Advertising and Commercial Culture Our increasingly sponsored lives

Advertising

• and Commercial Culture

Our increasingly sponsored lives

• David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
• College football bowl games:

Our increasingly sponsored lives

• David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
• College football bowl games:
• Nokia Sugar Bowl
• Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
• Fed Ex Orange Bowl
• Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

Our increasingly sponsored lives

• Sports facilities:

Our increasingly sponsored lives

• Sports facilities:
• Coors Field (Denver)
• United Center (Chicago)
• Fleet Center (Boston)
• Bank One Ballpark (Arizona)
• McLeod Arena

Our increasingly sponsored lives

• Where have you seen ads lately?

• TV: 1 hour prime time TV
• 1988: 10:17 ads
• 1998: 15:40 ads
• 2004: 16:27
• 2005: 17:00
• 2007:

Advertising History

• 3000 B.C. - ancient Babylon, shop owners hung signs
• U.S: early 1800s -- first ad agencies were space brokers. Bought newspaper space and resold it.
• 1875: N.W. Ayer, first modern ad agency, Philadelphia.

Advertising History

• Late 1800s -- department stores and patent medicines as major advertisers.
• Advertising invented “problems” that needed to be solved by products
• E.g., Odor Oh No
• AXE soap

• Radio: first ad, 1922
• Advertise to people in their living rooms
• Targeted kids
• Sell soap on soap operas

• Slogans
• No More Tears (Johnson & Johnson)
• Nobody Doesn’t Like Sara Lee (Sara Lee)
• Nothin' says lovin' like somethin' from the oven (Pillsbury)
• Once you pop, you can't stop! (Pringles)
• M'm, M'm, Good! (Campbell's)
• Quality is Job 1. (Ford)
• Snap! Crackle! Pop! (Kellogg's Rice Krispies)
• See the USA in your Chevrolet. (Chevrolet)

Advertising Today

• Influence of visual design:
• 1960s-70s -- European design
• 1980s --

Advertising Today

• Influence of visual design:
• 1960s-70s -- European design
• 1980s -- MTV -- changes visual style for TV ads, makes hit music part of advertising
• 1990s --

Advertising Today

• Influence of visual design:
• 1960s-70s -- European design
• 1980s -- MTV -- changes visual style for TV ads, makes hit music part of advertising
• 1990s -- the Internet
• Google
• Yahoo!
• MSN

Advertising Today

• Agencies
• Mega Agencies --
• Omnicom: $6.7 billion (21.5 %)
• WPP Group: $4.54 billion (14.6%)
• Interpublic: $3.65 billion (11.7 %)
• Publicis: $2.76 billion (8.9%)
• GOOGle: $16.6 billion

Advertising Today

• Agencies
• Boutique Agencies -- like Wieden & Kennedy, Digital Kitchen, Peterson Milla Hooks

Advertising Today

• The Structure of Agencies
• Market Research - VALS (SRI Business Consulting)
• Creative Development
• Media Selection
• Account and Client Management

Persuasive Techniques

• Famous person testimonial
• Plain folks
• Snob appeal
• Bandwagon effect
• Hidden fear
• Irritation
• Unique selling proposition

Persuasive Techniques

• Association Principle -- associate product with a positive cultural image or value
• Disassociation Corrolary
• Liberation Marketing - product takes the language of rebellion, nonconformity

Persuasive Techniques

• Myth Analysis
• (Claude Levi-Strauss)
• Narrative -- tells us a story
• Binary Opposition - conflict
• Resolution

Critical Issues in Advertising

• 1) Children and advertising
• Influence $500 billion in spending each year
• Advertising in Schools
• Channel One

Critical Issues in Advertising

• 2) Health and Advertising
• Eating Disorders
• Tobacco
• Alcohol
• Prescription Drugs
• Not advertised until 1997
• $4.7 billion in 2005
• FDA enforcement of misleading claims on the decline

Critical Issues in Advertising

• Advertising and Democracy
• Broadcasters earned from political ads:
• 1996 -$400 million
• 2000 -$665 million
• 2004 -$1.6 billion
• 2008: $2.5 billion
• Campaign ads are about 10% of total revenue in those years. How does this affect broadcasters’ support for campaign finance reform?