Who is the audience?

My friend Richard recently posted this on his Facebook page with a link to the You Tube video of a Snickers commercial: I'm a twix man myself, but full marks to the creative team behind this one. However, watching it again, I'm not entirely sure who the target demographic is. Is it college aged men (who likely have no idea who Aretha and Liza are), or is it boomers (who know who the Divas are and are nolstalgic for their carefree road trip undergraduate years note that the car is a late '80s era Volvo)... or is it Gen Xers like me who fall in between, repost the ad, ponder its significance online and... oh shit the bastards nailed me again!!! Just when I thought I was impervious to even their best efforts, those sneaky marketers co-opt me again and make me an accomplice.

So, who exactly is the audience? And, is it the pinnacle of marketing when people tweet, retweet, blog and otherwise post about your commercial or product? Not if the reason people are talking about it because they have no idea who it is for. If the intention of the marketers was to throw in so many different cultural references that people talk about it because they are confused, the exercise has failed. Do we relate to the references? Does the commercial inspire us to buy the product or interact with the brand?

I'm one of those people who "isn't myself when I'm hungry" - I get it. But the next time I'm bordering on a diva moment because of hunger, am I going to reach for a Snickers? Not likely.