Identity Theft

For this post I have chosen an identity theft commercial by CitiBank. This credit card company ran a series of commercial like this one playing on funny voice-overs while filming the everyday victims to reflect the ever increasing problem of identity theft. In most of the commercials it shows an average person performing average routines, sitting on the couch watching television, mowing the lawn, getting your nails done, etc. This commercial in particular captures a fairly simple seeming man sitting on the sofa in his living room, watching television. I find this commercial out of their series to be particularly interesting because of the setting for the commercial.





As you can see, it is set in the man’s living room, which I think by most people’s standard you could say is fairly outdated with the wood paneled walls, the really old television (on the floor mind you) plastic over the chair he is sitting in and simple looking table stands, curtains and rug. Within the picture you see the actual guy who, without being overly critical, seems a little pathetic, eating his sandwich on a paper plate with a beer, and not just any beer but a beer in a koozie which is especially funny to me because it isn’t something I have experienced most people utilizing in the comforts of their own home… maybe outside on the beach during a hot day or something of that sort. Overall the scene tells the viewer that this guy probably doesn’t have a lot of money and doesn’t seem to care too much about appearances, which makes what is being said in the voice-over all the more effective in portraying him as a victim.
Onto the actual voice-over that is portrays a girl who in a very dense, snotty, “valley girlish” kind of way. Right away as the commercial begins you see the man is looking at the camera and talking but instead of the voice being a man’s it is that of the girl, talking about how she first emptied the checking account, then hit the mall and found a leather boostiea and “oh my gosh” she just had to have it! She then goes on to talk about how it was $1500.00 but she didn’t care because she wasn’t paying for it. The irony of how different this girl must be, shopping at the mall for a “sexy little outfit” and the plain guy sitting in his home watching television in sweatpants and drinking a beer really drives home how bad this guy has it. The other part to note is that this is also done in a very funny way. The advertisers were able to use a little comic relief to portray a very real scenario that can ruin a person’s life in a light way that allows the viewer to bounce back to accept the simple solution that CitiBank is offering. I really love the guy’s facial expressions throughout because they just don’t fit with the voice that is being heard, but the actions and mannerisms are right on, at the very end he is laughing with the voice then abruptly turns into a very dead, dull stare that it no longer amused in the least bit. But then in comes our hero…
The happy, upbeat music comes as well as the soothing, neutral female voice (not annoying as the previous) that introduces Citi Identity Theft Solutions! The visual is also quickly changed to that of the Citi card and the spokeswoman goes into how the solutions are free with any card and implies that the way to get your life back is by using Citi Card. In this commercial there really is not an example of someone using their card and thereby being the “hero” of the mythical ad, they are changing it a little bit and saying if you had our card, then you would be just fine. In the end though it really does feel like if you have the Citi card, life will be happy again, it is a very happy positive ending to a very unpleasant situation that anyone who has a credit card which is the majority of the people in the U.S. is at risk to.