego characters from when they were younger as the campaign brings these characters to life. This is especially through their facial expressions, positioning, etc. (Emmet’s startled face, Lord Business’s villainous smile). This associated with personal identity, older audiences therefore feel connected and can identify with the generic, stop-motion. In addition, the characters represented such as Emmet, who is a ‘normal’, working-class character, may relate to many older audiences who likely work in similar jobs or have similar lives (of course prior to all the action).