Subliminal Advertising

SUBLIMINAL ADVERTING

Advertising has been finding ways to skew peoples perception of things for decades now, whether or not Marketing companies intentionally places hidden words/images is really difficult to prove. Or do people really have to much time on their hands or perhaps read into things too much?

Taken from a 2011 article in Business Insider , by Dillion Love, "William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, prominently spoke out against subliminal when the movie adaptation of his book came under fire for including allegedly subliminal messaging." He said, "There are no subliminal images. If you can see it, it's not subliminal." this leads me to believe that not everyone in the business of selling is intentionally out to trick people into buying.

People today are bombarded with so many advertisements in a single day that perhaps consumers have a close eye to detail. We have access to things such as, print/digital ads, and social media. All of which include modern ways to incorporate ads. I feel the average consumer can spot a subliminal message in a second in comparison to a few decades ago. 

In my humble opinion, I feel that this method of advertising can be used in a positive method if done tastefully and without false  underlines. Including imagery in ads that may not be seen instantly could be a clever use of marketing in a world where everything has be done, seen, and recycled time and time again. 

Humour in Advertising

“Audiences like to be entertained, but not pitched”. Written by Mark Levitt in an online article from experience.com.  This article addresses the fine line between good advertising and down right annoying through the use of humour. Now, there are concerns that surround this form of advertising, such as level of respect from the consumer. Will the use of humour draw negative attention to the company as compared to lightening the perception? Will the consumer be offended and be turned off the brand. And, Will the company actually sell product through the use of humour?

In my humble opinion, this plan of attack is might not always sell product the way more conventional approaches do, but, there is something about the use of humour in advertising that sticks to peoples ribs. For example, the infamous super bowls ads! According to ESPN, in 2012 had a price tag of 3.5 million dollars to run ad space for commercials during the game. These ads are typically humorous and lets face it, people love them! Sure, Pepsi may not sell any extra sodas by running ads during the super bowl, but, to them, it’s worth millions to convey a humanistic portrayal of the company.

Consumers can also be turned off a brand or company if the ad is too offensive. Take, the ad by Peta (See photo below). It’s geared to be funny and a bit cheeky, but comes off being insulting. It features an over weight female with a caption that says “Save the Whale, lose the blubber: Go Vegetarian”. I am not an advertising expert, but insulting your cliental seems like an obvious no-no.

Finally, I ask will a company actually sell more product with humour? In the end, my best guess is probably not. However, if they get they’ve captured the attention of the consumer then it’s money well spent!

Let’s face it; if we stripped away all the humour from modern advertising, we’d live in one hell of a boring place. It’s the offbeat adverts that always grab my attention! Good or bad, who knows!

                              Image taken from google.com

Obesity in Advertising

As a modern society, it is obvious that North Americans are getting fat! In fact, fatter and fatter each year! According to Forbes magazine, Canada ranks 35^th in 2007 among the world’s fattest countries. In my opinion, advertising has a lot to do with this. It plays a large role in making people obese even if indirectly doing so. Ad companies are always pushing boundaries and have figured out that shock value goes along way in our society. These same companies also have the ability to help prevent this. All this being said, Should we blame the ad companies, or the consumer? Or both?

Advertising specifically targets particular markets in order to persuade or skew people’s opinions about particular products. For example, the corporate hamburger giant McDonalds, market themselves geared towards families and in particular young children. There food has extremely high calorie count per hamburger and yet, market this same food as Blissful! (See photo below). It seems to me that companies like this do not have their consumers in their best interest in terms of health.

All these major corporations have the ability to use there millions of dollars towards advertising to perhaps do something completely out of the box…Speak the truth! What would the world be like if laws were passed regarding manipulative advertising in our society? What if food companies were not allowed to alter image of there products. Would this help a decline in obesity? I think so.

Finally, Is this something we should solely place blame on the ad agencies for being too good at their job? Of course not. Ultimately, it’s up to the consumer to keep conscious of what is worth paying attention to and what to through in the mental trash can! The only solution is to find a balance in advertising between what is appropriate or not. It is a moral duty! With that, I will leave you with a quote from Mike Searles president of Kids ‘R’ Us. He said “If you own this child at an early age…you can own this child for years to come”. Enough said I'd say!

Ad taken from http://www.sternadvertising.com/our-work/mcdonalds/