There may be as many reasons to not go to college as there are to go. In this 2016 commercial from San Joaquin Valley College, a jug of laundry detergent tries to convey a serious message to a potential future student. Would you be persuaded? Have a look and decide.
Read it here: San Joaquin Valley College, “Talking laundry detergent”
- The purpose of San Joaquin Valley College’s commercial is clearly to promote the school’s educational offerings. Who is the intended audience of the commercial? How do you know? Be as specific as possible. In your response, consider the setting, the dialogue, the characteristics of the talking detergent and the laundromat customer, the message of the commercial, and any other relevant features you notice.
- San Joaquin Valley College has several campuses, all in California. Why does the detergent speak with a Southern accent? What might be the function of such an accent? Is it effective? Why or why not? How would the commercial be different if the detergent spoke with a recognizable Californian accent? With a British accent? With no discernible regional speech features? Which way would the commercial be most effective? Why do you think so? Explain your reasoning.
- Near the end of the commercial, the detergent comments on the woman’s body in a way that alludes to her physical and/or sexual attractiveness. Why might SJVC have used that bit of dialogue? Is it effective? Why or why not? How might you interpret that same exchange if the woman were interacting directly with another person instead of a jug of laundry detergent? Would it be more appropriate? Less appropriate? What if the detergent had a man’s voice? A robotic non-human voice? A gender-ambiguous voice? Think about how each of these variables contributes to your assessment of appropriateness.
- Early in the commercial, the detergent asks, “What are you afraid of?” In response, the woman simply shrugs and says she doesn’t have the time. How reasonable is the detergent’s question? Is there anything to be afraid of in going back to school? What advice would you give to someone you know who might like to enroll but is hesitant—maybe even afraid—to do so? Would you be encouraging? Why or why not?
- San Joaquin Valley College grants associate degrees and professional certifications in a variety of fields; it does not, however, grant B.A. or B.S. degrees. Should it still be able to call itself a college? What, really, does “college” mean? The kinds of career preparation that SJVC and similar schools offer are quite important; should there be a separate designation for such schools in order to emphasize their vital role? Might the word “college” in the name confuse potential students or the public? Or is the name “college” perfectly appropriate for any post-secondary institution? What do you think? Write an essay in which you address these questions. For your They Say, you may want to review one or two of the essays in Chapter 16 of your text.
They Say I Blog 
I think that the intended audience is people who graduated and did not go to college. I say this because its an older lady in a laundry mat instead of having her own washer and dryer in her house. That is a big message to me.
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As for a definition of College:
College: an educational institution or establishment, in particular.
As long as your credits of learning can be transferred over to other colleges or universities, if you decide to further your education, why would it matter where you get you education from and why wouldn’t it be a college? They may not offer the degrees that other colleges offer but isn’t the point to get an education, any education? Some education is better than no education as I see it.
The commercial isn’t extremely sexual, at least that I can see. A bottle of laundry detergent is talking a girl into going back to school and getting her education. She is hesitant because she doesn’t have time, so she says. The detergent could be anything, a washing machine, a dryer, a trash can, or the table she is folding clothes on. It doesn’t matter what or who is talking and if a bottle of detergent can convince someone that going SJVC, or any other college, to take classes night or day then who has a negative word about? I can’t say I see anything disagreeable with the commercial. Corny, yes . . .a bad commercial, no.
The commercial makes it’s point and that it what it was intended to do.
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This commercial seems to focus on people who feel they have left something unfinished. In this case, this would pertain to people who never completed their college education. The setting and dialogue are major indicators of this notion. Set in a mundane laundromat, viewers get the idea that the woman present is just getting by. Also, the narrator explicitly encourages people to finish their degrees. These two aspects prove that the commercial is specifically aimed at those with incomplete college experiences.
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The intended audience of this commercial is obviously working or busy adults who otherwise might think they would not have the time or ability go to back to school due to their schedule. This is shown by the dialogue between the woman and the laundry detergent (Never thought I would type that phrase) and the detergent convincing her that she is able to fit the school into her busy schedule. This message could also be directed at “poorer” individuals, because it takes place in a laundromat, and typically wealthier people are able to afford their own washer and dryer.
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I think that the detergent commercial is symbalizing that the girl doesnt have anything in life, like she may work at a low income job and doesnt see herself going to college. the fact that shes placed in a laundromat might symbalize that she is too busy in her own life to focus on college. the commercial should have been in maybe a different enviorment or swetup in a different way that way others would be able to understand it better. the laundromat can symbalize that she isnt financialy stable and that she is struggling. but by going to college maybe she will be able to have the proper job and the right amount of money to be able to afford her own washer and dryer.
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The video shows a young woman inside of a laundromat sorting through her clothes. By her response to the talking detergent, She appears to already have many responsibilities that take up much of her time. However, after hearing the convenient options of going back to school and the flexibility the college offered to their students she ultimately felt as though attending school would be something she could consider doing.The flattery given at the end of the video didn’t hurt either. Humans are often moved to do something when they have been complimented in an area.
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I believe the purpose of this commercial was to prove that just because you did not go right after High School, you can still get a college education. The detergent speaking in a southern accent represented that SJVC is not the only option for going back to school. The detergents question “what are you afraid of” is important because numerous people are afraid of going back to school.
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San Joaquin Valley College’s commercial, “Talking laundry detergent,” implicitly argues that college education is fundamental for a student’s prosperous future. However, formal higher education is not vital for the success that many students aspire to accomplish in their future careers. This is because not every profession requires a degree for the actual skills and knowledge that their field of labor require; someone who ventures into the family business will eventually run it in the way their family has managed it from one generation to another, and the only way he or she will learn how to do so is by plunging into the job and gaining field experience rather than sitting in a classroom and taking mandatory, yet useless, courses that will only result in a waste of time. According to scholar Gerald Graff, he argues in his essay, “Hidden Intellectualism,” that students “would be more prone to take on intellectual identities if [professors] encouraged them to do so at first on subjects that interest them rather than ones that interest [professors].” By this he means that students are more likely to flourish in environments that are appealing to their personal interests rather than being forced to memorize and regurgitate material that may not be essential, or even useful, for their line of work. The mainstream idea that students must have a college degree in order to be successful in life is the sole reason why students keep failing and falling behind in school while following an empty dream that does not promise to pay back for their efforts in the attempt to get a college degree. Students who are hesitant and uncertain to continue their higher education ought to make a critical decision and opt the route that best fits their personal needs and goals in order to achieve, indeed, personal success.
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