- Published: November 17, 2021
- Updated: November 17, 2021
- University / College: Royal Holloway University of London
- Language: English
- Downloads: 44
Despite how much one may think they can ignore them and how little these ads may affect nee, the many manipulative tactics advertisements use can influence one in ways one does not even realize. There are many people who truly believe they are impervious to advertising in general, so K.
Mallory in “ An Analysis of engage Manipulation in Advertising” states, ‘ those who claim immunity to its message are the most susceptible” (1 Not only are these consumers aware of their own apparent immunity to advertisements, but also the makers of such advertisements. Therefore, advertisers use this supposed confidence of consumers to their advantage and utilize conniving methods in he form of humor in television advertising, adding cutesy mascots, and photo shopping models to become sexualities images to promote the products and make it immensely desirable to a consumer. Advertising is a type of communication that is employed to persuade an audience to take some sort of action with respect (Dictionary.
Com). Marketing and promotions have existed as far back as 3000 BC Long before the colonization of America began, various methods of advertising were utilized to promote trade. During the middle of the asses, industry had begun its steady rise as a market economy.
From the increasingly urbanize American Netscape produced an all time new concept of modern advertising. Traditionally, newspapers would be the home to many brief assessments and advertisements of businesses. By contrast, the newer advertisements began to focus more on creating distinctive slogans for consumers to remember. The industry of advertising grew as technology was innovated. Competition between particular products and designs developed.
The techniques advertising used were advanced that in turn began to change the social landscape (Maryland State Archives). Many of the earliest advertisements were then formed to appeal to American women, who as the Maryland State Archives states were the “ bedrock of American families” (1). The classic portrayal of a woman back then was that of a house mother or house wife that would do all the cooking and cleaning for her family. Therefore, she would most likely make greater use of the consumer goods from the advertisements that began to focus on the “ desires” and “ needs” of the rising consumer population that women predominantly made up. One devious method advertisers use to promote a product and acquire more consumers to purchase and expand their industry is by adding cute mascots in the ad. One key reason this may be true could be to distract the nonusers from realizing how the product is basically the same as another product. Jason alone in “ 21 Ways Advertisers Are Manipulating You And You Don’t Even Know It’ claims, “ Mascots give a voice and a face to a brand that ultimately offers the same thing as the competition” (1).
One of advertising’s main purposes is to differentiate products that essentially are the same, thus, they throw in a cute mascot everyone knows. For example, Gecko Auto Insurance is essentially the same as say, Allocate Auto Insurance. Both offer insurances for any type of car/motorcycle/TV/REV/boat, online lams and quotes, agent contact tools and so much more. One thing Gecko does to stand out just a little bit more than Allocate is add in the green gecko with every television commercial to try to acquire the attention of a variety of people. In this way, advertising can very easily deceive the source of information as well as betray the role it plays as the source Of information by misrepresentation and/or distraction. Another cunning technique advertisers exploit is humor.
Everyone loves a good laugh and humorous ads pass beyond momentary entertainment and influences product/message recollection. Many advertisers of products Americans love know this fact better than anyone. The ones with the real talent are the scriptwriters that record attention grabbing gags and jokes to make consumers not only remember, but also distract from the product they are very well trying to sell.
The most humorous ads are usually those brands that market the unhealthy junk food mothers try to keep their children away from as well as alcohol. Young Ghana and George Zinnias from “ Humor in Television Advertising’ argued, “ A humorous message has a positive effect on message recall, attitude towards the advertised brand, and therefore, the effectiveness of the ad” (1). Humor in advertisements increases that commercials effectiveness. It draws more attention from the audiences/ consumers. The same authors add, “ humor distracts an audience during a persuasive communication” (1). Such a distraction eventually leads to a decreased level of counterargument’s and, therefore, a larger increase in the persuasion and reception of the ad message.
A third way advertisers promote their products with manipulation is by photo shopping and over editing the models in the advertisement. Whether it is consciously or unconsciously, those who pay for advertising really do come to have power over the media. Images that are over edited, products or people, are trivialize and debased. Jean Kilojoules in “ Beauty…
And the Beast Of Advertising” States how “ advertising’s approach to sex… Educes people to objects and deemphasizes human contact and individuality’ (1 These almost unreal people and their human natures are devalued and become defined by the product or ad they are playing a role in. Particular abuses of advertising and product/people placement begin to occur when not only are used to inform audiences, but then also to demean certain firms and convince people to act and buy and become different products or services. Steve Craig in “ Men’s Men And Women’s Women” states, “ The most economical advertising buys are those in which the target audience is most concentrated” (187). No advertiser wants to waste money on people who do not care.
Not only would the timing of the ad on television be concentrated, but also the people in the ad. People, mostly women, would want to buy more of a certain product if someone they really like also uses/buys the same product. Jean Kilojoules from the same article additionally asserts, ‘ Women are shown almost exclusively as housewives or sex objects” (1 It almost becomes acceptable to arrest a woman’s body. The distorted body image and sexual sell of a woman’s body is deemed tolerable with the help of sensualists advertisements with photo-shopped models. Nevertheless, advertising has still reflected society by using different words at various times. Advertisements probably rely heavily on the social desires as it depends on these very real human passions to market a product. Meeting the desires and needs of a product will provoke a person’s drive to buy.
One example of how advertising really is a mirror to our society is through the marketing of Malabar cigarettes. Tobacco companies insist that their main purpose is to just change a smoker’s brand, not make a nonsmoker pick up the habit. However, Grace Has in ‘ Advertising: The Art of Persuasion and Mirror to Society’ argues, the target audience through these advertisements is mostly ” a younger market with the message that smoking is cool… Or macho just like the “ Marlboro Man” (1 Society, today, desires to be masculine and the portrayal of the manly Malabar Man reveals just that. In order to be rugged like the Man, smoke this type of cigarette. The Malabar ads for unfiltered cigarettes, which typically are viewed as more feminine Han the filtered ones, portray heavily on the masculinity of the man than the actual health risks and their sales sky rocketed.
The appeal was that a man desires to be manlier in an increasingly feminizes world. Advertisements really do reflect the desires of society, as this is precisely what is truly needed to market and buy a product. It may be true that men do not want to be viewed as feminine in any way possible, therefore drove these ad agencies to portray a rugged man to be the face of a cigarette company to allow fellow men to feel manlier. However, there are other ways to feel masculine without taking pleasure in ads that remote unhealthy products/habits. Men can exercise which can make him look and feel better. Men can relish responsibility, sharpen their intellect, improve their emotional health, and much more.
One ad that portrays a very manly male is the Old Spice bodies wash commercial. These commercials depict an extremely fit man using the body wash that in turn makes him desirable by a lot of women because of how rugged and good he smells. There are many other products in which a man could relish from an advertisement to make him feel the way he wants or needs to feel without physically choosing the more difficult/unhealthy alternatives. Advertising is an incredible part of our lives.