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Does anyone find advertising to be really stupid?

We were taught all the advertising "tricks" in 9th Grade honors English Class. I still enjoy labeling the advertising trick. My advice to the people above who get upset? Don't sweat the small stuff.
 
@Melissa

Please, what were some of the 'tricks'?

I enjoy ads, often.
I like to recognize the manipulative devices they use.

And I like a fun ad, too.
 
Using a celebrity (who has no better command or knowledge of a product) to sell it. We are supposed to think, "Oh, if Jamie Curtis eats yogurt, it must be good for me."

Implying that something is "wrong" or "less-than" with me if I don't use a certain product. Something like "keeping up with the Joneses". To show that I am successful, I must drive a Mercedes.

Saying that I MUST have a certain product: "Are you tired of slicing onions by hand? The smell. The mess. It's horrible! You need the Onion-matic."

Making me believe that professionals recommend something: "4 out of 5 dentists recommend brushing twice a day."

If you use this product, you will get all the girls, have all the guys swarm around you, etc. Every product from Coca-Cola, tooth paste, shoes, to cars.

If you use this product, you will look like this. (The product is for wrinkle cream and the model is 22 years old).

That's all I can think of off the top of my head!
 
You're not the only one, lol. I find commercials to be hilarious as well, especially the actors in them. Where's their sense of dignity, lol?! I'd be embarrassed doing the stuff they do!
 
I've noticed that trend. I guess they're targeting boomerang kids or guys that don't marry. I'm married with kids and don't have any disposable income. I'm sure most men from the past were the same, and the women of the households had more control over the family dollars, and thus, were targeted more for ads in the past.
qwerty said:
What brands do you have right now in your home freediver?
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For me, whatever is cheapest and I like the best... (I do have one guilty pleasure, tho.... not because of advertising, but as a childhood memory... Growing up, I couldn't afford good clothes/shoes. Back in the 80's, the cheap shoes were the Chuck Taylor's. I still buy them today, as an emotional thing. I imagine that the emotional component of ads are very powerful. I know it works just based on the enormous amounts of $$ and creative energy spent on this industry. (Like warfare, it seems a shame that such energy and focus couldn't be spent on bettering humanity/ exploration/ or other more humanitarian pursuits.... it seems a waste of our creative juices to spend such hours and days in offices coming up with these advertising masterpieces over such banal products, when there is such an inspiring universe to draw inspiration from!) I've heard that advertising is our highest art form, but I beg to differ.
 
I hate them too. When you read Edward Bernay's "Propaganda" and look into subliminal messaging, you notice how they're manipulating you.

For example, on drug commercials they usually will show images of people having fun, playing with kids and/or pets, generally being happy, or something funny, during which they are listing off all the possible negative side effects of the drug. Your mind is taking in the happy images and not paying attention to the voice over.
 
I think the truly awful thing about ads is how they emotionally manipulate you. It'd be one thing if they just listed the benefits of so-and-so product in an objective, honest way. But because there's competition between similar brands, they have to fight to get your attention by any desperate means necessary, and that's usually done by cushioning the important information inside emotionally charged fluff designed to shoot straight into your subconscious.

Also, most of them come across as passive-aggressive when you think about it. Be it for cars, food, or something healthcare related, you're told directly or indirectly that you need this product. They act as though, without this commodity, your life is somehow lesser, which it's not. I find that really despicable. It's not necessarily the advertisers being malicious (because, again, their livelihoods depend on you buying their stuff) but being bombarded with these things is super unhealthy.
 
it was on UK tv constantly over christmas,i never got enough of it.
youve reminded me of another christmas 2016 one,i really recommend watching all of it and with sound on as its so epic,its about a robbin [which looks completely real not CGI] on his perilous journey across the globe and when he gets to safety and finds a garden he sees a mince pie on a bird table and shares it with a girlfriend he has found,it had been my favourite christmas advert but no one online i spoke to seemed to think so:
 
annannannann said:
I think the truly awful thing about ads is how they emotionally manipulate you.
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Agreed. But I'd go a step further and point out that the most sophisticated advertising is not only psychologically manipulative, but coupled with a strategy relative to a "target audience".

That the ad is aimed to appeal to a specific mentality or group of people viewing.

Of course in this respect such selectivity can be highly effective or highly stupid depending on whether that target audience is truly reached.
 
The adverts for the energy drink Red Bull annoy me, contrary to the ads, you don't literally sprout wings if you drink the stuff.

Sounds daft I know, but I'm sure there's not just me that would be mad enough to take the ads literally!
 
xudo said:
I laugh at adverts frequently. I also point out things that make no sense within adverts too. It annoys my husband some times because I will point out the same thing in an ad that's wrong every time, but it's because it's wrong and it irritates me. One example:


The part where he says the music is "literally coming out of my ears". Ummm....no Kevin, it's going into your ears because it's coming out of the headphones. Gets me every time it's on.
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I hate that ad too! His uncomfortable singing, and worst of all, yet another example of the increasing and abhorrent use of 'literally' in so many sentences. Who started this despicable habit and why!?

There's a girl at work who says it in almost every sentence and it makes me want to hate her! "I have literally just sent the email". Incorrect and unnecessary usage riles me. Being an aspie and a pedant isn't easy!
 
Rich Allen said:
The adverts for the energy drink Red Bull annoy me, contrary to the ads, you don't literally sprout wings if you drink the stuff.

Sounds daft I know, but I'm sure there's not just me that would be mad enough to take the ads literally!
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i always hear it as theyre saying these people are given wings by drinking redbull to,it annoys me so i try to avoid it,ive drank the stuff since 15 and never developed any wings unfortunately.

@Lord Riot yes the over use of literally annoys me to,i have a part time young/university student support staff who uses it in every sentance,she has just been on shift with me and i wanted to strangle her.
i dont understand how someone can say things like 'my dissertation was [shouted out] LITERALLY late for my uni course',its not literally late,its just late for frigs sake.
 
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toothless said:
i always hear it as theyre saying these people are given wings by drinking redbull to,it annoys me so i try to avoid it,ive drank the stuff since 15 and never developed any wings unfortunately.

@Lord Riot yes the over use of literally annoys me to,i have a part time young/university student support staff who uses it in every sentance,she has just been on shift with me and i wanted to strangle her.
i dont understand how someone can say things like 'my dissertation was [shouted out] LITERALLY late for my uni course',its not literally late,its just late for frigs sake.
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Arrrrgh!! I feel your pain! This seems to be a fairly new crime against language too, where has it come from? I'm guessing some ****** American TV series.

Which brings me to another bugbear: 'Breaking Bad'. Not the show itself, I've never watched it, but the name. What the hell does it mean, it doesn't make grammatical sense! I CANNOT STAND ANYTHING THAT MAKES NO GRAMMATICAL SENSE! It always makes me feel that those who like it aren't intelligent enough to shun something with such blatantly poor English.
 
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