Rex Trulove
Unless you live in the middle of nowhere and have no contact with the outside world, it is likely that you are exposed to a barrage of advertising. Advertising comes in many forms; billboards, online ads, ads in magazines and newspapers, ads on television, ads on radio, signs, and even ads in the phone book.
Companies and individuals spend a large amount of money every year on advertising. The idea is hardly new; bring awareness to the consumer and entice them to purchase your goods or services. If the market is flooded with similar products, the advertising can have the role of making your product seem somehow better than that of the competition. Advertising is so invasive that even news outlets pander primarily toward advertisers and advertising rather than reporting the news.
Advertising has become such a fact of modern life that most people don’t even think about it. Some events even drive so much revenue that it almost seems like the events are almost designed specifically for advertising. For instance, a 30-second advertising slot during the Super Bowl can be worth millions of dollars. Indeed, some people watch the Super Bowl just to see the ads, rather than to see the game.
The ads clearly work, or companies wouldn’t spend so much money on them. How do you personally feel about advertising?
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Question of
When you are watching TV, do you pay attention to the ads?
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No, I use that time as ‘intermissions’
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Only once in a while
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I usually watch the ads
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Question of
Do ads often influence you to purchase a particular product?
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Yes, sometimes
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Rarely
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No
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Question of
Do ads often influence you to purchase a particular product?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
How often do you interact (click on) an ad online?
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Very often
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Occasionally
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Rarely
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Never
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Advertising and sales really kill me, haha!
I record a lot of the shows and movies I watch so I don’t have to watch commercials! 🙂
Now I like the Super Bowl ads.
I have to admit that I enjoy a lot of the Super Bowl ads, too. I loved the Budweiser ad that paid tribute to the fallen during the 911 terrorist attack.
Very interesting post! I almost always pay attention to the background and the surrounding when I watch TV or some film
What really surprises me is that advertising agencies very seldom do even simple polls like this one. They simply make assumptions that might be totally incorrect.
I believe advertising is the key source for any product to know about , I think one should pay attention.
It is fairly certain that advertising agencies hope that most people feel that way.
Yes, what you says is very correct .
I just go away while ads are on TV … unless they’re very engaging…
I’m always skeptical about ads on internet… I’m afraid they might be virus …
However, banners (especially about newly opened store or cafe) sometimes catch my eyes and I might just go in and see or try…
On the internet, the click-through rates…number of times an ad is clicked on…is very important and is often used as a gauge of how effective the ad is. If the site is reputable, the ads shouldn’t have viruses, though. Ad-serving companies routinely check the ads for viruses before they are even displayed.
My TV watching is nearly always on the BBC – which has the huge benefit of not having adverts!
You are very lucky. I rarely watch TV, but almost all American TV has lots of ads.
The downside of our arrangement is that you have to pay for a TV licence in the UK, which funds the BBC, and you have to have a licence even if you never watch BBC programmes but only the commercial channels. The current licence fee is £147 a year, although there is no charge for over-75s.
No wonder that the BBC that is shown in the states has commercials. People in the states get a little cranky about paying a subscription fee for something they never watch or use. It happens, but people aren’t happy about it. Normally, it doesn’t have anything to do with TV, though.
For instance, there are currently levies for a major public school project and another for major road construction. The levies are charged to landowners in the county, whether or not they will ever use those particular roads or have any kids in school.
I suppose there is still such a thing as social justice. Wealthy people pay more income tax than poorer people (unless they cheat) simply because they have higher incomes, but are less likely to use public services such as state education and health care (and I am talking about the UK).
But that is not the point. It is what liberal democracy is all about – the state takes from those who have and gives to those who have not. That is exactly how things should be – social justice!
And it will always be the case that one’s taxes will be used for services that one does not use oneself, whatever one’s income might be.
As for commercials in BBC programmes – these are often made with scene breaks at pre-ordained places, so that the ads can be inserted when the shows are sold to other countries.
The US isn’t a liberal democracy, it is a representative republic. Because of that, our government works for us and can’t arbitrarily increase taxes for things like school funding and road construction, thank God. What they do instead is put it on a ballot and the people vote on the measure. In this case, the levies for the schools and roads were voted on. The people feel that schooling is important so that one passed pretty easily.
The roads measure also passed, of necessity. When most of the roads in town were paved, they weren’t paved correctly. They put asphalt directly on dirt, with no gravel base. As a consequence, they are having to fill in pot-holes continually. The pot-holes cause damage to vehicles until they are filled in and that affects everyone in town. It isn’t necessary for the city government to try to persuade the people to unfairly overtax higher income people to pay for people who did nothing at all to earn it. Rather, ALL landowners benefit from the funding, just as the renters do. (Virtually every family in town owns a car, which is necessary due to our location, so everyone benefits.)
If it wasn’t a benefit to everyone, the measure probably wouldn’t have passed. People who rent are well aware that an increase in property taxes means an increase in rent, so even the poor wouldn’t have voted for the measure, except that it helps everyone.
I am hoping to learn more about advertising so that the new business I will openwill succeed.
Advertising isn’t my forte, though I know some tricks of the trade, such as repeating the name for a business or product at least three times to make people remember it.