Or, how to persuade people to buy stuff they don’t really want or need

ADVERTISING

Advertising Exposure

• "A good advertisement must do five things and do them all. If it fails in one, it fails in all. It must make people see it, read (listen/watch) it, understand it, believe it, want it."

--newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane, quoted in Jeannette Smith's The Advertising Kit, 1994

• How much is advertising a part of your life?

Average American sees 1,000 ads per day according to NBC special, "Sex, Buys and Advertising"

• Average U.S. citizen exposed to 32,000 ads per year Mark Dery, cited in Adbusters Quarterly

• Number of commercial messages seen by age 40? 1,000,000 ads, according to Neil Postman

Advertising

• Where is all the advertising coming from?• List as many places as you can think of where

we are exposed to advertising

Advertising and You• Answer the following questions using full sentences in

your books.1. What forms of advertising do you notice the

most?2. What kinds of advertising do you enjoy?3. Have you ever felt interrupted or annoyed by

advertising? Why?4. Can you think of an advert that made you

want to run out and buy the product? What convinced you?

Advertising

• What is the purpose of advertising?

Achieving the purpose• How do they make us believe we want or even need

something?They try to make the audience believe that their product will make them;– Slimmer– Happier– More comfortable– Healthier– Successful– More fashionable– More beautiful– More intelligent– In fact make them the envy of all their friends!

Advertising slogansFinally. A test you don’t have to study for! Write down the name of the company the slogan belongs to.• Maybe she’s born with it, maybe its…..• Snap, crackle, pop• Have a break. Have a …….• Just do it• Eat fresh• Vorsprung durch Technik

Maybe she’s born with it, maybe its…..

Snap, crackle, pop

Have a break, have a

Just do it

Eat fresh

Vorsprung durch Technik

Features of advertisements

• Ads try to persuade us to buy things. They have a range of techniques which they use to make us believe we need their product

Branding• Branding-this term originally referred to

ranchers burning an identifying symbol onto a cow

• Now it is names and logos and being “burned” into our memory.

• In groups, draw as many brand symbols as you can. Look around the room and see how many you can find.

Celebrity Endorsement• If you believe the celebrity uses the product,

you may be more likely to but it

Repetition• Research shows that the more a person hears or

reads about a product the more appealing it becomes

• Advertisers develop slightly different versions of the same ad, so the product name and slogan are repeated, but the variation will keep you paying attention

Offer a solution

• Advertisers use “before” and “after” shots showing the effect of a new shampoo or skin cream.

• They fix a problem-chewing gum for bad breath.

Imperative Language

• This means to command or order.

• Advertisers use it to motivate, to guide the audience, and to persuade the audience

Jargon

• These words have a specific meaning in a specific context

• Jargon can make a product seem technically advanced or cutting edge

Language

Advertisers can use • Positive connotations• Emotive language• Hyperbole• Sensory details

When ads do use words, they’re very carefully chosen

Spot the features

• Infomercials. Yes people actually buy these things. That’s because they’re just so darned persuasive.

• See how many features you can spot. It may be ones we have looked at or other ones you notice

Apply what you know

• Each group will be given an item to advertise• The group with the best advertising and

teamwork will win!