The choice of the power relationship for the commercial

The choice of the power relationship for the commercial

The choice of the power relationship for the commercial is an interesting one. I believe the ad agency chose it to reach a specific group of customers- the young generation. The way a young man addresses his future father-in-law differs greatly among different cultures (Ogbu, 2014). For instance, in the Indian culture, referring to an elderly person by their first name is considered disrespectful. However, in American pop culture, this ad will most likely appeal to generations Y and Z as they consider it entertaining and comical. The ad agency chose this since the majority of telephone users are the young people and targeting them implies more customers.

I can relate to this commercial since in my family, referring to elders with their first name is considered just okay. However, there are instances where you feel that you need to refer to a senior person respectfully by using titles like sir or madam. At work, the culture allows us to refer to our seniors by their first names. Recently, a new supervisor was introduced to us and the thought of conflicting cultures made me refer to him with the title Sir since I did not want to cause any conflict. However, he quickly told me to refer to him by his first name as it makes the environment friendly. All my co-workers are receptive to the norm.

Reference

Ogbu, J. U. (2014). From cultural differences to differences in cultural frame of reference. Cross-Cultural Roots of Minority Child Development, 363-389. doi:10.4324/9781315746555-22