Why is advertising Terrible?

[shirkbot]

So since there's been a lot of buzz around the advertising part of the Xbone, it's made me think of a few questions regarding advertising in general that I thought I'd pose to the community:

1) Does anybody actually like advertising? Just generally and in a non-academic fashion.
2) Why is the focus almost always on making marketing more discreet, rather than on making it in some way enjoyable to endure?
3) Even if it is more discreet, are we reaching a point of diminishing returns from advertising as more and more people grow up in an environment that is absolutely saturated in them?

 

[Terminate421]

1. Sometimes, but it has to be creative:


2. Because people are idiots.

3. It's them trying to advertise to too many people at once conveniently, it's like watching a Pacific Rim commercial then going onto facebook to see an ad for Pacfic Rim, then coming here and seeing a pop up for Pacific Rim

Coincidence?

 

[Genocidicles]

I personally cant stand advertising. The only ads that convince me to buy anything are all entertainment related, being adverts for tv programmes or games or films.

For everything else I don't give a shit, and just buy whatever is cheapest from whichever shop is nearest to me. So the majority of ads are wasted on me. Hell, if an ad irritates me enough then I'll never buy the product in question, just to spite them.

 

[aba1]

Advertising drives the economy and whether people admit it advertising effects us all. I study design and such so I know a lot about advertising but basically the problem with advertising it that people act like sheep as sad as that is to say. People tend to do what they think they are supposed to and we train people with school to do as they are told so people always tend to buy products they recognize the most. It has been proven over and over if a person goes to buy a product they will always choose the most familiar even if it is a inferior product or even if they don't even like the product simply because it is the one they recognize the most. Advertising is a way to make your product more universally recognized which therefore will help it sell even if people don't even like your product.

 

[Olas]

I hate advertisements on an almost ethical level. They are, by definition, a form of manipulation. They are designed to prevent you from judging products unbiasedly. They give large companies an edge over smaller ones creating a barrier to entry in the free market. They contribute nothing to the value of a product yet can affect it's sales. Sure, they tend to manipulate and distort facts about products, but even if they didn't they would still be harmful.

The need for political adds is one of the main reasons politicians require funds and therefore must appeal to lobbyists (at least in the US). So adds even break down the democratic process.

Essentially advertising is the bane of both capitalism, and the democratic process, and it's also annoying.

 

[BlazeRaider]

I don't find anything wrong with the concept of advertising, that is, the idea that you have a product and you want to spread awareness of it so it's target audience can buy it. These days however advertisements seem more focused on CONVINCING people to buy their product instead of already having a group in mind that would want it, and just telling them the product is out there. Mind you some commercials do great jobs of showing how useful their product is while even being entertaining, but others count on cheap tricks, random celebrities, and focus so little on the product that I have no idea whether I want to buy it.

I'm fine with commercials and even enjoy a few, but I have no idea why so many have chosen the route of AH-OMFG-LOOK-WOMENINBIKINIS-EXPLOSIONS-RANDOMCELEBRITY-EVERYONEISHAPPY-YOUARENOTHINGWITHOUTTHISPRODUCTITSTHEBEST-RANDOMMUSICALNUMBER...oh by the way we're selling a pair of pants, in case the dancing llamas in the background weren't clear enough.

One commercial I think of when I think of ads done right is one by google. Simple, no gimmicks, and actually demonstrates the usefulness of the product in a rather eloquent way.

 

[GrimTuesday]

1) Does anybody actually like advertising? Just generally and in a non-academic fashion.

It all depends on what the commercial is selling. There are some commercials that I really enjoy, for example ever season, my favorite baseball team puts out a series of commercials and they are almost always amusing

Spoiler

But other than that, I don't really register them.

2) Why is the focus almost always on making marketing more discreet, rather than on making it in some way enjoyable to endure?

I think that its because they don't really understand what it is that people don't like. All they hear is "I find advertising annoying" and what they think is, ok, lets make it less noticeable, rather than trying to find a way to make commercials more entertaining.

3) Even if it is more discreet, are we reaching a point of diminishing returns from advertising as more and more people grow up in an environment that is absolutely saturated in them?

I think so. We are increasingly becoming more and more cynical about the media we consume, especially the current 18-30 age bracket. That's not to say that it doesn't work at all, but I think the saturation of advertsing in media has left us rather jaded due to the feeling that someone is always trying to sell you something, and all you are to them is a giant dollar sign.

 

[shirkbot]

-snip-

Don't get me wrong, I know why we have ads, and I know that they work. I'm asking more, why is the focus only ever on penetrating people's defenses via stealth rather than actual interest, or even all of them together? Heck, some of the best ads I've ever seen were those featuring Billy Mays, and those were just a really enthusiastic guy in a blue shirt showing me how things worked.

 

[Vale]

I'm not sure if you can call all the Team Fortress 2 shorts advertising. The first two (Heavy and soldier) came out before the game so they certainly count. And they're all pretty amazing.

Spoiler: There is literally no videogame-perusing person on the internet who hasn't seen these so the only reason to post them is just because.

etc, etc

As for why the vast majority of advertising is terrible:
People are shitty at what they do and have no reason to perform better when the most uncreative, shitty, pandering, ugly garbage will do the job fine.

 

[shootthebandit]

So since there's been a lot of buzz around the advertising part of the Xbone, it's made me think of a few questions regarding advertising in general that I thought I'd pose to the community:

1) Does anybody actually like advertising? Just generally and in a non-academic fashion.
2) Why is the focus almost always on making marketing more discreet, rather than on making it in some way enjoyable to endure?
3) Even if it is more discreet, are we reaching a point of diminishing returns from advertising as more and more people grow up in an environment that is absolutely saturated in them?

1) no. Advertising is pointless if its something i want ill buy it anyway so theres no need to advertise it and stop thrusting coca cola in my face. I only drink supermarket brand fresh orange juice because fizzy pop is a putrid can of toxic waste and tropicana is so damn expensive. So your adverts are wasted on me
2) discreet is good. I hate having my tele interupted every ten mins getting me to sign up for the latest gambling website then get a payday loan at 2000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000% APR to pay off those gambling debts with. Then getting me to compare insurance for a car which has been taken as collateral because i cant pay my loan back
3) you just learn to phase it out. Advertising is like a jedi mind trick it doesnt work on the strong minded

 

[A Weakgeek]

1) Nobody is going to like advertizement in itself. It's manipulation afterall, and nobody likes to be played for a fool.

2 & 3) Marketing isn't becoming any less effective ( On the contrary actually) but its nature IS constantly being altered. If people aknowledge the add and its goals, its alot less effective, and thus they must be altered to affect people in different ways using different methods.

In reality, people who think they can "phase out" or be unaffected by adds are either ignorant or just arrogant. It's by no means an exaggaration to say, that a large portion of the most brilliant people when it comes to human mind and psyche, are working on marketing. The whole capitalist consumerialism culture is based on marketing. And the colossal amount of money, and the powers involved with it are enough to outwit the most brilliant consumer.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

It's by no means an exaggaration to say, that a large portion of the most brilliant people when it comes to human mind and psyche, are working on marketing.

I don't know man...


...I think I might have to disagree with you on that one.

OT: In a general sense I'm not really all that bothered by adverts, I've kind of come to terms with the fact that Capitalism isn't going away any time soon and some of them can be pretty well constructed enough to actually enjoy. That said, I suppose there are a few pet peeves I have that kind of set me off:

- For one, ads which take an idea that's arguably funny once and then completely run it into the ground by just making copypastas with different backgrounds; e.g. the Go Compare guy.

- I really hate ads that tell you jack shit about the product they're trying to shill on you and were clearly designed with the intent of being 'lol so randomz!' to grab your attention and make you remember the name of the brand. Refer to the above video or the 'This Is Living' PS3 ads for an example of this. I've learnt absolutely nothing new about the product/service coming out of the advert than I did going in. The only thing it's done is give me cause to avoid the company because the unwillingness to actually attempt to sell me the product on it's own merits leads me to believe that they have something to hide, that they can't conjure up any substantial reason for me to part with my cash for this thing so they're just going to try and distract me by dangling something shiny in my face for a minute instead. I can afford some leniency for something like the Cadbury's gorilla because...well, it's Dairy Milk, what more can you say about it? Everybody knows what it is at this point, there really isn't any new information to dispense, either you like the taste of it or you don't. So I think when it comes to food/beverages that are nationally/internationally known and long established I can make an exception for the rule as the only thing you really can do there is just make people think about a product they already know in the hopes that they might purchase more.

- Shallow sex appeal. This is kind of a follow on from the same problem above, it's just another attempt at dodging the question of why I should buy your product and shoving something flashy and irrelevant in my face or at best they think I'm gullible enough to believe that a pair of sunglasses or whatever will miraculously turn me into a smexy beast who's allure no one can resist. Or that I'm stupid enough to put myself out of pocket and sit through a 2 hour film or wade through a 12 hour game for a minute long flash of nudity when I could be streaming much more gratuitous shit for free on teh interwebz. It's totally transparent and it's an insult to my intelligence.

So yeah, those things kind of grind my gears but other than that I've just kind of accepted advertisements as of those things that's just part of the background scenery.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

1. Fuck no.
2. Since when were they doing that. Seems to me advertising is getting more and more invasive not discreet.
3. Be damned if I know.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

1) No, unless they're funny.
2) We're focusing on making marketing more discreet? I thought it was on grabbing your attention as much as possible and in general being an annoying fuck. Feel free to correct me if I'm missing something.
3) Maybe. I don't know. That's actually something which I would like to see scientific tests done on.

 

[Zorpheus]

1) I appreciate advertising when it is clever. Otherwise, no.
2) Discreetness is good, especially in video games (where advertising can break immersion) and on Websites (pop-ups and ads with audio tracks are really annoying). Personally, the less amount of time an ad takes out of my life, the better.
3) My attitude towards advertising hasn't changed since childhood.

 

[saintdane05]

I don't mind ads, as long as they don't feel patronizing. I usually just have my mind wander. However, I am good at judging things, and I can judge ads. I judge ads on the way they are meant to be judged: The thing they are advertising. I use three points'

* Do we see the product they are advertising in use? Do we know what it is?
* Is the "Content" (IE Not the product, actors acting, jokes, etc) memorable? Will I think about product's name five minutes from the advertisement's end?
* Can I see a connection between content and product? Do I see the two as related?

A good example: Old Spice
<youtube=owGykVbfgUE>
* Do we see the product in use? While most likely not the EXACT product, we know that it is a soap/scented body wash of some kind.
* Is it memorable? Yes. While this is more based off of personal preference, a deep voiced, well built man rambling about how we CAN be in various situations, each stranger than the last. Example: "I'm on a horse."
* Is there a connection between content and product? Yes. The person in the commercial always tells us how our man can "Smell Like him." This man is now positively linked to the scent of Old Spice, which is meant to be a scented body wash.


Another example: THe PS4 "Greatness Awaits" commercial
Mostly, I just love the actor and shit, but I'll do this academically
<youtube=QOdW1OuZ1U0>
* Do we see the product? DO we know what the product is? This is a bit tough. t is difficult to determine what, if anything, is being advertised. This becomes more obvious with game related lingo such as "Infinite lives". The final shot shows characters from popular games (Many of which on PS4), but it is only the PS4 logo that appears at the end that lets us know that this was a commercial for that product, rather than, say, the new Pikmin game.
* Is it memorable? Yes. This is mostly done by the (Rather hammy) acting and narration, but it is consciously constructed like a movie trailer. The music and "Epic" tone of it all makes it more memorable to the average person.
* At first, no connection can be made. On repeated viewings (Which, based on the running time, is what is intended) noticeable characters, such as a dragon from Skyrim or that dude from AssCreed 4, are visible. But, as mentioned earlier, it could be with any other game related product. The viewer, however, is eventually trained to associate "Greatness" and the product. "Awaits", on the other hand, implies a future with the console.
So, while it may be badass, the Greatness Awaits commercial does not do a very good job of actually selling the product to us, as it is unclear what the product is.

 

[Olas]

I hate advertisements on an almost ethical level. They are, by definition, a form of manipulation. They are designed to prevent you from judging products unbiasedly. They give large companies an edge over smaller ones creating a barrier to entry in the free market. They contribute nothing to the value of a product yet can affect it's sales. Sure, they tend to manipulate and distort facts about products, but even if they didn't they would still be harmful.

The need for political adds is one of the main reasons politicians require funds and therefore must appeal to lobbyists (at least in the US). So adds even break down the democratic process.

Essentially advertising is the bane of both capitalism, and the democratic process, and it's also annoying.

So if you are a small company with a fantastic product, how can you let people know about what it is and what it can do without advertising?

A lot of advertising is...tenuously linked (at best) to the product in question, but I don't think it's fair to say that it's the bane of capitalism (if you can't advertise X, people won't know that it exists except by accident)

Surely third parties can provide this. I'm talking about product reviews, magazines and websites like Consumer Reports Online which evaluates commercial items objectively. Unlike with advertising they wouldn't discriminate based on the size of a company or the amount of money going into a product. Of course new companies, products, and brands would be given more attention than old ones so that emerging businesses could get their leg in the door.

Now I know you're probably thinking that nobody reads or pays attention to these, but that's mostly because people choose products based on adds, without advertisements these would be used a lot more.

In addition you would also have word of mouth, which has always been an good way for reliable knowledge of products to spread, but in the increasingly connected world would be faster and more effective than ever.

If anything I would imagine small companies would be better represented than they are now, because small companies likely can't afford to advertise on the level or scope of their larger competitors, meaning they are disadvantaged from the start.

and the democratic process (similarly: if you can't advertise your party and what it stands for, how will people know about you?).

I always assumed this was the purpose of political debates, in which each candidate is given equal ability to express themselves before the public.

I know it might sound hyperbolic to say that advertising is the bane of capitalism and the democratic process, but I stand by it. I can't think of anything that contributes less to the world as a whole, and does more to distort and skew information, all while removing our own autonomy which we value so much.

 

[RJ 17]

1: There's good and bad commercials out there. Some of them are worth a chuckle if they're creative, other's just make me want to punch whatever it is that's spewing the ad out at me. In a general sense, it's a necessary evil. For instance, there's MANY complaints around here about the ad for The Sub, which as I type this is currently eating up more and more of my text box. But that's why most people don't like them: in general they get in the way of things (such as entertainment, in the case of a gaming console). Which brings me to #2.

2: Because we shouldn't have to deal with ads on a gaming console that we've bought and paid for while playing games that we've bought and paid for. Ads on sites like this allow it to remain free of a subscription fee from all members. Bills have to be paid, and ads are a great way for free services to do that, that's why I say they're a necessary evil. But when those ads come on something that's already been paid for by the consumer they're just flat-out annoying, just a cheap way for a company (Microsoft, for instance) to make extra money on something that's, in theory, already making them money in the first place.

3: Someone's gotta be clicking on them. Quite simply if ads didn't work, we wouldn't see them all over the place. It's kinda like the mystery of the late-night info-mercial. You might watch one and think "Who the hell is buying this crap?" Clearly someone out there is, and apparently enough people to make the advertising worth it.

 

[Nazulu]

I used to like advertising on TV about 8 years ago when they knew how to be funny, clever or catchy, but now they just give me the shits. Even if they were all interesting it's still shown way too often to the point it gets old and painful very quickly. I'd say we are already in an abusive advertising age.