Before reading chapter 2, "A Bridesmaid's Bad Breath", I never realized how often advertisements prey on the insecurities and fears of people in order for them to buy their product. In the chapter they uncover how years ago Listerine capitalized on a common insecurity women had back then. In their add, Listerine said that without purchasing their product, women would become old spinsters who could never find a man to marry. Women have always been pressured by society to settle down and get married, and the idea of an old unmarried woman has always been frowned upon. I can only imagine how many women after viewing that commercial went out to buy this product to cure their bad breath, something they may not even have had in the first place. After reading this chapter, I realized how many times I fell for advertising tactics that preyed on my fears.
In chapter 3, "Tall Coffees and Assault Weapons", what stuck out to me the most was that product names can be just as misleading as their descriptions. I think that people, including myself, automatically believe in product names. I never even considered before that products names don't have to be regulated as much as descriptions. Smart advertisers recognize that people generally fall for product names and believe that the product itself does what the name says it does. From now on, I plan to consider that to an advertiser I am only another gullible buyer and I will be smarter before making purchases.
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i like your point that to an advertising agency, we are just stereotypes. For example, the woman who will never be a bride. Like you said, society pressures people to settle and if they dont, they are outcast. I guess the best way to promote something is to scare them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about realizing how I've fallen prey to deceptive advertising or ads that played into my fears. I also want to do my best to avoid letting this happen in the future. As horrible as it is that advertisers can promote products through lies, I don't think the practice is going away anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI get constantly caught up in the name brand game. Although I realize that many generic brands run along side the name brands, at times even containing the exact same ingredients, I have come to understand that some name brands really are better than generic. For example, I love sharpie markers. Every time the generic versions go on sale at Staples I end up buying them to save a couple bucks. However, I cannot say that they write or color as well as the generic brand. Weird? I know. I’m the same way with Windex. I guess I’ll have to do some investigating with the name brand v. generic brand items to find out which are the same, and which are better products.
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