Advertising and Commercial Culture

Chapter 11

“You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.”

— Norman Douglas

Culture Influenced by Ads

Shift from agrarian, small-town life to urban, consumer-driven lives

Promotes and sustains capitalist economic system

Influences our desires and needs as consumers

Pays for the mass media industries

History

Advertising used in antiquity First newspaper ads in America, 1704 Most U.S. magazines advertising by mid-

1800s N. W. Ayer the first U.S. ad agency

– Established in 1875– Space broker for newspapers– Wrote, produced, and placed ads

“The American apparatus of advertising is something unique in history….It is like a

grotesque, smirking gargoyle.”

—James Rorty

Advertising Proves Worthy

Advertising helped sell products quickly after the Industrial Revolution.

Helped manufacturers guarantee prices on products sold to retailers

Built “brand recognition”– Packaging– Created demand for branded, “quality” goods

Medicine and Department Stores

By 1900 half the ads were for patent medicines or department stores.

Many patent medicines were dangerous and/or frauds.

– Problem led to advertising self-policing.

FDA created in 1906 Advertising eats the “newshole.”

– Today more than 60 percent of the space in large daily papers is consumed by ads.

Subliminal Advertising

Term coined in 1950s– Hidden or disguised visual messages– Fool people into buying products

Few examples actually exist.– “Drink Coca-Cola” in frames of movies– Sexual activity in liquor ads

No more effective than regular ads

Regulation

Better Business Bureau Audit Bureau of Circulation

– So publishers don’t lie to advertisers about their numbers Four “A”s

– Self-regulation FTC

– If advertising lies about product FCC

– If broadcast lies about product Postal Inspector

– Mail fraud Others

– E.g., each state’s agencies

The Power of Mega-Agencies

“Besides dominating commercial speech, a $500-billion-a-year industry, these four

companies… — ...Omnicom…Interpublic…WPP…and… Publicis — also hold incredible

sway over the media.”

—Stuart Elliot

Market Research

“assesses the behaviors and attitudes of consumers toward particular products”

Demographics Psychographics Focus groups Values and Lifestyles (VALS)

– Auto industry uses heavily– See chart on p. 400

Ad Agency Structure

Market research Creative development Media selection

– Media buyers: choose and purchase the types of media best suited to carry a client’s ad and reach the target audience

Account services– Account executives: responsible for bringing in new

business and managing the accounts of established clients

Persuasive Techniques in Advertising

Famous-person testimonial– Charlton Heston for the NRA

Plain folks– Volkswagen

Snob appeal– Bentley

Bandwagon– Everyone does it

Hidden fear– Home security products

Irritation– Jerky camera

Association Principle

Product associated with some cultural icon or value

Used in most consumer ads Disassociation corollary: Responding to

consumer backlash, major corporations present products as though from smaller, independent companies, i.e. Saturn.

Questioning Advertising

The Truth, a national youth smoking prevention campaign, works to deconstruct the images that have long been associated with cigarette ads. – Recognized by 80% of teens in 2006– Ranked in the Top 10 “most memorable teen

brands”

Advertising as Myth

Three common mythical elements found in many types of ads:

– Ministories featuring characters, settings, and plots– Stories involve conflicts, pitting one set of characters or

social values against another.– Conflicts are negotiated or resolved by end of ad,

usually by applying or purchasing product. The product and its users are the heroes.

Political Speech vs. Commercial Speech

Political speech is protected under the First Amendment.– Lobbying (PR)– Political campaigns

Commercial speech is far more proscribed by case law.– Fee-based communications– Intended to cause money exchange

Key Advertising Concerns

Schools Health

– Tobacco– Pharmaceuticals– Alcohol

Puffery– Ads featuring hyperbole and exaggeration

Advertisers killing news stories– The end of consumer reporting?

Advertising and the Internet– Interstitials and Spam

Key Advertising Concerns

College students targeted by alcohol ads

A national study released in 2006 demonstrated that “young people who see more ads for alcoholic beverages tend to drink more.”

Product Placement

Placing ads in movies, TV shows, comic books, video games– Coca-Cola on American Idol– Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Should the FCC mandate that the public be warned about product placement on television?

Advertising, Politics, and Democracy

“The era of consumer resistance and control has begun.”

—Yankelovich Partners, marketing services consultants, 2004