The Cadillac ELR and Fairclough's Model

The most recent Cadillac ELR commercial was not just a comparison of American success and this particular Cadillac car. It was a careful construction and tailoring of a convincing man, a mansion setting, and powerful writing in conjunction with a track in the background that highlighted certain parts of the powerful speech. Using the first part of Fairclough's model to analyze this commercial, there were several instances where micro-texts were used. For example, the man in the commercial named several American stars like the Wright Brothers and Bill Gates which have immense underlying meaning, such as that the word Cadillac is synonymous with fame, American pride, and success. Also, the parts of the commercial in which the man would repeat words or pause to put empahsis on them - these words including "off" when comparing European and American work ethic and "bored" when discussing American successes such as landing on the moon - also have deeper meaning in that they imply that Americans work the hardest and this hard work can be rewarded with the Cadillac ELR. Additionally, the French phrase "N'cest-ce pas" the man said at the end of the commercial with a wink and a smirk also is also much larger than it appears to be in that it brings irony to the table since earlier in the commerical, the man was criticizing Eurpoeans and now he is using a European phrase to ask viewers, "Isn't that right?" that American hard work overrides extra European vacation time. The second part of Fairclough's model regarding discourse practices can be used as well to analyze this ad. The idea that this commercial tries to express is that hard work can be rewarded with things like the Cadillac ELR. This idea is expressed through the use of scenery (ex. the man works hard and rewards himself with a large house, fancy suit, large swimming pool, and, in the climax of the commercial, the Cadillac ELR), the background music (ex. the track stops at certain points to highlight and put emphasis on the most important things the man says), and the man's speech (ex. he discusses all the successes of Americans and the things that Americans have attained that Europeans have not to draw parallels between patriotism and the Cadillac ELR). Lastly, the third part of Fairclough's model that involves the analysis of social practies can be used to analyze this commercial. The practice common in all societies throughout the world is having an obligation or job that allows a person to obtain money and thus goods. This social practice is analyzed in this commercial in that it discusses the differences between the level of work that varies between European countries and America and the way that the amount of work a person does corresponds directly with the level of success and amount of money. This social practice is used to express the idea that the work that Americans excel at (as opposed to other countries who are lazier) can be rewarded by the Cadillac ELR, and this Cadillac ELR can also act as a symbol that represents one's hard work.