Advertising, print ads, commercials

[Soup]

Ever since I was a small child, I've had a fascination for the dynamics, imagery & strategies advertisements use to convince people to purchase their products.

What I see as a popular ad trend these days is to sell a lifestyle more than a product. Also, ads often use children to sell products to adults (like cars). The way ads use language to mislead is something I always notice. There's an ad for a silly metal bracelet that claims to 'support well-being & feelings of wellness' now....what the heck does that even mean?

Are there any other ad obsessed people here?

 

[Bay]

Well, not obsessed, but I do think that they are an interesting reflection of culture and society. Hardly an accurate reflection, but they do reflect all sorts of norms and expectations to us.

 

[Cerulean]

I am to an extent. I'm also fairly good with photoshop so when I find obvious clone stamping or waistline trimming I tear them out of the magazine and keep them for no other purpose than my own entertainment

For some reason a lot of radio commercials make me cry. It's always baffled me, maybe something about the fake cheery emotion in their voice. Drives me nuts though.

 

[King_Oni]

As a kid I liked commercials on tv, both for kids toys as well as the more adult things like perfume or cars.

I don't really see them as a way to sell things, I rather see them as short movies revolving around an object. I can't recall that I actually got motivated to buy product X just by seeing it on advertisment. I just see those videos as information for what's in store, but never as the "I have to buy this now".

With that, I like design and all, so print ads, especially print ads, are a good way for me to learn more skills in graphic design by looking how image X is done. As commercials... I'm quite sure that if I were to be into video editing and animation I'd get more out of commercials on tv.

But like I said, the entire concept of sales is rather foreign to me. Maybe it's more because I know what I want, when I see it in a store and all. I have to try things myself. Presentation is only half of it and as such the "lie" they sell you isn't that effective on me I think.

 

[Soup]

Same here, King_Oni. I've never had that 'GOTTAHAVEIOTNOWWW!!!!' mania that advertisers strive to inspire & I've never picked up the phone & bought something because a voice over in an ad implored me to CALL NOWWWW! I'm not Pizza Hut: I don't take orders.

What gets me is the way advertisers are so good at picking up on the social trends affecting their target demographic & use those to create a 'mood', attitude & lifestyle to go with their products. Ads originating in Canada are distinctly different to those originating in the USA & I can tell them apart within seconds: often before the actors in them speak. There tends to be more noise, brighter & more colours & a lot of flash-bang excitement in American ads & the actors frequently yell. These ads are created with the yelling as an integral part of the add such as the actor having to yell over background noise. Canadian ads seldom feature people who shout.

Another feature of American ads that have couples in them is that when the male is speaking. the woman is looking up at him, smiling & nodding. This non-verbal grinning/nodding trend is something my daughter finds objectionable. Sometimes, all the guy is saying is that he likes this or that brand of pain reliever. Really? Who is the women in which such a banality inspires rapt fascination?

Some of the best ads coming from Quebec are the French ones that showcase a really silly hilarious sense of humour. If I run into a good one on You Tube, I'll link it here.

 

[King_Oni]

With all the screaming ads and all it makes me wonder if they should actually make aspie-friendly ads. You know... less hyper, more toned down and full of specs of said product, lol

 

[Soup]

They do! There are many such ads in Canada. Another company that frequently makes those ads is British Vacuum cleaner Czar DYSON. Company president Sir James Dyson, in his easy to listen to voice, shows you the product. explains the features, specs & benefits of his product. No loud music, screaming or alarms ringing. No supermodels, no pro athlete spokesperson, no manipulative persuasion.

I almost bought one of these last week when my old Hoover finally bought the farm & sucked up its last clump of dog hair. I read reviews online & tested the Dyson against the competition (Hoover, Eureka, Shark) Ultimately, I settled on a Shark vacuum cleaner that suited our needs. Dysons ARE excellent performers BUT at $699 I found it to be overpriced. the Shark cost only $230. While the other one was fancier, it didn't out-perform the Shark in a way that accounted for the difference in price.

Some positive things: the Shark is quieter, lighter in weight (a big deal for me since I'm puny!), it truly does NOT release any dander or dust particles back into the air whereas the Dyson was proven to do so.

 

[King_Oni]

They do! There are many such ads in Canada. Another company that frequently makes those ads is British Vacuum cleaner Czar DYSON. Company president Sir James Dyson, in his easy to listen to voice, shows you the product. explains the features, specs & benefits of his product. No loud music, screaming or alarms ringing. No supermodels, no pro athlete spokesperson, no manipulative persuasion.

I almost bought one of these last week when my old Hoover finally bought the farm & sucked up its last clump of dog hair. I read reviews online & tested the Dyson against the competition (Hoover, Eureka, Shark) Ultimately, I settled on a Shark vacuum cleaner that suited our needs. Dysons ARE excellent performers BUT at $699 I found it to be overpriced. the Shark cost only $230. While the other one was fancier, it didn't out-perform the Shark in a way that accounted for the difference in price.

Some positive things: the Shark is quieter, lighter in weight (a big deal for me since I'm puny!), it truly does NOT release any dander or dust particles back into the air whereas the Dyson was proven to do so.

That's pretty awesome... over here they only have really loud and screaming commercials. As well as increased volume compared to the program you're watching. They usually make me jump, it's that loud.

Guess over here they still think that selling to the many outweighs the sensory issues of the few... oh wait... that's a rather global phenomena, lol

 

[Soup]

In Quebec, many people noticed how much louder the commercials were compared to the programmes & they're talking about making it illegal to do this since a person in his/her home has the right to choose what volume they decide is comfortable to them. It shouldn't be up to an automobile manufacturer or fast food joint.

What I'd like to see stopped are ads directed at children or that use children to sell products to adults. Studies indicate that kids play key role in even major purchasing decisions in North American households. Sellers want to take advantage of what is called 'pester power' to enlist people's kids in badgering them to buy certain products. Mazda did this with their famous 'zoom zoom zoom' ads. the ads emerged years ago & the first toddlers to see the ads & sing along are now adults & a disconcerting amount of them indeed bought Mazda's cars! On Star (a safety feature that can automatically call for help should an accident be detected by the system) used kids to pull at their parents' heart-strings, feelings of guilt & protective instincts by implying that only a truly irresponsible unloving parent would place their child in a car that didn't have on star.

 

[King_Oni]

In Quebec, many people noticed how much louder the commercials were compared to the programmes & they're talking about making it illegal to do this since a person in his/her home has the right to choose what volume they decide is comfortable to them. It shouldn't be up to an automobile manufacturer or fast food joint.

I don't know if the brand that sells it makes them that loud, explicitly. It might as well be the channel broadcasting, since I feel that the need to smooth out volume in the programming. Why is a movie louder than the news? Add in that they'd probably pull the "adjust with your remote" argument.

What bothers me a lot with commercials is the tone that changes. When I'm watching a horrormovie on tv and it cuts to commercials and I see cornflakes that gets me out of the mood. The tone, the color, the music, the vibe... it all distracts me. It's a reason why I stopped watching movies on tv (apart from the fact that commercials happen way too often).

I don't know... print media it doesn't distract me that much, but that's also because those ads are targeted towards said audience. I never read a heavy metal magazine that sported ads for gardening equipment, nor a music production magazine that tried to sell me some new brand of dessert.

Tv stations can't and won't aim commercials towards the intended demographic of viewers, because brands buy time (and sometimes at specific times of the day) and as such a channel works with that. That provides weird opposites as such.

 

[Soup]

That's true here too. you could be watching a very serious news report & suddenly it cuts to a commercial for something like Hershey's Kisses. Psychologists the world over are wringing their hands & wondering what role this abrupt shifting from very sombre to funny to casual etc. info is having on children & teens: whether it's contributing to ADHD & the 'desenitization' to violence they fear is happening. Kind of makes sense that there might be a connexion.

When my son was 5 1/2, we were watching Sesame Street together. the already fast-paced show would be interrupted frequently with commercials for everything from tampons to cereal to toilet bowl cleanser. The show returned but was abruptly interrupted with a *Breaking News Report* : some unknown person or group had bombed a bldg in Oklahoma to oblivion. Graphic images of dust-covered, terrified, bloody injured victims running, staggering & being carried from the wreckage was being shown live. The report mentioned that there had been a daycare in the bldg & that small children had been killed. This was live on the scene unedited footage: VERY raw. I was frozen in place for a minute, in disbelief but then grabbed the remote & switched the channel to another station that usually showed appropriate programming for little kids. Would you believe that a continuation of the same footage was showing?

Over the next few weeks, this story dominated the news with many sudden breaks in children's programming as new information emerged. Shielding my son completely from this was impossible. He asked many pointed questions & had nightmares. His drawings, previously of typical kiddie subjects, now featured bombs blowing up buildings & terrified injured children. This went on for months as the news even at noon kept running the same footage making it appear to a child as though it were happening over & over. This footage would be interrupted by commercials for banalities like toothpaste & sports shoes: there was no consistency or continuity.

 

[smith2267]

Ever thought about turning your interest into a career?

 

[Gomendosi]

In Quebec, many people noticed how much louder the commercials were compared to the programmes & they're talking about making it illegal to do this since a person in his/her home has the right to choose what volume they decide is comfortable to them. It shouldn't be up to an automobile manufacturer or fast food joint.

We had that some trouble here [Australia], they supposedly brought out a law about the decibels but they get around it by lowering the background sound to emphasize the shouting and then they change the pitch or tone or something so it seems louder anyway, but isn't (sorry, I am not an audiologist so I don't know the terminology hehehe)

Most people I have talked to and even in the papers people have said they just mute the tellie during the ads now so the companies have effectively shot themselves in the foot on this one.

One of the worst offenders was a shoe company that had a few tactics, like having no sound during there adverts so you thought your tellie was busted and watched the ad to see if the next ad had sound, they also put on a high pitched squeal throughout the ad (apparently annoying is memorable). Another one was only saying the same one phrase repeatedly throughout the ad while slowly going from a whisper to a shout.

Back on topic; I used to love adverts as a child, as an adult I hated them but ironically would watch a TV show that screened funny ads from around the world

 

[Soup]

QC does a show like that now & then where funny or catchy ads from around the world can be viewed. What is neat is seeing products that exist in other places but do not here. The ads for beauty products & wrinkle creams make me laugh sometimes too. They'll show a 20 something yr old supermodel with wrinkle cream & the narrator will run off at the mouth about how smooth her skin is & how unlined etc. it is. NO KIDDING! She's barely out of high school! Hilarious too are the mascara ads where the model's lashes are almost as thick & as long as the hair on some people's head!

There are 2 diaper 'pull ups' ads running concurrently now in the US. These are for the identical product but 1 shows a white family & the other shows a black family. The toddlers in the ads are the same age: roughly 2 1/2- 3.

The white mother (they make sure you see her wedding band!) is in her upper middle class home playing CHESS with toddler boy genius. He's playing a good game too! He runs off to go potty conveniently aided by his pull ups. Talk about selling a life style AND the obsession many have with having gifted children (maybe he's an Aspie heehee!)

The black family are in the small living room of their working class home. The father is on the floor making weird grunting sounds & play-wrestling with their son. They are non-verbal people with no books or anything that hints at either literacy or culture in the background.

the ads take place in the middle of the day. The white husband is at work (obviously as a professional) & his wife is a stay at home mother. The black father is at home in the middle of the day rolling on the floor. White mom is a chess player passing on a legacy of culture & intellectual prowess. Black daddy is non-verbal & passing on a legacy of aggression. OOOkkkkaaayyyy.....

the difference between the 2 messages aired the same day on the same channel for the same product was shocking to me. Do they really think that this is how actual people live? Really? How many 2 1/2 yr old chess masters can you think of?!? How many married black couples with kids do you think are illiterate & non-verbal grunters?!? Could you imagine such an ad with the skin colours reversed? I know that in Canada, ads like these are not produced & if someone were to make such an ad, it would be off the air as fast as it aired. Contrasting families like that by colour is beyond absurd. I sometimes think that American ads show Americans images of themselves that ar so distorted that its a wonder anyone buys the products being showcased. Did anyone else see these ads? What did you think? Do ads like these air in your own countries of origin?

 

[Cerulean]

I haven't seen it but it drives me nuts when companies try and sell their products with obvious racism or sexism. The other one I keep seeing that irritates the heck out of me is the stupid man commercials. Clearly men can't cook, clean, do their laundry, or dress themselves- thank goodness there's a pretty lady with a condescending smile and head tilt to keep him alive. Of course they're all products for the home.

 

[Soup]

I don't like those ads either, Cerulean. They make men look like real simpletons. Makes you wonder what a competent pretty woman would want with them! The reverse is apparent to, though, with the Brawny paper towel lumberjack (a strange career combo there...) & the man from Glad (who appears in women's kitchens dressed all in white, there to manage garbage...) & Mr.Clean & the Armand Hammer Baking Soda guy. These mostly reflect some women's fantasies about the big strong man who can protect you from everything & save you in any crisis. YES! The old RESCUE fantasy only this time, you're not tied up in a bad guy's dungeon, you're being 'rescued' from the horrors of...*GASP* spilt orange juice!

Maybe these ads wherein the people are so dumb are designed to make viewers feel smart & superior to the idiots they're watching thus linking the product with high intelligence & status.