I thought it would be interesting to take a look at
two similar beer advertisements, one from Ireland and one from the U.S. I chose
two ads involving sports that are popular in each country. First, let's take a look at the Guinness
advertisement. Guinness is the official beer of the Irish Rugby team, a sport
that is extremely popular in Ireland. It features 3 members of the team playing
rugby. The advertisement is saying to drink a Guinness and support the Irish
national team.
The advertisement for Bud Light is very similar. Bud
Light is the official beer of the NFL. I feel as though the NFL in America and
rugby in Ireland are equally as popular in each country. This advertisement is targeting
all of the football fans out there, saying that Bud Light is a must have beer
for tailgating.
Looking at the Hofstede dimensions for each of these
countries will show that they do not differ too much. Both scores for each
dimension are relatively close ( although the U.S is slightly higher in PDI and
IDV). If I were analyzing these advertisements for the different dimensions, I
would say that they definitely do exist. For the Guinness advertisement, it is dealing
heavily with masculinity. The men on the rugby team are extremely strong and
look very intense. If you're not familiar with rugby, it is a very violent
sport. Also, I feel as if the advertisement has elements of collectivism,
seeing as the players are all locked in and are in the fight for the win
together. This contradicts the higher score ( 70) that Ireland has for IDV.
Looking at the Bud Light advertisement, I would also say it deals with
collectivism. Tailgating is a very social thing, and this is exactly what the
ad is promoting. However, I feel as though it is difficult to advertise for a
team sport without having collectivist elements in the advertisement.