Blog X

ADVERTISING IS…

Do advertisements lie?

Whether we like it or not, advertisements do lie & deceive us to catch our attention & promote their product. That's reality.

Attention Span & Advertising

In my opinion, I think our attention spans dwindled over the years because of the increase in the amount and method of advertising. 10 years ago, the average attention span was about 12 minutes; whereas today the average is 5 minutes. I think that the advance in technology and internet advertising is mainly the cause of this. 10 years ago, the internet was still in it's baby stage. It was only really accessible through a desktop or laptop. The fact that many people (at least people I knew) didn't have access to these devices, made advertising strictly print media, television and radio accessible. People weren't bombarded with as many ads as today. Comparing this to today, we can now access the internet almost EVERYWHERE. We can access it on our mobile phones. We can access it on our iPods, iPads, tablets, laptops and desktops. Wifi is also found in coffee shops now, even at MacDonald's! Almost everywhere you go, you can access the internet. This means that the amount of advertising just doubled if not tripled compared to 10 years ago because the internet is so easily accessible. The average person spends about 9 seconds looking at an ad on the internet. Why is this so low? Because they are EVERYWHERE! I can guarantee that people are so overwhelmed with ads on the internet that they do not bother to give a good 90% a second glance. Based on my experience, when I am scrolling through a web page on the internet, I ignore most of the ads. (Unless they are very interesting) Why you ask? Because there are so many that my brain won't remember most of them anyway. And you know what the companies do? They throw more at you. So we tune them out. This turns into a vicious cycle where we start to not care and they care too much. I think if brands focused more on coming up with a creative ad campaign instead of throwing a whole mess of them at their consumers, they would have better results and spend less money. I understand that this is how advertising works. You want to promote your brand so people will buy it. I just think that is they used their resources into a creative way that will catch their viewers attention, then maybe we would give them the time of day. 

The age generation gap also plays a huge role in this. Most adults over 40 don't use a computer all that often or don't need to access it everywhere they go, so they aren't as overwhelmed with advertisements. My generation grew up in the computer day and age, making it almost second nature to us. We just scroll on by and continue what we were doing. Maybe if they made the ads 15 seconds or less, they would keep up with our attention span. As demonstrated in this article.

http://tomfishburne.com/2013/09/short-attention-span-marketing.html
http://www.statisticbrain.com/attention-span-statistics/

Shock-vertising

In my opinion, shock advertising is a great way to turn viewers heads. The average person sees about 10,000 ads a DAY, but how many do they remember? Probably 2-5. Why is that? Because we can relate to them. When we hear about world concerns like starvation or racism, we tend to disregard it because we think "Hey, it isn't happening to us, so why should we care?" When you see an advertisement that is so appalling in nature, it hits home. In these ads, they are basically telling it how it is. No sensors or sugar coating. They are explaining the root of the issue in a message which creates mixed emotions of anger, sadness and compassion. These feelings are motivational triggers for people to actually do something about the issue or at least be aware that it is happening and it COULD happen  to them. 

Take this Child Services ad for example. I don't think I could have done a better job at advertising child hunger then this ad. It is not only relatable, but it makes you sympathize for the children. It almost makes you feel guilty that you're not doing something to help, which motivates you to do so.

All of these ads may seem gruesome in nature, but I find that if they were sugar coated they wouldn't have the same effect. I know for a fact that most people wouldn't even give them the time of day. The whole point of advertising is to make people WANT to buy your product/service. I find that the best way of doing this is portraying your message in a way that they WON'T forget. 

Then there is the debate of "Does this contribute to the desensitizing of issues that are truly important?" In my opinion, the reason we as a human race don't do much to help each other is because we are too ignorant. We are already disconnected and desensitized from these issues because we live under a rock. That's the reality of it. I can understand that people may not want their kids seeing these ads, but they will find out sooner or later. In this younger generation, kids are already exposed to these things in video games and movies. If people have experienced these things, they would see the issues in a totally different perspective. I'm not saying that everyone should experience hunger, segregation or an accident to be able to see them in a different light, they just need to know that these things DO intact happen and be aware that they can help change them.

Although some of these types of ads do get negative publicity based on their content, I believe it is worth this approach because most people will not find these ads offensive. (Unless they are made to be offensive which they shouldn't if you want to gain approval from your audience) I don't think it will reflect badly on the brands or companies as long as they make them shockingly neutral. 

It is not wrong to be daring or take a risk like this. How else will you gain attention? Some products can't be advertised in a humorous way because THAT would be more offensive. Shock advertising world issues, like the ads above, are examples of things that can't be portrayed in a humorous fashion because the underlying message isn't funny. 

commfaculty.fullerton.edu/rgass/.../Shock%20Advertising.ppt‎