Advertisements do more harm than good

[DeletedUser9470]

For sure, no one is forcing anyone to do anything.
That is the danger of advertising. the feeling of free will, keeping the target customer in his "comfort zone".

The fact that one saw an ad for ifone4gs made one want it and ultimately buy it.
why?
did one buy it because it is the best quality/value product out there?
or did the ad mislead one into thinking it is?

Same applies for most of todays products. most are crap. but ads sell them perfectly putting sales figures through the roof.

I bet my life you could literally sell ice to Eskimos should they be stuck in front of an ad for a special "better" ice.

all that is needed is a good brand name like "i-ice", a bs usp like "i-ice comes in different colours" a nice packaging (seems white plastic is what people like nowadays) and a good slogan like "i-ice just cooler" and dont forget to stick a massive markup on the product, maybe "only" £10/kg!!!

Put that all together in a 30 second add, pay a tv company a few million pounds to broadcast and watch the profits roll in.

The point im trying to make is that advertising sells anything and only because they dupe the viewer into a certain way of thinking.
Kelloggs is best cereal, macdonalds is best dining, coca-cola tastes amazing, m&s food is not any old food...

In this sense it is no ones free will to buy ice, as much as its no ones free will to buy an ifone4gs.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

True, but you're only going to buy something if you've already got the desire to get one, for instance i have no desire to buy a phone therefore all those clever marketing ploys saying that the Ifone4gs is the best phone in the world are wasted on me however an advert for a new PC game might catch my attention and if not persuade me to buy it there and then would probably pique my interest enough to look into it a little more.
In short you still have some free will, an advert can't make you buy anything you wouldn't normally buy else we'd all be listening to X-factor and drinking Fosters.

 

[DeletedUser]

we "still have some free will"...or do we? while the individual circumstances may allow one to prefer buying a new PC game to a new phone, advertising molds society into its plaything.

 

[DeletedUser]

-Neo-, you forgot the most important part. You have to throw in a catchy jingle so people will be humming it as they pass your i-ice in stores.

 

[DeletedUser]

The jingle doesn't even need to be catchy....just spam it day and night and you'll get the same effect.

 

[DeletedUser]

A catchy jingle would be better though by ingraining it in your brain because you actually like the tune. A much more powerful marketing ploy.

 

[DeletedUser]

On a related note, doesn't it seem like pretty much all pop songs are about love or heartbreak? Seems like all these celebrities are trying to sell something.....or are they responding to what people want? I think this advertising of such an idea is pretty damaging to kids if it's all they listen to.

 

[DeletedUser]

Songs are written about love and heartbreak because that is the one common factor that ALL humans share.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

yeah i mean even Metallica has a love song. But you don't need to write a jingle these days, a lot of adverts just tend to Butcher I mean borrow old songs such as using "Sweet Child of mine" to sell perfume, anything will do just as long as its memorable

 

[Red Falcon]

I don't really pay to much attention to advertisements. Whenever TV commercials are on (Such as during a football game), I am usually in the kitchen or in another room doing something while waiting for the show to come back on. No, I don't think advertising is bad unless (Like someone above said) a person does not understand the message being conveyed through the advertisement. But I DO think certain products or services are just a waste of people's time and/or money.