What is being sold?

Here are two of my favorite ads:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZoY5RK8PHY&feature=PlayList&p=9838A6FAE1BF7B2D&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vor65mNB8Uk

Both are done in completely different ways but both sell the product. For the japanese commercial i feel as if they aren't selling the drink as much as they sell you Ringo Starr; and the cigarette ad is almost so abstract that it stays with the consumer even though it may not correlate with the viewer.

"There is no life here except that which you give to it."

In our discussion of "animation" this week, I connected the McCloud quote above to the idea of a continuum of an active viewer/spectator/reader/gamer/participant of a text. McCloud also argues that "Icons demand our participation to make them work" (p. 59). Comment on this if your birthday falls between day 1-15 of the month, and if it is between 16-31, then write a blog entry that others can comment on.