Advertising and Commercial

Culture

Chapter 10

Early Developments in American Advertising

• Advertising used in antiquity• 1704: First newspaper ads in America• Most U.S. magazines had advertising by mid-1800s.• Earliest ad agencies were newspaper space brokers.

• Bought newspaper space, sold it to merchants

• N.W. Ayer established the first “modern” U.S. ad agency in 1869.

Advertising in the 1800s

• Manufacturers realized consumers would ask for their products specifically if they were distinctive, associated with quality.

• Advertising let manufacturers establish

“brand recognition” for their products.

• 19th-century ads created the impression of significant differences among products.

Advertising in the 1800s (cont.)

• By the end of the 1800s, half the ads were for patent medicines or department stores.

• Many patent medicines

were dangerous

and/or fraudulent.• Problem led to advertising self-policing.

• Federal Food and Drug Act

1906

Promoting Social Change and Dictating Values

• Powerful ads changed American life.

• Transition from producer-directed society to consumer-driven society

• Promoted new technological advances that made life easier

• Mad Men - The Carousel (Higher Quality)

Promoting Social Change and Dictating Values

• Ads were accused of inciting Consumer need for unnecessary products.

• Began to use advertising’s power for social good• Ad Council founded in the 1940s

Early Ad Regulation

• Agencies created to self-regulate the ad industry:• The Better Business Bureau• Audit Bureau of Circulation• American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA)

• Subliminal advertising• Hidden or disguised visual messages in films and

television programs• No more effective than regular ads

Types of Advertising Agencies

• Top 4 mega-agencies • WPP• Omnicom• Publicis• Interpublic

• Boutique agencies• Often founded by designers and graphic artists

empowered by visual revolution of the 1960s• Peterson Milla Hooks: one of the biggest boutique

agencies in America

Figure 10.1Global Revenue for the World’s Four Largest

Agencies

(in Billions of Dollars)

Figure 10.2Where the Advertising Dollars Went, 2009

The Structure of Advertising Agencies

• Market research assesses the behaviors and attitudes of consumers toward particular products.

• Types of market research• Demographics• Psychographics• Focus groups• Values and Lifestyles (VALS)

• See Fig. 10.3 on p. 331

The Structure of Advertising Agencies (cont.)

• Creative development• Writers and artists outline rough sketch of ads.

• 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 are responsible for bringing in new

business and managing the accounts of established clients.

Trends in Online Advertising

• Pop-up ads, pop-under ads, flash multimedia ads, and interstitials popular today

• Fastest-growing segment of ad industry

• Advertisers target individuals by tracking ad impressions, click-throughs.• Build profiles for consumers based on this information

• Social networking sites provide advertisers with a wealth of data.

Persuasive Techniques in Contemporary Advertising

• Famous-person testimonial• Plain-folks pitch• Snob-appeal approach• Bandwagon effect• Hidden-fear appeal• Irritation advertising

The Association Principle

• Product associated with some cultural icon or value

• Used in most consumer ads

• Responding to consumer backlash, major corporations present products as though from smaller, independent companies.

Advertising as Myth

• Three common mythical elements found in many types of ads:• Mini-stories

• Stories involving conflicts

• Conflicts are negotiated or resolved by end of ad, usually by applying or purchasing product.

Product Placement• Placing ads in movies, TV shows, comic books, video

games• Starbucks on Morning Joe (MSNBC)• Audi in Iron Man 2

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

Commercial Speech and Regulating Advertising

• Political speech is protected under the First Amendment. (FIRST AMENDMENT – SPEECH & PRESS) • Lobbying (PR)• Political campaigns

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

Critical Issues in Advertising

• The heavy promotion of toys, sugary cereals to children

• Advertising in schools• Health

• Eating disorders• Tobacco• Alcohol• Prescription drugs

• Puffery• Ads featuring hyperbole and exaggeration

Alternative Voices• 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• By 2007, ranked in the Top 10 “most memorable teen brands”

Advertising’s Role in Politics

• Since the 1950s, politicians have mimicked advertising techniques in order to get elected.

• Broadcasters have long opposed providing free time for political campaigns and issues, since political advertising is big business for television stations.

The Future of Advertising

• Commercialism has generated cultural feedback that is often critical of advertising’s pervasiveness.

• Still, the growth of the industry has not diminished.

• Public maintains uneasy relationship with advertising.