Ed Sheeran Heinz Ketchup Super Bowl Commercial Analysis
While putting this video analysis together, I focused on creating a balance between the academic and playful tone of the Heinz ad itself. Storyboarding helped me structure the video so that viewers would understand the ad first, and then hear the argument with the scenes fresh in their minds. I chose to use Raymond Williams’ concept of “flow” because it directly connects to the way this ad feels less like a commercial and more like a personal Ed Sheeran story. His argument that television blurs boundaries between programming and advertising helped me understand why the ad feels so natural and effortless.
In my script, I tried to keep my tone conversational because the ad itself relies heavily on a casual, friendly style. I wanted my analysis to reflect the ad’s accessibility while still grounding the commentary in a scholarly perspective. The most important decision I made was aligning the structure of my analysis with the rhythm of the commercial. I didn’t want to over-explain or interrupt too often, so I let the ad run through once before breaking it down. This echoed Williams’ idea that we experience media as a continuous flow, and it helped the analysis feel fluid rather than segmented. This process made me more aware of how commercials construct personality and how “authenticity” becomes a branding tool in contemporary media.
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