Sample Deconstruction
by Jessica Lopez, NMMLP

MasterCard "Letting Go"

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			This media example is one of many on NMMLP's new DVD-ROM Challenging the Debt Industry Shipping November 2006 more info
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1.  Who created this media message?  Why?

MasterCard paid for the ad to persuade viewers to use their credit card.  The more customers MasterCard has, the more they increase their profits with the fees and interest they charge cardholders. 

 2.  Who is the target audience?  What text, images or sounds suggest this?  

Mothers and fathers, specifically parents of children who are in college or who are about to leave for college and are sad, nervous and proud about their child leaving.  Also, middle to upper-class white families. 

This commercial shows primarily white fathers and mothers with their sons and daughters of different ages.  One father and mother wave from their car as their son walks onto a college campus.  The narrator in the commercial lists what different classes cost for children and teens.  Then, the narrator says “Being able to let go: priceless” and “There are some things money can’t buy.  For parents everywhere, there’s MasterCard.” 

4.  What is the text (literal meaning) of the message?

The narrator states that swim class is $60, hockey camp is $340, driving lessons are $250 and being able to let go is priceless.  We see a woman underwater in a pool with a child and the MasterCard logo in the corner of the screen.  Another woman is watching kids play hockey and slam into each other. A teenage girl backs out of a driveway and hits a trash can while a man watches from the driveway holding a dog.  In the final scene, a man and a woman wave goodbye from their car to a young man who smiles and walks onto a school campus with a welcome sign in the background.  After the narrator in the commercial says “For parents everywhere, there’s MasterCard”, we see the MasterCard logo, website and red and yellow balloons rise above the logo. 

5.  What is the subtext (unstated or hidden message)?

There are many messages being sent in this ad.  Teenage girls are bad drivers.  Kids are reckless.  Children are equivalent to spending money.  Good parents pay other people to teach their children.  MasterCard will help parents pay for classes and camps for your child to attend. MasterCard can even help pay college tuition and fees.  MasterCard understands that children are expensive.  MasterCard can relieve parents of all their financial troubles and make their life happy and fulfilled. 

6.  What kind of lifestyle is presented?  Is it glamorized?  How?

We see a happy, active, suburban family life.  The lifestyle is glamorized, but in a normalized way, as if this is “real life,” which is full of beautiful, little disasters.  These are “typical” families growing together in their middle to upper-middle class, white world.  The narrator addresses parents saying “For parents everywhere there’s MasterCard.”  The montage of different families in different stages of their lives is meant to represent the whole population of “parents everywhere.”  The commercial ends with proud parents saying goodbye and happy music playing for a job well done.

7.  What values are expressed?

Traditional family values are expressed, where family life consists of a white man, woman and child.   Credit is used and money is spent in order for children to learn skills and have fun.  Educational values, where going to college is a sign of success and the end of a childhood.  Also, MasterCard understands your family and the “growing pains” involved in seeing your children leave home.

8.  What tools or techniques of persuasion are being used?

-Plain folks—The commercial features families that are not famous celebrities.

-The Big Lie—Having a credit card will allow you to afford anything for your children and curb your worry, but in reality with credit cards come interest rates, fees, bills and often debt.

-Flattery—MasterCard is congratulating parents because they have gone through a lot and MasterCard knows it is hard to say goodbye.

-Repetition—The priceless campaign by MasterCard is a form of repetition.  In every commercial the same narrator puts prices on items or services and then assigns a value of “priceless” to something at the end of the commercial.

-Diversion & Simple Solutions—MasterCard claims to solve the problem of all the expenses parents have to deal with, but credit is not free money.  The music at the end and the parents waving goodbye to their son is an emotional non sequitur thrown in to overpower the reality of what credit is. 

-Nostalgia—Different stages of children’s lives are cast in a positive light, even in the moments where mistakes happen.

-Warm & Fuzzy—A baby swims underwater and two parents “let go” of their son as he passes into the adult world.  Don’t you feel it inside?

9.  What healthy messages are communicated? What unhealthy messages are communicated?

A healthy message in this commercial shows families who get along and support each other. An unhealthy message expressed is that credit can be used to pay for everything and can solve all your problems. 

10.  What part of the story is not being told?

Credit card debt and bankruptcy in the United States are rising.  Average credit card debt among people who have at least one card is $9,205 -- triple what it was in 1990, according to bankrate.com.   Cardholding families reporting debt by race/ethnicity in 2001: White families 51%, Black families 84% and for Hispanic families 75% (study by Dēmos.)  Credit card companies raise interest rates and charge fees if your payment is late or if they find out you were late on some other bill, such as an electric bill (PBS Frontline’s Secret History of the Credit Card.)  The average undergraduate finishes school with $18,900 in debt.  This includes student loans and credit card debt (Nellie Mae 2/6/03).  Debt can lead to a number of other problems, including depression and suicide.  This is just part of the untold story.    

More info on Challenging the Debt Industry (DVD-ROM)

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