Commercials seem redundant to me nowadays. I rarely pay attention to them, instead opting to change the channel when they come and tune back in when the show I was watching returns. If on the rare occasion the remote is too far for me to reach and I do somewhat register the products that are shamelessly trying to be sold to me I laugh at the idea that I would be interested in purchasing Bounty instead of the other leading brand of paper towel because it's quilted and can be use to clean the entire kitchen. First of all, that's gross; I don't want to use one piece of soggy paper towel to clean the spills on my counter, stove top and kitchen table. Secondly, I wouldn't purchase either brand because I buy the no name paper towels that get the job done and are half the cost of the fancy quilted cloud like ones. True, I may not be the target market for this product but when a perfume commercial plays which I definitely am the target for I still feel nothing. In fact, I think it's a little ridiculous how most perfume commercials have nothing to do with the scent of the product and instead feature a celebrity running through a city such as Paris or Barcelona wearing a flowy gown while a male model chases them. This must mean the perfume smells like daffodils!
Since commercials tend to have a lackluster effect on many people, advertisers have turned to television shows and movies to sell their products. They clearly have a target audience and the resulting products featured in these films and shows are directed at selling to them. I remember even at the young age of eleven when I went to see Josie and the Pussycats in theatres I realized that the entire film was loaded with ads from Target to Coca-Cola. I can't remember if it necessarily made me crave an ice cold coke or beg my parents to take me on a Buffalo shopping trip so I could buy some items at Target but it stuck with me to this day at how crowded the movie seemed due to the product placements.
The most popular shows today feature advertising. Modern Family, 30 Rock and The Office all do it and while some more subtly than others it's still there and something is definitely trying to be sold to us. Obviously advertisers are paying big bucks to get their products featured and how well the writers ad in the products in completely up to them but viewers are smart and not much gets by them.
This form of advertising is more effective as it is done within a story line and can add humor, or help move the story along if even in a slight way. It's also not as in your face as commercials tend to be which strongly helps the cause, as a softer approach in marketing is more popular now
I think that the most important factor in this newer advertising format is to be conscious of it. Advertising is always there even if not always apparent and we are always seen as consumers. If we can be smart about what we choose to purchase and we do so for the right reasons then I believe we, along with the ad agencies are winning.
Hey Jackie! You make a great point about how irrelevant and insubstantial some advertisements are starting to become. I agree with your comment that "since commercials tend to have a lackluster effect on many people, advertisers have turned to television shows and movies to sell their products". You raise the important issue of insubstantial advertising and marketing - more and more companies depend on popular TV shows, music videos, celebrities, songs, and films to market their products instead of simply advertising the products themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe commercials that you have mentioned, most especially the perfume commercials, wholly portray how companies are increasingly becoming more dependent on popular culture to market their products. The Gucci Perfume commercial (which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVHcqjjjnFY) features various models spontaneously breaking out in dance to Blondie's Heart of Glass. I couldn't exactly find a relevance between dancing models and the product itself. Like you said, "most perfume commercials have nothing to do with the scent of the product" and I could not agree more. This is just one of the few exemplary advertisements that illustrate the insubstantial relationship between the advertisement and the product.
You also mention advertising in popular television shows. At first, I noticed the subtle depictions of product placement in shows such as The Office, where office supplies are claimed by characters to have been bought from Staples. But nowadays, there are far more blatant depictions of product placement; some shows even focus whole episodes on certain brand labels. Shows like Modern Family built an entire episode on the Apple iPad as well as How I Met Your Mother, where Microsoft was the prevalent brand of one of the episodes. These blatant depictions of product placement signifies the advertising industry's growing dependency on popular culture to market their products. As a result, brand labels are starting to become more associated with their celebrity-studded advertisements instead of the actual products that they sell.
But like you said, despite the product placements and irrelevant advertising and marketing techniques, consumers should always be aware and practical when purchasing products. This is pretty much the most logical approach to avoid being sucked in by the advertisement agencies.