13 replies to this topic

[Lavinia]

One of my projects is to create an advertising concept for a product of my choice, and I was just wondering, what types of advertising is more effective for you?

Do you think advertising is effective? (does it make you think, make you want to buy said product etc.)
If so, which form of advertising do you prefer, tv, posters, internet ads, banners, dramatic stunts? Is one more effective than the other?
What ads have you seen that are fantastic and just shock and amaze you?
Are there any that disgust you or make you think? Should they be banned?
What about censorship regarding adverts? We all know about the watershed, are there some advertisements that you see that make you think 'er, why is this on before 9?' or 'This shouldn't be previewed in front of children.'
What do you think of censorship in tv, movies, ads etc. What are your views?
Do you think some classifications could be questioned?

My friend posted this on her facebook, and it's fantastic. I think it's amazing. Like, holy cow I want to see this live in action.



There are many adverts that just pass over my head, as a media student you get so used to being analytical of forms of media that you can just ignore them or easily predict any of their concepts. Although this doesn't necessarily imply other people won't be able to analyse it too, many adverts now are just very predictable. Or am I wrong in saying this?

I like the advertisements that are amusing, out there and generally well put together. I can appreciate good advertising, I'm not a fan of Apple products, but the way they're constructed is just fantastic. Although they can go wrong, I don't like ads with cheesy story line (Like the Daz commercials) The tea ad is nice, I can't remember which but they have a lot of different coloured tea, I really like that for some strange reason. I like the Mr.Muscle cleaning ads, they generally subvert typical stereotypes and it's pretty amusing to watch.

I do recall seeing 'The Woman in Black' trailer during the previews whilst waiting for Sherlock 2, and it was pretty shocking. It's a pretty scary film, and my brother is only 11 and he saw the trailer, which scared him. I do question why they show some of these trailers during movies that children will watch, and I do think that the classification for The Woman in Black shouldn't be a 12A. That's just asking for trouble. However, I do think that they take censorship too far, like with this (junk food advertising too influencing towards children?) Censorship is a very interesting discussion, and I love hearing what people say about it.

Are there some things that children shouldn't see? Why? Do you think they can be influenced or is it dependent on the individual?

[Steve]

Do you think advertising is effective? - Personally, I don't watch much TV any more that isn't streamed ad-free online so any televised adverts are for the most part avoided (AdBlockPlus kills YouTube ads as well). I'd like to think in general though that I'm not enticed by advertising very much. I have an "if I wasn't going to buy something before, I'm not going to now" mentality about it. Speaking from statistics I'd say advertising is very effective, though. It's usually the advertisements you don't pay attention to that get you, like small posters and messages advertising products that you take a glimpse at but don't consciously recognise. The power of suggestion?

If so, which form of advertising do you prefer, tv, posters, internet ads, banners, dramatic stunts? Is one more effective than the other? - Posters are my favourite form of advertising, mostly due to the reason the advertisement is on topic of what is being advertised. You see the product, you are told what the product is and a slogan or logo is thrown your way so you can identify with it more. It's to the point. Televised adverts seem like they're just trying to woo you with unrelated crap, like Barclay (or Natwest?) with the waterslide that goes around the world. Although cool, it's not related to Barclay (or Natwest?) in the slightest, except the colour of the waterslide. It's just ridiculous.

What ads have you seen that are fantastic and just shock and amaze you? - It's been a while since I've been amazed by an advertisement, possibly childhood with the Coco Pops adverts, but that's probably due to being a child and wanting what I see because it's bright and colourful. A more recent advertisement I found pretty cool, though, was the Typhoo advert, where they showed a huge range of blends of tea they had, each one giving a distinct colour, making art from cups of tea in a birds' eye view was pretty impressive.

Are there any that disgust you or make you think? Should they be banned? - I was on a first aid course last year, we were shown two advertisements for heart attacks and strokes. One of these ads has been publicised quite a lot. The "F.A.S.T" advertisement that tells you how to spot a stroke early on, that was informative. There was this other one though, it was filmed in a first person perspective, and there's a guy listing the symptoms of a heart attack, while he lists them he attacks the cameraman (e.g. he mentions your heart feeling like a punch in the chest, he punches him in the chest). That was really shocking and actually did get banned. But it got the message through.

What about censorship regarding adverts? We all know about the watershed, are there some advertisements that you see that make you think 'er, why is this on before 9?' or 'This shouldn't be previewed in front of children.' - As I said previously, I don't really watch TV enough to know this. I suppose the one I listed above is frightening to a child and had a good reason to be banned.

What do you think of censorship in tv, movies, ads etc. What are your views? - In the UK, censorship is usually well placed in my opinion, I have no problems with the times they air certain programmes, or the blurring/beeping they put in place to stop the young ones seeing/hearing too much.

Do you think some classifications could be questioned? - I'm not sure what you mean here, could you clarify?

Are there some things that children shouldn't see? Why? Do you think they can be influenced or is it dependent on the individual? - I'd say there's a lot that young children shouldn't be exposed to early on. Namely the overly scary films, bad language and scenes depicting sex, rape, torture etc. Death is a grey area though, I'd say that children should be able to understand the concept of death, but not be overly exposed to it. As the child gets older and more mature, obviously, they should be sheltered less from things gradually. That's just my opinion anyway. As for influence, my general belief is that it's easier to influence someone more naíve (i.e. children).

[Gangsta Fag]

Anything with Kate Upton. I mean ANYTHING

[Lavinia]

It's usually the advertisements you don't pay attention to that get you, like small posters and messages advertising products that you take a glimpse at but don't consciously recognise. The power of suggestion?

I don't watch tv either, but I'd catch a glance of some ads at times and they can be pretty interesting to discuss. Thought you might like this, if you haven't seen it already. I despise the man, but it's pretty clever.
- Derren Brown 'Power of Subliminal Messages'

Televised adverts seem like they're just trying to woo you with unrelated crap, like Barclay (or Natwest?) with the waterslide that goes around the world. Although cool, it's not related to Barclay (or Natwest?) in the slightest, except the colour of the waterslide. It's just ridiculous.

That I can agree with, I do find it pointless. But it has stuck in your mind and you have formed an opinion of it, so it's successful in a sense of creating a lasting impact, yes? Many creators are looking for more humorous and dramatic means to advertise their brand, they've all got competition with one another as to who stands out more and looks interesting, banks I think have a harder job because they're pretty boring in themselves.

There was this other one though, it was filmed in a first person perspective, and there's a guy listing the symptoms of a heart attack, while he lists them he attacks the cameraman (e.g. he mentions your heart feeling like a punch in the chest, he punches him in the chest). That was really shocking and actually did get banned. But it got the message through.

Do you know if it's still available? Link?

Do you think some classifications could be questioned? - I'm not sure what you mean here, could you clarify?

Film ratings etc. Like the example I mentioned in the OP 'The Woman in Black' being a 12A is this rating appropriate for a movie of this genre? Are there other films that you think the age rating should be questioned or rethought?

[Steve]

I don't watch tv either, but I'd catch a glance of some ads at times and they can be pretty interesting to discuss. Thought you might like this, if you haven't seen it already. I despise the man, but it's pretty clever.
- Derren Brown 'Power of Subliminal Messages'

I'm a fan of Derren Brown, actually. He's really good at putting thoughts into your mind, so long as you don't catch onto what he's doing. I like how he relies on people's subconscious absorbing information, whilst the conscious mind doesn't pay much attention to it. Have you seen his Enigma show? I love how he set everything up there, the whole show was just one suggestive thought after another. Brilliant.

That I can agree with, I do find it pointless. But it has stuck in your mind and you have formed an opinion of it, so it's successful in a sense of creating a lasting impact, yes? Many creators are looking for more humorous and dramatic means to advertise their brand, they've all got competition with one another as to who stands out more and looks interesting, banks I think have a harder job because they're pretty boring in themselves.

Well, they say any publicity is good publicity, I guess, but I just tend to dismiss advertisements like that because they're not telling me what it is, and why I should bother to buy/subscribe/whatever.

Do you know if it's still available? Link?

<-- It doesn't really impact you as much on a small screen, I watched this on a projector, which gave it that extra shock factor. It's still pretty effective, though.

Film ratings etc. Like the example I mentioned in the OP 'The Woman in Black' being a 12A is this rating appropriate for a movie of this genre? Are there other films that you think the age rating should be questioned or rethought?

Ah, I see, well in that case I don't have many objections to that either.

[ ᠎]

I just dropped by to say fuck censorship.

[Reflection]

That, and what Geist said.
Sums it up.

[Lavinia]

<-- It doesn't really impact you as much on a small screen, I watched this on a projector, which gave it that extra shock factor. It's still pretty effective, though.

Wow, that is fantastic. I love how engaging it was, I genuinely felt scared watching that. Now I don't think that should have been banned, if it's successfully and incites a response, who cares? Scare tactics always work.
Thanks Steve, your feedback was useful. ^^

I assumed a topic about censorship would be semi interesting on ec, however it's obvious not many seem that concerned with it.
Any way, here's an interesting image for you all;

[Gangsta Fag]

ITT: Nobody cares if some gooks get locked up.

Besides, China isn't going to listen to shmucks with their "outrage", they'll tell them to go fuck themselves, then roll in gold.

[LionJess]

I find advertising fascinating, I have to say - we all say that it doesn't impact us, we don't care, etc, but it CLEARLY does. I mean look at the success of companies who have a good advertising campaign, or who really manage to suck people in to their image. Plus there's a simple fact that if it wasn't for advertising, you wouldn't be aware of a hell of a lot of products. Most established companies continue to advertise to continue to stay relevant, really, but we'd never originally probably know about something if it wasn't for advertising.

I suppose you tend to be attracted most of all to what's funny or shocking, and they go viral very quickly. People will tend to remember those the most. I can't say I've been truly shocked by an advertising campagin, though a lot of them do tend to irritate me I find it interesting to look at print ads for clothes sometimes, especially the ones by fashion labels that spend billions on them.

Regarding censorship... meh. I think it should be up to parents and not some kind of advertising committee to monitor what their kids are watching. I don't believe in censoring things for adults, you should be able to make your own mind up about whether you want to watch something or not, it's not difficult to turn something off. I could never work in advertising, but I have to say that I find their job fascinating - and especially the hype that's created around the release of say, a new Apple product. That's pretty much been entirely created by the brand. Amazing stuff.

[Bimp]

[Lavinia]

ITT: Nobody cares if some gooks get locked up.

Besides, China isn't going to listen to shmucks with their "outrage", they'll tell them to go fuck themselves, then roll in gold.

If you can't post anything serious or insightful, don't bother.

It's not about that, if you try to understand the situation instead of coming out with semi racist, offhanded remarks you'd understand that China, Russia, like many other places, is very controlling in regards to censorship. The picture was a mere example as to how far they go to censor views, and opinions. Is this right? Should it be acceptable? Obviously not. What does China have to hide that they'd imprison people for speaking their views? Also, why hasn't anyone tried to stop them?

Regarding censorship... meh. I think it should be up to parents and not some kind of advertising committee to monitor what their kids are watching. I don't believe in censoring things for adults, you should be able to make your own mind up about whether you want to watch something or not, it's not difficult to turn something off.

I completely agree, it irks me to no end when people blame the reactions people have on forms of media. Like they saw some horror movie, that doesn't necessarily mean that they were influenced to go beat up and slice a person up. Sure the film could be the tipping factor, but that person must have been mentally weak to have been able to commit such acts. So should things be censored for the sake of mentally weak individuals? I don't know, there's only so much you can do.

Thanks Jess for the feedback. ^^

I saw this, it's absolutely amazing. I can't believe they'd have such confidence in their own products to place that amount of money in it, it's almost arrogant in a way, but damn. That is pretty frickin' amazing of them to come up with that.

[Algernon]

I thought this clip might be an addition of some relevance to this topic. Be certain to watch it right to the end. If you can't see it for copyright reasons, search YouTube for 'The Sad Truth Get Closer'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CcjNUq2qzE

[Lavinia]

Thanks Algernon, that's pretty enlightening. I love how well put together it is.