How many times have you been cheated by what was shown on an advertisement? Purchased a product and realised that you have absolutely no use of it but bought it anyway?
Welcome to the club.
Advertisers are horribly smart. They make use of word-plays, photo manipulation, and bragging of meaningless awards to create a certain image of the product which appeals to their target audience. It appeals to you in a subconscious manner, and slowly brainwashes you by showing you images of what they want you to see and not what you need to see.
Take products which rely solely on before-and-after effects. Photo manipulation is a common method these companies use to mislead show us how the products work.
[Image from: stuffthathappens]
Just from the picture alone, without showing what the product looks like, the audience immediately deduces that the product is something which can make you look younger by reducing your wrinkles. Less words, more understanding. Obviously, the image shown has been overly exaggerated, but with moderation and an ounce of believability, a proper ad could be able to convince its audience many things about the product without even having to explain it in detail.
Logos, pathos and ethos are methods in which advertisers use to draw in their target audience’s attention. Like the ad above, it uses ethos, attracting older women who wish to look younger, and also logos by showing a picture of a younger woman who looks attractive (in a way, reasoning out that having lesser wrinkles makes you look more attractive).
(An ethos ad: The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it.)
[Image from: Ads of the World]
It really all boils down to communication. Much consideration goes into every little detail of an advertisement (from whatever is pictured, to the text, to where it is placed) to create that ideal image. However, advertising is a linear communication model and with all communication methods, misinterpretation is unavoidable.
Why? Everyone perceives things differently. The general population may have one understanding, but there would always be a minority or other groups of people who come from different backgrounds who will interpret the same thing in another way. When people manage to uncover and connect the underlying message of ads to something only people with the same perspective as them can see (and not what the advertisers actually intended), it may create a misunderstanding.
Check out this insurance ad:
[Image from Daily Mail]
To most people, this is just another insurance ad with some old man holding a watch. BUT, to those who listen to rock, may recognise that old man as Iggy Pop. So, what’s the problem? ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) has deemed this ad as misleading as “the campaign implied that the 62-year-old artist had a policy with Swiftcover when he did not”. [Source] It created a false understanding that Swiftcover covered musicians when it did not. However, to the advertisers, they “claim they made no reference to the singer’s profession. They chose him because of his reputation for fast-living lifestyle.”
Advertising is really a good example of how media professionals can make use of communication to manipulate the perceptions of their intended audience. Communication is not one-sided, and it really is about how each of us choose to encode and decode a message which affects the results.
So next time before we just give a bare glimpse to the ads we see around us, we could take some time to appreciate it for more than the pictures and text it’s worth on the surface, and for the well-thought out message it’s trying to send us.
To end this entry, check out this video by MadTV which sums up in a humourous way how powerful perception is:
September 13, 2009 at 4:02 pm |
Ads ALWAYS amuse me. I find it very interesting how they always tend to manipulate the images to suit whatever message they are trying to send across. But one thing is for sure, we must always discern what the ads present and not simply lap it all up!
September 13, 2009 at 4:26 pm |
i agree that media is indeed one powerfull tool is shaping people’s perception.however it not always to the person’s advantage.and besides very often many people’s perceptions are flawed because what they see is not really what it is.
September 13, 2009 at 4:34 pm |
yupp, ads are thought provoking most of the time. You’d wonder if they are really selling what they are advertising.
FOr example if the ad says that you can lose all your wrinkles within like a day using the product and at a really cheap price, you would buy(maybe), use it once, realise how useless it really is and dump it aside.
But the advertisment had still achieved its effect! You bought the product and thus they profit from it!
No matter how we try to shun ads, we will somehow fall into the trap somehow or rather.
September 13, 2009 at 4:39 pm |
Yes, I have fallen prey to advertising. But only once! This can of a particular Nive@ Men’s product has laid untouched for two years now. I believe it’ll just come alive one day, squirting it’s contents onto hapless passers-by.
Advertising nowadays has it’s many shapes and forms, but ultimately it is still a simple matter of presenting information in a way that it’s target audience would perceive as desirable.
Personally, I favor advertisements that are different from the norm. They may run the risk of alienating those who are not able to fully grasp the message being conveyed, but I get the impression that it’s “fun”. Fun to create, fun to watch/read/listen/etc.
Besides, if it’s just good enough, it might make me want to find out more about it. Wouldn’t that be even better advertising?
September 13, 2009 at 5:38 pm |
Haha! Definitely. When you see advertising as advertising, and not as an informational device, it is always very fun to analyze them on another level (like what you have mentioned about it being fun). Advertising certainly is tricky, it’s not easy to come up with something so good that it makes you want to buy. Like your Nivea product. But when done properly, power be yours!
September 13, 2009 at 4:49 pm |
I guess that’s why word of mouth is still the best method. I find it disturbing that as we get more advanced in many aspects, such as technology, we lose a bit more privacy. You can’t go anywhere without seeing or listening to an advertisement – it’s annoying sometimes.
The only way to counter the endless ads we see is to filter through what’s interesting and what’s not and be sensible enough to see what’s realistic and what’s totally bull.
September 13, 2009 at 5:34 pm |
Agreed! But the problem with ads, is that when they aggressively target our youths, it could lead to major issues when they grow up. Adults (well, sort of) like us are sensible enough to trust our own common sense and logic to filter it, but there will also be a select few who believe almost anything!
September 13, 2009 at 5:10 pm |
YES! advertisment is a power tool of marketing a product.
It uses heavily on logos, ethos and pathos.
Advertisment will just show what we humans want to see. Like what you have explained about a old haggard lady turns to a beautiful lady after using certain proucts.
September 13, 2009 at 5:13 pm |
Well, that’s what advertising is all about. It conveys its sublimal messages to the audience. Depending on who are receiving these messages, some of these advertisements will naturally be deemed as misleading. It’s not always easy to create a unique, clever and impactful advertisement without misleading a section of the audience.
Nonetheless, it’s important for the advertising company to minimise the possibility of being seemingly misleading. One of the ways they can carry out to ensure this is that they choose the right medium to send the message across.
September 13, 2009 at 5:30 pm |
Well, i guess the thing about advertisements is that they really do shape our perceptions and the way we feel. The youtube video really exposed me to the extent of how the media can actually make use of pathos, ethos and logos as well as perceptions by focusing on certain aspects of Bacon’s Four Idols. However, i personally feel that we should not be easily swayed by such videos or tv programmes as we know it is MADTV, you know what i mean! Haaa, but yeah, i figure it’s all up to one’s individual mental set of values untimately. We should try to improve communication by placing greater emphasis on face-to-face communication compared to others as an interactive model type of communication can help lower the risks of miscommunication.
September 13, 2009 at 5:32 pm |
Thanks! Yeah, we should definitely check out our media sources before deciding to believe them or not! The MadTV one is an example of how perceptions are different, and by playing the ‘right cards’, can alter someone else’s view too.
September 13, 2009 at 5:32 pm |
I think that’s the basic thing regarding advertising. It makes us aware on stuffs like saving Earth and etc, but it also helps us empty our wallets more with all the funky before-and-after photos.
However, I think its still important to have a little advertisement for some promotion, but not to the point of extreme photoshop usage and leading the audience on.
September 14, 2009 at 4:15 am |
The posts here all seem like advertisements anyway. The political-correctness and seemingly insightful-sounding language suggests that they are nothing more than attempts at impressing a target audience.
And that is, I think, what advertising essentially is. It’s sort of like legalised lying, but padded up with foam.
If you uncover enough of the foam, you see that you’re actually being whacked by a heavy fist with glistening knuckles.
September 14, 2009 at 5:20 am |
Thanks for dropping by, Tyler. But I agree with you. That essentially is what advertising is all about. The interesting thing about ads, is how the ‘foam’ is created. Nice wrap up
September 14, 2009 at 4:19 am |
Some advertisement(like those shown) largely plays on emotions and situations. For advertising, the inceptions of a project is dependant on the target audience and what advertisers earmarked, ‘needs and wants’ of their target group.And thus, ‘addressing’ the needs and wants by appearing visually attractive enough to gain impression. If an ad is dull and unequivocally portrayed, it would not be able to cap maximum impressions. Some may think its a great strategy while others may probably feel ‘betrayed’ by the image. For communication, I agree, that it comes from various backgrounds.Like, if one is well-informed about insurance, the ad above would not be able to affect him as much.This is why I like to read updates from CASE! Save myself from frauds and hype.
September 14, 2009 at 4:27 am |
advertising is an efficient way of providing the general public with information on the service/product you are interested in providing and which person in their right mind would pay good money to portray themselves in a negative fashion?
so i think all of you should just calm down and take it. stop whining about how advertising is manipulating the way you perceive things and go get a burger or something. sheesh. what a bunch of babies.
September 14, 2009 at 5:13 am |
Thanks Danny for the insight on other’s comments. There’s nothing we can do about how advertisers choose to send their messages to the masses, but we as the public can only do, is just take a step aside and analyze the ads for more than just ‘information’.
By understanding how advertising (or the media actually) can be ‘manipulative’ is like a first step to understanding that in every message, there’s another underlying meaning. Some of our thoughts or opinions may not be right, but the first step to understanding is by questioning and voicing your opinions rather than just take everything at face value or by showing ya-ya apathy. Advertising is more than just an ‘efficient way’ of providing information (that’s more like PR). Through criticism of its works, is a way for people to appreciate the real work which goes behind an ad.
September 14, 2009 at 5:37 am |
Actually I’ve thought of an ad campaign that purposely says negative things about the company.
If I ever open up a burger joint (“Tyler’s Meats to Eat” would be a snappy name), I’d run an ironic ad campaign.
Well, not so much ironic; you might call it honest advertising.
It’d be like “YES, our burgers are incredibly unhealthy, absolutely seething with oil, fats, and salt. YES, it can cause heart problems, obesity, and seriously damage your health and severely reduce your lifespan. BUT at least we’re honest.”
September 14, 2009 at 5:18 am |
Sam!
I love how effectively you highlighted the fact that the media plays on words, images, etc in order to appeal to their target audience. I think none of us can deny the fact that we’ve all been victims of deceptive advertising campaigns at one point of time or another.
Of course advertising has its benefits. It is informative, and provides consumers with the information they need in order to make informed choices. However, just like every aspect of the media, it can swing both ways. The media in general is a double edged sword. It has its pros and cons. It is mostly dependent on who is making use of it and how they choose to use it.
September 15, 2009 at 5:56 pm |
hello sam (:
i agree with you that advertisements are often manipulative and create more of a ‘want’ than a ‘need’ in us. but that aside, i feel that the measure of how an ad is successful or effective lies in its ability of persuasion. every ad is trying to sell something, whether it is an idea, a product, a service etc. and the advertisement that is able to persuade and entice us into buying the advertised product is certainly clever and effective.