August 28, 2006

late night thoughts and responsibility in advertising

When I compose my entries into this blog I try to evoke emotion and thought, I am not looking to solve anything specific, rather open up a forum to study it. I once wrote an essay about the Super Bowl and the ads geared towards the beer guzzling folk who are probably the majority watching the big game. As a Producer in the advertising industry I feel that by adding to the persona of the “beer guzzler” by giving him commercials that further ruin his view on women, sex, responsibility and the environment is a crime and that if we know that the "element' watching the game does tend to allow their views to be dictated by the ads and the content they watch so intensely perhaps we have a responsibility to at least try and guide those views in the right direction. Having this country fall to the wayside because we want to sell more beer and we are willing to degrade women and the environment to do it is simply wrong. Advertising is a responsibility and by misguiding the consumer public with fantasies that distort real relationships on many levels is deadly. Why not sell beer by showing that an intelligent, responsible and hard working man can come home or go to a bar and relax with a cold icy one? Get where im going with this? Why go down to a person’s lowest level when you can raise them by getting them to associate themselves and the products they buy in a positive way.

Its so easy to throw a naked woman on the screen and say BUY THIS there is no challenge there, try doing it in a positive way, that’s where the real success is...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Blogging during work hours will you get you fired. They'll find out. That's what happened to me...

Unknown said...

well good thing the post said specifically LATE NIGHT and it was 11:29pm

Anonymous said...

Advertising is a responsibility, Aww give me a break!!! You a marketer, not a preacher, put your clients products in the best light is your only responsibility!

At least that’s my two cents.

Unknown said...

Warren,

The best light includes a social responsibility to the audience, not taking the easiest route possible. Its easy to use sex and the like to sell things, but try being creative in a positive way. Yes I am a marketer and preaching in the religious sense has nothing to do with making sure the audience is not basing its life and its strong brand connection to stupidity. We all have to live in the world together and trying to sell things to the public at the expense of moral values and healthy outlooks is just wrong, Im sorry but that is the truth. There are many ways and it’s done all the time, that advertising can sell effectively as well as have a positive message.

That’s my 3 cents…

Anonymous said...

Craig,

Instead of taking a "Holier then thou" stance. Why not leave that up to the individuals to determine how they want to live their lives. As Marketers we are here to flog products and that’s it.

We will do the economy and society more justice by creating marketing that works and sells more products.

I don’t think we should go out and be racists or sexist about it. But, give the audience what they want and what they can relate too.

If we start this in marketing, where do we stop? Should movies be edited to be more P.C.? Video Games? Art?

Sometimes I think morality does have a strong place in our business. But, do we really need more of it? Would we start then alienating people who are no up to our moral code? Just because we think we know what’s best for them??

hmm?

WJ

Unknown said...

Im not as concerned about morality as I am stupidity. Movies, art, music, they are all very suggestive and now brands have become the new media, almost a religion of sorts. Trust me I am the farthest thing from “holier than thou” and I am not taking the censor stance what I am suggesting is not using the easiest route available to peddle goods. Europe has used sex in ads for decades and they have successfully pulled off very smart and intelligent ads that make you think and are somewhat provocative in a smart way, here we seem have taken on the Beavis and Butthead mentality and like to dumb people up because we think its cute. What I am saying to use smarter methods, ideas that compliment a person’s intelligence and not degrade it. Sex can be used in very creative ways without stereotyping women into objects and men into cavemen.

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