Is Advertising "The Great Satan"?

Emerging research suggests that purchasing decisions and brand loyalty may be influenced by actual changes in the brain. This could explain why "information processing" from Module 5 happens for some products but not for other.

"The ardor of the ad business to adopt the technical tools of biometrics - measuring brain waves, galvanic skin response, eye movements, pulse rates and the like - is increasing as consumer spending, the engine of the American economy slows.

In other words, in hard times ads must work harder to move the merchandise."

The New York Times - "Is the Ad a Success? The Brain Waves Tell All."

The Consumer's Friend

Others see advertising as a benefit to society.

"It helps people know about available consumer choices and helps them make more rational consumer judgments."

But even supporters of advertising acknowledge the potential for abuse.

American Heritage Magazine - "Inventing the Commercial"

"The agencies resisted surrendering control over programming - and the profits that went with it - but they soon saw the benefits in picking and choosing their spot participations. This gave them new flexibility in how and where to spend their clients' money, and it excused them from facing irate clients when an expensive agency-created show turned out to be a turkey. A few advertisers continued to sponsor shows of their own, regardless of rising costs and network pressure."

This article takes the extensive writings of advertising professionals along with extensive interviews and outlines the general theories behind advertising.

"My anxiety about advertising before reading this material was centered on trickery, deceit, manipulation. It is clear to me know that almost no individual ad deceives, though advertising as such is deceptive, and that individual ads don't operate by manipulation as much as by knowledge."

Of course, the author was not referring to "political" ads.

Advertisements Can Have 3 Meanings

1) The "surface meaning" - the first impression taken from the ad

2) The "intended meaning" - the sales message the advertiser is trying to get across

3) The "ideological meaning" - what we "read" into an ad based on our culture and our beliefs

"Although television was attempting to be racially inclusive during the early 1990's, its commercials reproduced many stereotypes of race and gender. Although we find that African Americans and women are more plentiful in TV advertisements than they were in earlier decades, the ways that they are represented reinforce many existing prejudices. At the same time, and contrary to predictions about targeted marketing leading to insular communities, we find that racist and sexist stereotypes cut across all audiences. Commercials targeted to African Americans contain about as many racial stereotypes as those directed toward Whites. Similarly, commercials targeted to women have about as many gender stereotypes as those directed to other audiences."

"Viewers' reactions to homosexuality are clearly influenced by their gender socialization and we are affected by prejudices developed at an early age when interpreting images of homosexuality on television."

This student paper is a good study on the history of this campaign. Note: the images on this site do not work.

"Advertisers seem determined to fill every last one of them. Supermarket eggs have been stamped with the names of CBS television shows. Subway turnstiles bear messages from Geico auto insurance. Chinese food cartons promote Continental Airways. US Airways is selling ads on motion sickness bags. And the trays used in airport security lines have been hawking Rolodexes.;quot;

The New York Times - "Anywhere the eye can see, it's likely to see an ad."

Advertising Age - "Outpost.com fizzles after brilliant intro "

Find or create a need.

This review compares the 1998 Wisk campaign with its infamous predecessor.

Safety

One of the best current examples is the "baby shower" campaign for Michelin tires. This column explains the power of the new ads.

Self-Esteem

This paper takes a broad look at Madison Avenue's approaches to women over the past 35 years.

Here you can explore the step by step creation of the classic 1952 "Eisenhower Discovers America" campaign. The step by step process is the same as used today.

The Celebrity.

"Like Tiger Woods, he is a corporate machine whose template was Michael Jordan: First, be untouchable; then, be unreachable; and, finally, sell, sell, sell."

Click here to read Click here to read Philly.com - "Swimmer Phelps, the face of the Olympic Games, also mug of corporate empire."

This review from suggests that, for the most part, Celebrity Spokespeople are ineffectual.

Advertising Age - "TD Waterhouse makes the trade with celebs"