"You can shine"

            The Pantene commercial we viewed in class is full of metaphors and symbols to get a main point across. I think the goal of the commercial was to promote Pantene as a hair product that can cause you to "shine" and fulfill your true potential. By using Pantene, you can overcome hardships in your life. The main character of the Pantene commercial is a young girl who struggles with her dreams because she is deaf. Her life is broken just like her violin. Her being deaf caused problems for her, suppressing what she was actually capable of. The people who attacked her and the old man on the street wanted to make her feel inferior because of her disability. However, she finds a way to put her life back together like the taped violin and still creates something beautiful.

Another example the commercial uses to promote success while insinuating about the hair is towards the end, when the girl is playing the taped up violin. During that sequence, a montage of her playing on stage and her looking out and playing in the field is used to emphasize the opportunity that awaits her. This is when a shot of a butterfly emerging from it's cocoon appears. The butterfly seems to have one true meaning, but it was brought to my attention that Pantene's logo used to be a butterfly, which has now just turned into half of it's logo, so it no longer looks like a butterfly so much but you can tell it's half a wing. Before realizing that, the butterfly seemed to represent the girl's new found freedom. The cocoon could be a metaphor that symbolizes the girl's strength to overcome adversity and do something that no one thought she was capable of. Also, the butterfly can represent the girl directly, saying that she, or her hair is beautiful and free just like the butterfly. She is emerging and growing into something beautiful. Interestingly enough the butterfly then flies off into the open field symbolizing a new life and new opportunities for the girl.

The street performer represented a mentor character for the young girl. He is clearly struggling and trying to make his way through life as a street performer. The story of the commercial relies on his character to provide wisdom and inspiration. The first thing that came to mind when trying to describe him was Yoda from Star Wars. His characteristics are not only similar but the way he gives advice to the deaf girl is very similar to Yoda. He inspires the girl to keep going, even when everyone else tries to make her give up. For example, when the group of boys attack them on the street, the girl then realizes that she needs to play in front of that huge audience to prove them wrong. By teaching her life lessons such as "it's okay to be different," the old man symbolizes someone that most people hope to meet at some point in their lifetime. He helps the girl "shine" to her full potential. Pantene was tricky with these carefully placed metaphors and symbols. They successfully pulled off  making a four minute long commercial that seemingly had nothing to do with their product, until the viewer looks deeper into their subliminal messages.