I don't expose myself to advertising... am I weird?

Right on shine on. So what do u do on the road when u see a billboard, do a U'y or shut your eyes, LOL.

I think TV commercials have come a long way since the 70's and 80's, thanks for having to compete with the zapper and the gluttony of stations. Some are actually quite funny, tho some are still quite annoying.

I also question how effectively commercials can brainwash. I'm with TrippinBTM here in that subliminal messages are weak. Advertising effectiveness is a matter of speculation, corps know this and are having to be satisfied that at least the name gets exposure.

 

Well I live in the UK so that's not strictly true. I don't quite know how things are in America but over here in the UK we pay for our TV.

We pay a yearly subscription to the BBC (strictly advertising-free) and a monthly subscription to Sky (crammed full of adverts). So we do pay for everything we watch. The adverts are only on Sky because Sky are extremely greedy and they have a monopoly.

Actually, there are the free channels such as the ITV channels. Yes, these are funded by the advertising, and if no one watched the adverts then the channels wouldn't be there. But that doesn't mean everyone has to watch the adverts. As long as some people watch them, and the adverts affect sales, then everything's fine!

It's like nightclubs. Nightclubs make their real money from selling drinks, and if no one bought drinks then the clubs wouldn't be there... but that doesn't mean everyone there has to buy drinks. (I don't anyway!)

Elle, that sums up perfectly how I feel. I sit in the cinema watching the adverts and all I can think of is "how did those execs think that this would make me want to buy a car?" and I usually form a resentment towards anyone who advertises to me (especially if the advert is manipulative, patronising, or lacking in any actual fact about the product).

Ironically, I work in advertising, in a manner of speaking. I'm a graphic designer and pretty much everything I create is an advert or promotion of some kind. But I feel happy to do my job because my work is looked at by people who choose to look, and I don't try to manipulate people... just to represent my clients to the best of my ability. My main goal is good communication, so I always strive to tell people the information about the products/services, rather than trying to change people's values or beliefs.

Well I don't fast forward through adverts (that would be worse than watching them since I would be exposing myself to them subliminally! I skip forward a few minutes (however long I think the adverts will be) then wind back. I always wind back through the programme and never forward through the adverts. It doesn't normally take more than 5 seconds -- a lot faster than sitting through adverts!

Product placement is fine because it's no different to seeing the products in real life. What I object to is the messages advertisers bombard us with. These messages are designed to manipulate our thoughts and our beleifs so that we are more likely to buy things we don't need. These messages are full of lies, false science, manipulated statistics, and a whole hoard of things that are detrimental to our learning and understanding the world around us.

One good example is the role of men in adverts. Invariably, men are portrayed as silly, clumsy, submissive, irresponsible, inferior and a thing of mirth; while women are portrayed in the opposite light: strong, confident, and generally the 'superior' sex. If we expose ourselves to enough advertising -- even though we know it's not real -- are we not likely to start to believe these lies on some level? I think we are.

Likewise, if we expose ourselves to messages constantly announcing that "the very latest CD has been released" surely after a while we wil start to believe that buying the latest CD is important... or even that newer CDs are better than older ones!

I have a friend who plainly refuses to buy games second hand, even if they're in mint condition. Apparently, it's worth spending the extra £20 because of the feeling of "newness" when you buy it brand new. To me, that is undeniable evidence of the effects of advertising on a susceptible mind.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense

Is that rhetorical, or is that actually the name of a list/site/book?

 

In the US we pay for cable or sattillite in a channel package deal, although I hear that might change soon.

 

I think all of us are weak. We are susceptible. Unless we're constantly aware of our surroundings and the way in which we're perceiving them, which is difficult to maintain, then I'd agree that continual pressing adverts could make an impact. Definitely.

Peace

 

I make a point of flicking on my 'criticial thinking' switch before I watch ads. I like to watch them because I find it a good insight into consumer culture. It's amazing how much you can derive from an add, once you get good enough you start translating the true meaning of words, word for word, as if each were carefully selected for maximum impact and camaflauge. you begin to envision a bunch of stuffy old white dudes in suits sitting around in the board room going over demographics and plotting out thier marketing campaign like it were some sort of covert strategic campaign, the war for our minds. You see the big picture, the shit they're trying to hide, the shit they're trying to scam you with, the lies of a better life. So I'm not too too worried about getting brain washed, because I feel like I'm one step ahead of 'them', no ones pulling the wool over my eyes.

Know your enemy

 

Interesting perspective, Yovo! Good for you!

 

The thing that makes product placement more palatable is that the tv program is not interrupted and about the messages, well that's what advertisers are in business for, why should the message not be there all the same.

Not if the kid has a strong preference for Toothrot Kola, these ads will only affect kids that drink kola to begin with and don't have a preference. While I don't dispute that the ads affect overall kola consumption, it's quite the stretch to say that they will affect brand selection 'no matter what'. And then Toothrot Kola comes out with its own product placement ad.

I spent years not watching any tv and i still ate meat. It's not ads that teach ppl meat consumption is normal, IT IS normal for an omnivorous species like us.

 

I've given a lot of thought to your idea. It is now doubt that advertising has an undeniable influence over people's choices. In fact I think it's reached the point that the cosmetical surgical industry should being paying royalities to the advertising companies, or how could you explain that no one seems to be satisfied with the body they were born into anymore? I am troubled at the thought that 14 year-old girls want new faces and breasts before they're even old enough to have a long-lasting relationship.

For a while, I thought there is no difference between advertising and propaganda, which both boiled down to brainwashing. That's when someone else tells you what you should do or want, and determines what is improper thinking and behavior and what is improper. The difference is that brainwashing and propaganda allow you no alternative except the information you recieve and a third party controls the quality and quantity of information you receive. Advertising isn't forced information - it's offered. And if you choose to ignore the information they offer you, good for you.

Sometimes I think, though, too much advertising boils down to insinuating the very same information despite their competitiveness. For example, why do the fashion magazines all insinuate that if you do not look like the models they feature, you are essentially ugly? Worse yet, why does everyone else seem to concur without any consideration?

Maybe your idea of not paying attention to advertisement is healthy idea. It not only saves time; it allows you to decide what you want or don't want; what you think is right or isn't right; and what you approve of or don't approve of. Unfortunately, I think it's impossible to live in our world and completely avoid it at the same time. Why don't you look at it this way: Advertising is offering you a choice, not attempting to brainwash you. It's your right to refuse this offer or to ignore it if you so choose.

 

Flesh consumption is normal. If our species hadn't eaten meat, we'd be nowhere near as intelligent as we are now, we'd have no Internet, and this very conversation wouldn't be taking place!

One species feeding on another may not be deemed ethical, but it is completely natural.

 

If what you're doing ranks as "weird," then I must be somewhere far beyond this planet, in comparison. I haven't watched any TV at all in years. Nor do I watch movies, nor do I go to any place really where I get pumped full of consumer propaganda.

 

Like i said i don't dispute ads increase sales but if a kid has a preference for pepsi and sees a cool Sprite ad they are not likely to switch preferences. Now a cool pepsi ad may encourage that same kid to drink more pepsi but the persuasion is not strong enough to make a kid change preferences. The extra sprite sales came from ppl who don't have a preference, lots of ppl like that.

Sure ads can and have been be used to encourage good behaviours, non-smoking and don't drink and drive campaigns are examples.
So it is possible to place vegetarian lifestyles within tv progs to promote that lifestyle, if vegetarian groups allocated funds for that placement, i don't see why an ad agency would turn down a reasonable business offer.

Just don't blame ads for 'teaching' a behaviour that's existed long b4 tv ads have been around.

 

You're not weird at all. I think that's a good idea; you'll buy products based on quality, not on how much the company spent on advertising.

 

I thought the same way, and then I realized that I use Crest, Pert, Dove, and Calvin Klein. I will admit that I am not influenced by advertising in alcohol. I'll still spend 5 bucks for a NewCastle when I can get a Budweiser for a dollar at the Daquiri Lounge.

 

Heh, I don't think it's worth the effort to avoid advertising, seeing as how utterly pervasive it is. A better solution, I think, is to teach yourself to be aware of what you're being "sold", to understand and be able to discern the various techniques advertisers use to convince us, and to think critically and rationally about those things when we're faced with them.

"Subliminal" messages have been shown to not have any noticeable effect on people, we have to actually be aware of something for it to effect us.