Netflix is known for original movies, shows, and documentaries that can compete with top-tier television channels like HBO and Starz. But to have one hundred ninety-five million subscribers, the largest paid subscription streaming audience in the world, the ads have to be just as captivating. This is why I have chosen to analyze Netflix's new interactive Home of True Crime ad in this purpose analysis text where we will dive into the creators' strategic advertising to captivate international eyes.
Let's start out by saying that from the start of the advertisement, we catch a cross of an appeal to pathos, the philosophical idea that a writer plays to the audience's emotions. The opening immediately strikes you as an old mystery, you know: where the red room has a fireplace going and an armchair where you may be expecting a man in a robe with a slicked-back hairdo and tobacco pipe sitting cross-legged and eager to introduce you to the theme behind this week's mystery. As most people who enjoy crime and mystery would agree this immediately appeals to pathos because of the feelings of nostalgia and excitement wondering what is about to unravel in front of you. Also, it leads you to begin to infer if this is in fact an interactive experience as Netflix has chosen to take a wildly popular concept of interactive TV and weave it into some of the platform's greatest hits. From seconds in you are curious about what is coming next and hungry for more.
The next strategy that Netflix uses is the interactive experience it has twisted into the advertisement. This keeps the audience engaged and feeling as if they are a part of the mysteries by becoming the detectives and tapping on clues. The advertisement itself is a mystery leaving the audience wondering if the shows coming out will be interactive like the ad or if it was just a way to engage the audience. Either way, it worked and the comments section under the viral Facebook post agree globally that we true crime fans are hungry for more. The interactive experience can also be considered a strategy of logos, another philosophical idea that the writer organizes their work in a particular manner for the sake of the audience that it is being viewed with. The interactions organize the ad by prompting you to choose clues specific to the show or movie they are teasing you about. Each key point highlights a defining characteristic or piece of fact or evidence to provide insight into the topic of the new documentary.
Lastly, our final idea of ethos comes into play as Netflix uses its world-renowned popularity to try to convince you that it is the Home of True Crime. By rebooting already popular series like Tiger King, and offering new cases surrounding already hot topics like cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, Netflix relies on its title as having some of the best original true crime series featuring controversial cases and eye witness accounts as its true driving force behind what makes these new drops special enough to be itching to tune in.
Overall, I think I speak for the vast majority of true crime fans and Netflix stans alike when I say that this advertisement left us reeling with questions and yearning for the next taste of what's to come. A ten second interactive Facebook ad has shaped entire subreddit groups dedicated to deciphering the ad and covering cases of the crimes teased in the trailer with cries for returns of crowd favorites or new content similar to cases that they fell in love with. I think it's pretty safe to say Netflix is the Home of True Crime, but only if you dare.
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