Let's look at commercials!

Commercials are a TV standby.  Because of their brevity and subtle undertones, people don't usually notice how much they actually take away from commercials, other than an impression of the advertised item.  In fact, commercials can do much to change our perceptions of a wide range of subjects, including archaeology and the ancient world.

Let's take a look at three specific commercials, all from different years and different countries.

Guitars cause people to gyrate in pain

First, there is Pepsi's archaeology commercial that aired in the US in 1985.  It takes place on Earth, somewhere in the future.  An archaeologist/professor (scholarly stereotype) is guiding students through a cave tour of a 1985 present-day location and identifying artifacts.  Inconsistent with true archaeological practice, all artifacts are whole.  At one point, the archaeologist holds up a guitar and declares that it produced excruciatingly loud noises to which people would gyrate in pain.  This is comical to viewers because we know that listening to guitars does not cause people pain (well, most people anyway), but it also illustrates the point that inferences that archaeologists make about the past based on objects may not be true.  This commercial combines the future with the past and is held together by characteristically 1980s visual effects and shots of Pepsi cans throughout.

Just another priceless Roman vase

Second, T-Mobile ran an archaeology commercial in the UK in 2008.  Here, archaeologists are digging for more minutes.  Their clothes seem pretty accurate and you can see a brief shot of the overview of the layout and parceling out of the site.  One archaeologist finds what he calls "just another priceless Roman vase" and throws it into a pile where it breaks on top of others just like it.  Again in this commercial, artifacts are represented as whole and complete items, rather than as being discovered in fragments.  An unfortunate downside of this ad is that it trivializes the value of artifacts, portraying the idea that if you don't find exactly what you are looking for, then it is worthless.

Look at that headdress

Finally, in 2010, AT&T produced a Mexican commercial centering around the Aztecs.  The first noticeable feature is the dramatic music, which continues throughout the duration of the commercial.  There is a very green jungle, a jaguar (I think) symbolizing the conflict of man vs. beast, and, of course, violence.  The idea of the Aztec people being warriors is central.  The first half of the commercial relies on dramatic recreations with extravagant costumes and violence.  It then links the warrior spirit of the Aztecs to the warrior spirit of the Mexican national soccer team, who happen to play at Estadio Azteca (Aztec Stadium).  However, I don't understand what this commercial has to do with phones.

Like any form of media, there are some things these commercials do well in portraying archaeology and the ancient world, and others they do not.  Ultimately, it is up to the viewer to interpret and analyze what they see and draw their own conclusions.

What's Right?
Unclear portrayals of archaeology and the ancient world, finding whole artifacts.
What's Wrong?
Brings archaeolgoy to the mainstream.
Grade: C