Ad Analysis: The Wonder of it All, Foxwoods Resort & Casino

Everyone analyzes television commercials differently. We all have different perceptions of ads. A particular television commercial, depicting Foxwoods Resort & Casino as the wonder of it all, in my estimation and perception, is advertising a big fantasy. A person might take a chance gambling and MIGHT make it happen, but what this ad doesn't point out is that not everyone will win. The cost of coming to this resort and casino is not ever mentioned in this particular ad. People think that their life is going to change so much (for the better) if they come to this so-called wonder of it all. There are indeed many other wonders of them all. The sun and planet are wonders of the universe. Life is not always good, I must point out, and life is also not always sweet. This ad, to me, is depicting a magical dream in which anyone can be transported to a surreal fantasyland.

The advertisers, with this in mind, are evidently lying to television viewers about what this particular resort and casino really is in reality. Advertisements will do anything in scope to lure very naïve people in (e. g. to buy a particular cheese, to shop at a particular supermarket, to buy a certain car before the summer drive sales event is over, to dine at a certain restaurant that is presumably better than many other competing food establishments, to come to a casino where the overall objective is to entice unassuming visitors, etc. and so forth). Ads are basically on television to help businesses (Like Foxwoods Resort & Casino, Mohegan Sun, Subaru, Kraft Corporation, The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, & Jordan's Furniture, Among Others) attract customers. Appealing low prices, limited time offers, end of the season promotions, and even quality acting really attracts customers to these various businesses.

There was an ad, after a casino ad was depicted, ironically, depicting many people in this state (Massachusetts) who have had problems with gambling. Two government officials depicted in this particular ad told television viewers to call a number on the screen if any citizen of this state both has had a problem with gambling or is having a problem with gambling. Gambling is a big issue, not only at a casino, but anywhere in this country and even in places around the world. One might think, after watching the casino ad, that actually going to Foxwoods is really going to solve all their problems. People will always be confronted with problems every day of their lives. The advertisers who put this ad on the air are really advertising a pipe dream. What is happening in this ad doesn't usually happen to people who actually visit the casino. People are not actually going to get in free. Parking may also be a hassle for visitors. It is really obvious, to me, that Foxwoods ads are definitely competing with Mohegan Sun ads. Both casinos are in the same state and almost a little too close to each other. There have been many people who are fighting for builders to erect a casino in this state and, as an individual might expect, there are also some people who just don't like the idea of builders erecting a casino here. Some casinos attract the wrong types of people. There are buses that travel to the casinos from Chinatown in Boston, MA. These particular buses transport crowds and crowds of people each day. Buses traveling from Chinatown in Manhattan, NY to the casinos tranport large crowds of people as well. I see no point in gambling. It is not only a waste of time, but it is also a big waste of money. People should work on becoming employees at jobs if they want to make money. There are so many other more economical ways to make money both in this society and in the world we all live on. People, alas, in this society gamble at casinos for pleasure. They also linger at casinos to hopefully meet others. Casinos (like restaurants, bars, and schools) are places where people congregate, talk, and get to know one another.

I am very concerned that some Foxwoods ads are giving young people the wrong impression just because the latter is not what reality is at all. One recent Foxwoods ad I have seen depicts Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Tin Man, & The Cowardly Lion on the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz. Foxwoods, I assume, is The Emerald City. Anyone would just love to go frequent this enchanted place because most people imagine that this is a land of purity - where nothing evil can ever happen. As anyone in our real world knows, this ad, depicting The Emerald City as Foxwoods, is sending the wrong messages to television viewers (both young and old alike). It would be nice, I must add, to live in a kind of sugar-coated fantasyland, but, getting back to reality, most people need a rude awakening out of this so-called dream world.

I do think about the people who inhabit casinos like Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Buses, like I stated, from both Chinatown in Boston, MA and Chinatown in Manhattan, NY transport crowds and crowds of people. Two parents in many middle class families bring their children to the casinos on school breaks. A dominant male figure usually would be the one to drive his family there. All types of people like to frequent these places because everyone, alas, is in these kind of establishments for the money. People can be greedy in this society and a majority of human beings always would like more - more than what they already have. Casinos like Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are frequently inhabited by people in the summertime. This is when most of the normal working population is not at their fulltime jobs. People can then spend more quality time with their families. Not everyone is on a summer break during these particular summer months. There are many people, like me, who do have to work in the hot summer days of both July & August. I personally do not ever frequent casinos (one, because I do not believe in gambling, two, because it's a waste of money, and three, because it's a waste of time). Casinos are, alas, a part of our culture. Las Vegas, NV is filled with casinos because understandably it's known to many as the casino capital of the world.

Advertising is indubitably a part of our daily lives. It plays a crucial role in the world of big business. We (the mainstream audience who are all subjected to commercials) would not even know about this great casino known as 'the wonder of it all' if it indeed wasn't for advertising. Advertisers apparently use the advertising medium as a marketing tool. People then see the advertisements and are immediately influenced. Some people may be influenced negatively and some people may be influenced positively. There are some advertisements that I just wish were never advertised to begin with and, on the other side of the coin, there are also some great advertisements that are depicted on television. A Foxwoods Casino & Resort ad may be purely entertaining, in one aspect, to any viewer who sees it on television, but, in another aspect, this particular ad is just purely condescending because it is indeed depicting a realm that is simply not the every day world. Reality is clearly (and very noticeably) distorted in this advertisement. The fact that a majority of people, in our society, ultimately may never ever see it like this is, to me, very disturbing.