US Open Series Sells the Road Trip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRG52oCYVsg

This video was one of the commercials for the US Open Series, a series of professional tennis tournaments played every summer. In this case, the concept of a road trip was used to appeal to its American audience as a marketing strategy. Certain elements of the commercial embody the ways in which society often views road travel. In almost every shot, there are scenes of trees and nature in the background. This reflects how Americans often see road trips as a chance to see the beautiful American countryside, a change of pace from the chaos of city living. In reality, most of the tournaments are actually played in major cities such as Los Angeles and Washington DC, but if they showed images of these cities in the background, the series of tournaments would suddenly seem less intriguing. Another notable moment in the video is way in which Venus Williams says,”road trip”! Her tone and gestures communicate a common idea of the road trip as the most exciting way to get somewhere. It would be hard to picture her or anyone else say the words “plane flight”! or “train ride”! With the same level of enthusiasm. Thus, our society views road trips as a time for recreation and adventure with good company rather than a tiresome journey. What is interesting about this whole commercial is that it totally misrepresents how most of the players actually get from tournament to tournament, (some probably have their own private jet) but the fact that they are portrayed as on the road and having a good time together makes the US Open series all the more interesting to the American audience.