In 2019, the radio ad linked above, by Motel 6 and The Richards Group, won the Best Radio Commercial at the Radio Mercury Awards.
Tom Bodett, a well-known NPR radio correspondent, comes on the mic and introduces himself in a slightly affected tone that demonstrates the linguistic principle of “Vocal Fry”. “Vocal fry, or glottalization, is a low, staccato vibration during speech, produced by a slow fluttering of the vocal cords” (Fessenden, 2011).
In popular culture, vocal fry has become more prevalent in the speech of primarily young adult women speaking American English. The linguistic change has reached the general public through celebrities like Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, and others. In this advertisement, Motel 6 and Tom Bodett use a humorous, satirical technique to evoke an emotional response in listeners. The ad reads, “Apparently, it’s super cool to use this voice when you’re trying to be super serious. So I just want to stress how at Motel 6 you can get a great room for a great low price –” and then he coughs and says, “How do they keep this up? I feel like I have mono.” The script and ad read as humorous, entertaining plays on popular culture.
The objective of the ad campaign was to grab listeners’ attention with an entertaining, satirical situation to build brand awareness. The listener is captivated by Tom Bodett’s unique pronunciation and speech patterns, and they hear that Motel 6 offers great rooms at great low rates. There’s not a call to action for the listener, but the listener is rewarded for listening to the entire ad with an additional “punchline” spoken as the last line. Motel 6’s motto is, “We’ll leave the light on for you.” In this ad, the final line is, “We’ll leave the lozenge on for you,” with a pause, and then, “I mean the light.” An amusing play on the vocal fry phenomenon and a popular culture topic.
The target market for this ad is travelers and out-of-towners looking for a place to stay, with a budgeting/economy mindset. The humor the ad portrays, I feel, is playfully making fun of a younger generation in the United States and may connect with the emotional declinism that many people in older generations experience. The feeling that “things were better in my day,” or the ability they have to take cynical pleasure or amusement in making gentle fun of the younger generations. For those reasons, I think the ad is aimed at an older generation of travelers or out-of-towners. Possibly in the age range of 40 to 60.
The action the ad wants the audience to take is to keep Motel 6 in mind if they have travel coming up, and to book with Motel 6 if they do. Through booking with Motel 6, consumers will be able to get a “great room at a great low rate.”
Resources:
Fessenden, M. (2011, December 9). ‘Vocal fry’ creeping into U.S. speech. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/vocal-fry-creeping-us-speech
Will Gillingham 