E-Trade commercials

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dShz0oNQyYc

I have been following the set of E-Trade commercials for a long time on television because I find them entertaining and informative. They have now started showing up in online commercials. They have gained popularity because they are unique; the commercials star a baby who talks in an adult voice to a webcam about his life and using E-Trade for financial and investment purposes. There have been about ten different E-Trade commercials starring the same baby since 2007. Manolo Gonzalez is the star in these commercials, and now he is going into first grade. E-Trade has now run out of footage, so reportedly a different baby with the same voice (that of comedian Pete Holmes) is set to debut at the 2013 Superbowl. 

My first thought when I saw these commercials was that E-Trade was going for the same idea Geico Insurance was with there cavemen commercials--it's so easy a baby can do it! But after watching multiple videos, another theme popped up.  E-Trade is also trying to promote starting your financial portfolio early, but probably not when you are a young baby. E-Trade is trying to promote life-long membership with their ads, with their target audience being adults in their twenties and thirties who can use their service for many years to come. As another way to draw in these consumers, the advertisers played up not just one, but many aspects of the growing company such as mobile phone apps and retirement plans which can appeal to a variety of people. I give the advertisers a thumbs-up because these commercials grab the attention of the audience and also effectively give them information or a place where they can obtain more information about their product.