I did my research primarily on Youtube. I created a playlist made up of 37 adverts to aid my analysis, many of these are food delivery service adverts. Firstly, I looked at a variety of food delivery adverts in order to understand what was conventional when advertising food delivery. The adverts I looked at were:
- Deliveroo | Eat more amazing
- The New UberEats is here
- Magic is Real | Just Eat
- It's your time for Takeaway.com
- DoorDash: "Get the Door"
- Manband | Just Eat
- Grubhub | Everywhere
- Grubhub | Behind Every Order
From these adverts I determined what was conventional between them. Most of them:
'It's your time for Takeaway.com' uses a variety of locations such as in the home, at work (and even in the bathtub) to convey the fact that takeaway is a part of normal, 'everyday' culture. It shows that the brand is universal in the sense that there are so many opportunities to have a takeaway, whether that is alone or with friends. The advert also draws upon the common conventions of food delivery adverts, such as including some form of way to order from the service; in this case it's the website URL in the corner for the entirety of the advert. It also features a delivery person representing the service, working as a way of displaying the company as personal and devoted to delivering the best food. These conventions link quite strongly with the branding and product placement. The product (the variety of colourful take-away foods) is accompanied with by the brand logos on the boxes (for example). This is also used to reinforce the message that Takeaway.com delivers the best food from the best restaurants where you live. The advert is in a montage style as is edited intentionally to feel fast-paced, possibly to show the spontaneity of the service. There are mostly mid-shots and close-ups in the advert; mid-shots to capture the interaction between groups when consuming the food and close-ups of the product(s) itself. The advert is also edited with on-screen text such as 'Your Time' and 'On Time'. These are used to promote the fast and flexible nature of Takeaway.com as a company. However, the advert is rather skewed when it comes to representation, as it only represents nuclear families and heterosexual relationships. The advert creates a 'feel good' tone, showing the 'joy' or pleasures of takeaway in any situation. This fits with the mostly non-diagetic sound-mix consisting mostly of the positive, upbeat soundtrack, anchoring the positivity behind the service.
The advert opens with a montage of establishing shots alongside on-screen text stating that Uber Eats is in 'Manchester' now. This is a method of portraying the conventional element of regionality that the company uses to sell food. The delivery shot is also conventional as well as showing the app being used to browse and select what they want to order. Unlike other food delivery adverts, it takes technology to another level by incorporating the use of social media, making it relatable to the younger target audience who use services such as Instagram. The advert is strong on promoting the variety within Manchester and on the Uber Eats app. It features the dishes from restaurants such as Barburrito, Northern Soul and Archie's. Uber Eats also promote themselves in the advert which is displayed on their packaging and uniform, to reiterate that Uber Eats is the company that delivers the amazing foods from the restaurants shown throughout the advert. With the variety of restaurants, it creates a strong representation of the many ethnic groups displayed in the advert such as Mexicans. This also creates a strong representation for Manchester, as it appears as multicultural, which Uber Eats has 'facilitated'. The advert is quite intertextual to film trailers, in the sense that it acts as a trailer for Manchester and and what it has to offer. This can arguably be considered to have genre hybridity with the tourist genre of advertising.
The Grubhub advert is set in a variety of locations (a restaurant, a local neighbourhood, doors of houses, etc.); therefore it is edited in a montage style to capture the variety of people and personalities which the delivery person encounters. People of varying ethnicities, genders and age groups all feature in the montage, indicating that Grubhub has a mass market appeal, in the sense that they reach out to anybody that wish to purchase food from their favourite restaurants. This message is reinforced with the title 'Everywhere' (which is also anchored in the on-screen text towards the end) which shows that Grubhub is willing to serve customers literally everywhere who want to order food through them. The theme of variety is also portrayed with the lighting; low-key, darker lighting for the restaurant and crossroad scene and ambient lighting when in the neighbourhood. The advert is accompanied with an upbeat soundtrack of upbeat non-diagetic music and diagetic sound effects which relate to the overall theme, such as the doorbells ringing. Only these feature as it relates it and anchors the advert back to the delivery process and service which is being advertised.
Deliveroo: Eat more amazing:
'Deliveroo: Eat more amazing' draws on the conventions of take-away food delivery advertising, while simultaneously subverting the genre by emphasising the presence of food using hyper-realism. Like most adverts in the genre, the advert displays the food which has been delivered and the restaurants which are available for delivery, such as Wagamama, Yo Sushi! and Zizzi. Branding for Deliveroo is also spread out through the advert; it can be seen on billboards, street art and the bus stop poster. The branding is also found at the end, similarly to most adverts in the genre, with the various restaurants, available app stores for downloading the app and the brand name with the logo. The advert steps away from the conventional techniques by using the hyper-real floating food to imitate or represent the delivery service, implying that the service is almost 'larger than life'. This message is reinforced with the use of the song 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' (1958) by the Everly Brothers, as it shows how hyperbolic the world can be. Unlike the majority of the adverts that use close ups for the food, long-shots are used mostly and even a point-of-view shot is used to capture the absurdity of floating food. This all relates back to the idea that Deliveroo is a unique brand which differentiates itself from its various competitors.
From researching TV commercials from the take-away food delivery genre, I have learnt not only what the conventions are, but how they are used and subverted by the companies in the food delivery industry to create fun and purposeful adverts that make people deliver from the service. From this research, I now know what conventions I will be required to draw on and I have an idea for what it is I can do to deviate from the standard take-away food delivery advert to make my advert unique.
- feature some reference to an app or digital technology to order the food (eg. DoorDash "Get the Door" and Magic is Real).
- feature food that is received by the customer, whether it is packaged or being actively consumed by the customer (eg. Grubhub | Behind Every Order and It's your time for Takeaway.com).
- have consistent branding throughout advert, for example, the logo features on delivery bikes, shop windows or bags. The branding may be of the companies who are subscribed to the service (eg. Magic is Real).
- feature a delivery person representing the company and delivering food. The chef or the restaurant of origin may also feature in the advert if necessary (eg. It's your time for Takeaway.com).
- usually contain some element of humour, to keep the brand fun and make the advert interesting to watch.
After this, I thought it would be necessary to do some more focused research on individual food delivery adverts and how they conveyed their service in different areas:
It's your time for Takeaway.com:
'It's your time for Takeaway.com' uses a variety of locations such as in the home, at work (and even in the bathtub) to convey the fact that takeaway is a part of normal, 'everyday' culture. It shows that the brand is universal in the sense that there are so many opportunities to have a takeaway, whether that is alone or with friends. The advert also draws upon the common conventions of food delivery adverts, such as including some form of way to order from the service; in this case it's the website URL in the corner for the entirety of the advert. It also features a delivery person representing the service, working as a way of displaying the company as personal and devoted to delivering the best food. These conventions link quite strongly with the branding and product placement. The product (the variety of colourful take-away foods) is accompanied with by the brand logos on the boxes (for example). This is also used to reinforce the message that Takeaway.com delivers the best food from the best restaurants where you live. The advert is in a montage style as is edited intentionally to feel fast-paced, possibly to show the spontaneity of the service. There are mostly mid-shots and close-ups in the advert; mid-shots to capture the interaction between groups when consuming the food and close-ups of the product(s) itself. The advert is also edited with on-screen text such as 'Your Time' and 'On Time'. These are used to promote the fast and flexible nature of Takeaway.com as a company. However, the advert is rather skewed when it comes to representation, as it only represents nuclear families and heterosexual relationships. The advert creates a 'feel good' tone, showing the 'joy' or pleasures of takeaway in any situation. This fits with the mostly non-diagetic sound-mix consisting mostly of the positive, upbeat soundtrack, anchoring the positivity behind the service.
The New UberEats is here:
The advert opens with a montage of establishing shots alongside on-screen text stating that Uber Eats is in 'Manchester' now. This is a method of portraying the conventional element of regionality that the company uses to sell food. The delivery shot is also conventional as well as showing the app being used to browse and select what they want to order. Unlike other food delivery adverts, it takes technology to another level by incorporating the use of social media, making it relatable to the younger target audience who use services such as Instagram. The advert is strong on promoting the variety within Manchester and on the Uber Eats app. It features the dishes from restaurants such as Barburrito, Northern Soul and Archie's. Uber Eats also promote themselves in the advert which is displayed on their packaging and uniform, to reiterate that Uber Eats is the company that delivers the amazing foods from the restaurants shown throughout the advert. With the variety of restaurants, it creates a strong representation of the many ethnic groups displayed in the advert such as Mexicans. This also creates a strong representation for Manchester, as it appears as multicultural, which Uber Eats has 'facilitated'. The advert is quite intertextual to film trailers, in the sense that it acts as a trailer for Manchester and and what it has to offer. This can arguably be considered to have genre hybridity with the tourist genre of advertising.
Grubhub | Everywhere:
The Grubhub advert is set in a variety of locations (a restaurant, a local neighbourhood, doors of houses, etc.); therefore it is edited in a montage style to capture the variety of people and personalities which the delivery person encounters. People of varying ethnicities, genders and age groups all feature in the montage, indicating that Grubhub has a mass market appeal, in the sense that they reach out to anybody that wish to purchase food from their favourite restaurants. This message is reinforced with the title 'Everywhere' (which is also anchored in the on-screen text towards the end) which shows that Grubhub is willing to serve customers literally everywhere who want to order food through them. The theme of variety is also portrayed with the lighting; low-key, darker lighting for the restaurant and crossroad scene and ambient lighting when in the neighbourhood. The advert is accompanied with an upbeat soundtrack of upbeat non-diagetic music and diagetic sound effects which relate to the overall theme, such as the doorbells ringing. Only these feature as it relates it and anchors the advert back to the delivery process and service which is being advertised.
Deliveroo: Eat more amazing:
'Deliveroo: Eat more amazing' draws on the conventions of take-away food delivery advertising, while simultaneously subverting the genre by emphasising the presence of food using hyper-realism. Like most adverts in the genre, the advert displays the food which has been delivered and the restaurants which are available for delivery, such as Wagamama, Yo Sushi! and Zizzi. Branding for Deliveroo is also spread out through the advert; it can be seen on billboards, street art and the bus stop poster. The branding is also found at the end, similarly to most adverts in the genre, with the various restaurants, available app stores for downloading the app and the brand name with the logo. The advert steps away from the conventional techniques by using the hyper-real floating food to imitate or represent the delivery service, implying that the service is almost 'larger than life'. This message is reinforced with the use of the song 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' (1958) by the Everly Brothers, as it shows how hyperbolic the world can be. Unlike the majority of the adverts that use close ups for the food, long-shots are used mostly and even a point-of-view shot is used to capture the absurdity of floating food. This all relates back to the idea that Deliveroo is a unique brand which differentiates itself from its various competitors.
From researching TV commercials from the take-away food delivery genre, I have learnt not only what the conventions are, but how they are used and subverted by the companies in the food delivery industry to create fun and purposeful adverts that make people deliver from the service. From this research, I now know what conventions I will be required to draw on and I have an idea for what it is I can do to deviate from the standard take-away food delivery advert to make my advert unique.
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