Advertising

[franciscanheart]

I have given this thought, though I might say not enough. I thought it would help me though if I could hear the input of others. The topic is advertising. The way I see it is this:

Advertising is a very psychologically twisted business. The main goal of the companies is to promote a product, good or bad, and they will do almost anything necessary to accomplish this. Studies have been done about the reactions of the human brain to certain stimulants. Knowing this, companies will construct their commercials and ads to create certain feelings about a product in order to hook the customer. Companies pour out millions if not billions of dollars every year to advertise their products. They would not be doing a very good job if they did not make their product enticing. The whole challenge I have to admit sounds wonderful. It would be exciting and I'm sure rewarding for the pocketbook. However, I do feel sometimes that so much advertising and the strategic placement of foods in our grocery stores is a bit unfair and uncalled for. I don't like being subcontiously manipulated by international corporations. I wouldn't like to be treated that way by a neighborhood company.

Anyway... I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about this. Is there something wrong with the advertising business or is it simply a part of life? Is it a respectable thing or are they pushing their limits?

[Tony]

The advertisers used to get away with murder... subliminal advertising included, but I think that practice is outlawed now.. ( Old movie drive in theaters used to place hidden messages in their movies such as "Buy Popcorn" "Drink Coke".

[franciscanheart]

subliminal messages may be outlawed but who is going to ban a company from using certain colors and image patterns? there are still sneaky ways of promoting less than great items.

not to mention... advertising i believe heightens a person's desire for material things. im not saying this is true for everyone but i would say for the general population, advertising leads to addiction to material goods.

[philothea]

Unfettered capitalism is a bad, bad, thing.

I avoid the worst ads by not watching TV, listening to radio, or reading major magazines... but still. It is very hard not to be manipulated. Companies get the smartest, most talented people in the world to try to influence us, using sophisticated, well-refined tactics.

[cmotherofpirl]

I refuse to let my life be run by an ad executive

[Guest Rick777]

advertisers are very sneaky

[franciscanheart]

should they be praised for the cleverness or looked down upon for their trickery?

[Sojourner]

I tend to think I'm not influenced by advertising much, even though I see things from time to time. I can't remember the last time I went out and bought something as a direct result of seeing an ad.

No, I take that back. I signed up for my cell phone plan after seeing an ad about it. But, I'd been looking for a similar plan, and this one happened to fit the right bill at the right time.

There are definitely ethics that come into play in advertising. For example, I think it's important that advertisers always tell the truth about their products. But that doesn't mean they can't paint their products in the best light possible. I have no problems with well-done advertising, and believe it can actually be a service to the consumer by letting people know what's out there. And if you're already in the market for an item, I see nothing wrong with being swayed toward a particular company through a bit of creative advertising.

[Guest Rick777]

looked down upon for thier trickery

[Cathurian]

[quote name='Sojourner' date='Dec 14 2005, 02:33 PM']There are definitely ethics that come into play in advertising. For example, I think it's important that advertisers always tell the truth about their products. But that doesn't mean they can't paint their products in the best light possible. I have no problems with well-done advertising, and believe it can actually be a service to the consumer by letting people know what's out there. And if you're already in the market for an item, I see nothing wrong with being swayed toward a particular company through a bit of creative advertising.
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Well said!

[Kilroy the Ninja]

This is why we have a dvr. We watch no ad unless we want to.

And being too broke to buy much of anything really, really helps!

[Socrates]

For me, most advertising is more annoying than anything else. A lot of particulary annoying advertising has a negative effect on me - I hate their commericals so much I avoid the product!

But I'd say as long as the advertising is not dishonest or immoral/offensive, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with it. It is necessary for businesses to get customers, and for customers to find out about business services.
The alternatives would seem to involve a busybody socialist government - though I have no problem with laws regulating advertising in certain places - for instance limiting billboards on scenic stretches of highways, etc.

I've actually read Distributists who say all advertising other than word-of-mouth should be banned by law, but I think that's socialistic silliness.

And I think any reasonable grown-up person should know advertisers seek to manipulate people into buying products - I think it's dumb when people blame advertizers for their spending habits. (Unless it's a case of actual fraud).
Grow up and take some personal responsibility, for crying out loud!

[photosynthesis]

[quote name='Sojourner' date='Dec 14 2005, 03:33 PM']IThere are definitely ethics that come into play in advertising. For example, I think it's important that advertisers always tell the truth about their products. But that doesn't mean they can't paint their products in the best light possible. I have no problems with well-done advertising, and believe it can actually be a service to the consumer by letting people know what's out there. And if you're already in the market for an item, I see nothing wrong with being swayed toward a particular company through a bit of creative advertising.
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I agree too! I also think that the ad industry needs to develop a comprehensive code of ethics and FOLLOW it.

Ethics in general is something that people in the media don't think much about. In my media ethics class, we mainly talked about the ethics of journalism, but not much about PR and advertising, because my prof said that they are "going to hell in a handbasket"

[Cow of Shame]

[quote name='Tony' date='Dec 13 2005, 09:54 PM']The advertisers used to get away with murder... subliminal advertising included, but I think that practice is outlawed now.. ( Old movie  drive in theaters used to place hidden messages in their movies such as "Buy Popcorn" "Drink Coke".
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This has been proven to be utter cr@p. You have to be aware of the product in order to be influenced by it. If you can't tell that you've seen an image, nothing happens.


[url="http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/popcorn.asp"][u]Linkity link link[/u] [/url] for whole article.

Here's a snippet:

Vicary's studies were largely forgettable, save for one experiment he conducted at a Ft. Lee, New Jersey movie theater during the summer of 1957. Vicary placed a tachistoscope in the theater's projection booth, and all throughout the playing of the film Picnic, he flashed a couple of different messages on the screen every five seconds. The messages each displayed for only 1/3000th of a second at a time, far below the viewers' threshold of conscious perceptibility. The result of displaying these imperceptible suggestions -- "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Hungry? Eat Popcorn" -- was an amazing 18.1% increase in Coca-Cola sales, and a whopping 57.8% jump in popcorn purchases. Thus was demonstrated the awesome power of "subliminal advertising" to coerce unwary buyers into making purchases they would not otherwise have considered.

Or so goes the legend that has retained its potency for more than forty years. So potent a legend, in fact, that the Federal Communications Commission banned "subliminal advertising" from radio and television airwaves in 1974, despite that fact that no studies have ever shown it to be effective, and even though its alleged efficacy was based on a fraud.

You see, Vicary lied about the results of his experiment. When he was challenged to repeat the test by the president of the Psychological Corporation, Dr. Henry Link, Vicary's duplication of his original experiment produced no significant increase in popcorn or Coca-Cola sales. Eventually Vicary confessed that he had falsified the data from his first experiments, and some critics have since expressed doubts that he actually conducted his infamous Ft. Lee experiment at all.

Edited December 15, 2005 by Cow of Shame

[jezic]

i think you'd be alright.

It might be rough but you could make it.

[Carrie]

Admit it, you all love infommercials. :

[Sojourner]

[quote name='Carrie' date='Dec 15 2005, 09:40 AM']Admit it, you all love infommercials. :
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Set it and forget it!

[Carrie]

[quote name='Sojourner' date='Dec 15 2005, 10:21 AM']Set it and forget it!
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[p0lar_bear]

[quote name='hugheyforlife' date='Dec 14 2005, 01:24 PM']should they be praised for the cleverness or looked down upon for their trickery?
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A bit of both...it depends on what is being done. Advertising is important; it tells the public what products are available. Very few businesses could survive on word of mouth alone. An intelligent consumer shouldn't buy based on advertising alone, but an ad can lead people to look into a product they might not have before.

I have worked with a small publisher. If we didn't advertise our books, no one would know they exist, no one would buy them, and we would go out of business (which would be bad...). Choosing artwork for covers, color schemes, and ad text all involved making the product as attractive as possible to encourage buyers, but I don't think that amounts to trickery.

There does need to be a code of ethics, but if an advertiser can design a clever, witty ad that makes people remember the product without breaking any ethical boundaries, then yes, they should be praised. If they are trying to trick people into buy a product they don't really want or that simply is not worth buying, then they can be condemned for their trickery.

[cmotherofpirl]

It also depends on what the advertising is for.
Is it for soap or to prclaim the virtues of Planned Parenthood? ?

Is it to sell a product , or refine words and therefore redefine culture?