Analysis of Thorpe Park Fright Night radio advert

I started looking at radio adverts before analysing sponsorship adverts. I have decided that I do not think my understanding is advanced enough to be able to understand the codes and conventions of radio adverts. Therefore, I have decided to analyse more radio adverts so that I can broaden my understanding of adverts.

The first advert I am going to analyse is Thorpe park fright night. I have decided to analyse this advert as it is a type of event and as I am doing an advert based on an events service therefore it would be helpful to see how Thorpe Park advertises their event. The advert begins with non diagetic sound of a faint bang noise coming in, signifying danger which links into 'fright nights' at Thorpe Park. A female speaker, who sounds very scared quotes; "last night I went out with some friends, last night we went to Thorpe park, last night was a fright night, last night we braved rides in the dark, last night we faced judgement in the passing" - In between every time the speaker says 'last' a church bell or a bang would come in, signifying death, which is relevant to the topic of Thorpe Park as they want the audience to be scared and thrilled. The repetition of 'last night' illustrates how much the women was affected by it and additionally, it makes the advert more memorable as their is repetition. The fact that the speaker is female is significant as females stereotypically sound more vulnerable and weak which makes the audience believe that Thorpe Park fright night really did affect her. Moreover, a male speaker comes in, however, the voice is edited to make it seem scary and unusual. The dialogue he states is; "Fright nights at Thorpe Park, now including our newest horror maze, the passing - Making it our most intense experience ever. Book in advance and save 40% at ThorpePark.com - terms and conditions apply" - the comment on the new horror maze will consequently interest the audience, luring them into the idea of how Thorpe Park fright night this year will be extra thrilling. However, the speaker then goes onto stating details about how to save money which will also engage the audience as he is talking about how to save money. The sound effects in the background are scary which helps the theme of horror run throughout the advert even when the male speaker talks about prices. Moreover, the tone of the music gets very high and then the female speaker comes in and states "Last night, we died" - implying to the audience that Thorpe Park fright night is dangerous and thrilling, luring the audience into suspense.

Therefore, I think the Thorpe Park radio advert has been successful in engaging with their target audience - the use of the horror sound effects reinforced the theme of fright night throughout.