Will we ever see an add free society? (1 Viewer)

[David Brown Eyes]

ads themselves do not bother me. It is the poorly executed ad campaignes that make me nuts. The Mentos ads for instance were so bad that I refuse to purchase their products.

Now good advertising can not only be informative but also highly entertaining. Even non football fans look forward to the SuperBowl becuase the ad agencies produce some of their best work for that event and others.

Unfortunately the good ads are rarely shown and we are assaulted every hour with the same local used car dealership, investment schemes and or ads so poorly concieved and executed that they become irritating or simply just geared towards a different demographic than we happen to be a part of.

 

[ThomasC]

Advertising pays our bills, advertising pays your salary, advertising is what made this country great. What was the Constitution of the United States? It is an advertisement for liberty: "When in the course of human events..." I'm telling you, that's up there with, "Put a Tiger in your tank" and "Where's the beef?" Don't you understand? Hell, if it wasn't for advertising, you know what you two would be doing, huh? You two would be giving out Sesame Street tote bags during PBS pledge breaks, except they wouldn't say Sesame Street on them. Noooo. They wouldn't say that, because that would be ADVERTISING!!! That's right! Hell, if you two had your way there probably wouldn't even be any Sesame Street would there? WOULD THERE?! There'd be no Ernie would there? Nooooo. There'd be no Bert. Say bye bye, bye bye to Grover, bye bye to Cookie Monster. There'd be no Snuffleupagus, would there? And get that trash can, because there'd be no Oscar the Grouch, not to mention Kermit the damn Frog!!!

- Jimmy James, NewsRadio

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I'm a sort of history buff and often prowl street fairs and such for old magazines--not for the articles but for the advertising! I've got a 1941 issue of Life with a 2 page spread on the Pontiac Torpedo models, starting at $845, and another issue from 1944 full of ads from car companies and radio manufacturers telling about the wonderful new stuff in store when civilian production starts once the war is won. I find old ads to be a wonderful way of learning about the popular culture of the past, which in turn tells us a lot about people's attitudes about the world at that time.

50 or 100 years from now historians will perhaps know more about life in 2006 from our advertising than from our books and movies.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

there are so many bad ads on tv and radio (not in my dreams yet) that i just tune them all out and try to analyze them instead of listening to the product or service being sold.

that said, does anyone know where i could find cheaper car insurance? i feel i'm paying about 15% too much, and i have about 15 minutes to spare.

CJ

 

[SethH]

Ads don't affect anyone. If they did then 75% of home audio consumers would have a desire to purchase Bose products . . . oh wait . . .

Anyway, I agree with whoever mentioned t-shirts above. Think about how many t-shirts you see with logos on them. Perhaps I see more than most people since I'm on a college campus, but it's pretty nuts . . . it seems like that's all people wear anymore. As long as we live in a society where people are proud of the brands they buy (or think they achieve some status by wearing said brand) there will always be advertisements. Then the question becomes: did the ads create the pride in the brand (or status perception)?

 

[DeathStar1]

On a vaguely related topic, I used to be a Coke head (ha ha), until college, where apparently my campus had an exclusive deal with Pepsi. No Coke vending machine to be found anywhere on campus, all Pepsi. By the time I graduated, I was a Pepsi dude.>>>

Back to the point someone made about them tasting the same, I DEFINETLY notice a difference. Pepsi to me seems to have more of a metalic taste to it, while Coke has more fizzy taste to it, if that makes sense. Needless to say, I drink Coke Zero now .

 

[MarkHastings]

True. The same can be said for cars. And speaking of car advertising, here's a little advice for those of you for your next car purchase.

I took an advertising class in college and the professor gave me some great advice. Whenever he buys a car, he makes sure that they put (in the contract) that they won't put the dealers logo on the back of the car.

He says: "Unless they're willing to pay me to advertise for them, they're not using my car as free advertising"

Of course, I've only bought 2 new cars so far and I always forget about that. After my latest purchase, the decal was SO hideous that I am definitely keeping that in mind for my next car purchase.

 

[MarkHastings]

True. The same can be said for cars. And speaking of car advertising, here's a little advice for those of you for your next car purchase.

I took an advertising class in college and the professor gave me some great advice. Whenever he buys a car, he makes sure that they put (in the contract) that they won't put the dealers logo on the back of the car.

He says: "Unless they're willing to pay me to advertise for them, they're not using my car as free advertising"

Of course, I've only bought 2 new cars so far and I always forget about that. After my latest purchase, the decal was SO hideous that I am definitely keeping that in mind for my next car purchase.

 

[Holadem]

That, is wrong. To even agree that it's the main factor, I would have to see some evidence.

Hope that clears it up.

--
H

 

[SethH]

While I certainly don't think advertising is the main reason for the success of Pepsi and/or Coke, it is definitely a factor.

I don't have the research on hand, but I'm 99% sure that I've read research showing that for decades in blind taste-tests Pepsi has held a majority over Coke. Nevertheless, during this time period Coke has continued to outsell Pepsi. Much of that has to be advertising.



Apparently the formulas for both can be found online. My understanding is that the main difference between the two is that one uses lemon flavor while the other uses orange flavor. (I think Pepsi uses orange, but I don't really remember)

 

[MarkHastings]

I don't have any evidence, but if you could go back to the 60's or 70's and totally wipe out Coke's advertising, do you think they'd be able to stand on taste alone?

I'm not saying they are popular SOLELY based on ads, but the success that they are enjoying today has got to be because of the ads.

Taste gets the people through the door, quality keeps them in (as much as possible), but it's ads that keep the doors opened for years to come.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

"I know that half my advertising dollars are wasted. The problem is I don't know which half" - John Wannamaker, retail pioneer

 

[MichaelBA]

Hmm. Well, more than 30 years ago, when I was a kid I actaully used Coca Cola to remove the barnacled rust off my bike. Worked like a charm. Maybe Coke could've been marketed beyond taste?

That's some disconnect, though, between the old Coke ad showing the world joyfully singing "in perfect harmony" and little tiny me in the driveway scraping off those crusty brown oxide scales from my bike.

I think I first learned to suspect adversiting that day....

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i did the same thing, but i didn't get it put in the contract.

CJ

 

[Mike Stein]

De Beers - a great example
Do you know where diamonds really come from and do you know the indecent labor involved in mining them.
Diamonds are not precious - De Beers makes them so through advertising (A diamond is forever) and controls the entire industry.

 

[Micah Cohen]

ASIDE: Great sig quote, Mike!



MC

 

[Christ Reynolds]

this is probably commonly known to most people, but it was news to me. i just looked it up on wikipedia, very interesting.

CJ

 

[Micah Cohen]

DeBeers is one of the most insidious entities on the planet.

Check out the novels of Gerald A. Browne, like "11 Harrowhouse" (which was made into a crappy 70s movie). Browne is a guy who wrote pageturners in the 70s, and he was a gemologist; his novels are basically roman a'clefs about the gem industry, exposing DeBeers. Great beach books.

MC

 

[Paul McElligott]

That's from the Declaration. The Constitution starts with "We, the People..."

 

[MarkHastings]

The Statue of Liberty is like a giant 3D billboard for America.