I have to give a shout out to Victoria's Secret for their persistance, demonstrated by their continuing to send coupons for free underpants even though I only buy something there about once every two years. They followed us to our new address, even though we didn't give it to them, and the post office doesn't forward catalogs!
This might seem a little creepy, but since it means continued coupons, I'm all for it. Sure, I'm being stalked by a lingerie store, but at least they're giving me stuff.
As you can see, I am easily mollified.
It might seem like kind of a poor return on the investment for them, if I spend $30 on a sports bra every two years, while cheerfully accepting 6 or 8 pairs of $7-10 underpants in the same period, but I suppose I'm more likely to buy something if I go in there to pick up free garments than if I never go in there at all.
There's this sense of guilt they probably rely on, where you feel kind of like a lowly moocher if you only go in to redeem a coupon, so you buy a little something as long as you're in the store. Because it's only polite, you know.
And I'll acknowledge that I have felt that sense of guilt, as if I had some sort of social relationship with a store that increasingly doesn't make anything I actually want to wear, and I have in years past purchased things I didn't entirely need, so I'm not saying it doesn't work. It works nicely: the store was kind enough to give you a little present, so obviously the courteous thing to do would be to spend some money there!
Lately, though, given the lack of anything in the store that I want very badly, I'm trying to embrace my inner lowly moocher a little more. "Yeah, I'm just here for the free stuff. Hand it over, I'm in a hurry."
After all, they don't have to send coupons. And you never know, I might buy something, one of these times.
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Mmm, Salad
Must pack, off to the Southwest tomorrow. Everyone behave in my absence. Don't have too much fun at the parties I can't attend.
Meanwhile, enjoy this post on Sociological Images about vintage ads for vegetable-flavored Jell-O and Jell-O salads full of exciting things like olives and celery. Yum.
It's interesting that these days we (speaking from my own experience and naturally assuming I speak for us all) associate Jell-O with dessert, so it's usually teamed up with fruit and whipped cream and stuff, not vegetables, while apparently it was totally a legitimate veggie side dish back in the day.
Or at least someone hoped that advertising would make it a legitimate veggie side dish.
My grandmother used to make a salad with lime Jell-O and shredded cabbage. I found it revolting as a child, and something about the pictured salads in these old ads, with bits of vegetable suspended in translucent molded blobs, similarly turns my stomach. Eww.
I've enjoyed a good wiggly dessert, but somehow a wiggly salad is just not cool.
But of course gelatin is derived from cow's hooves, making it more of a meat product, which means there's no real reason it shouldn't be linked to vegetables as well as, or instead of, fruit. As with so many things, it's all what you're used to.
Meanwhile, enjoy this post on Sociological Images about vintage ads for vegetable-flavored Jell-O and Jell-O salads full of exciting things like olives and celery. Yum.
It's interesting that these days we (speaking from my own experience and naturally assuming I speak for us all) associate Jell-O with dessert, so it's usually teamed up with fruit and whipped cream and stuff, not vegetables, while apparently it was totally a legitimate veggie side dish back in the day.
Or at least someone hoped that advertising would make it a legitimate veggie side dish.
My grandmother used to make a salad with lime Jell-O and shredded cabbage. I found it revolting as a child, and something about the pictured salads in these old ads, with bits of vegetable suspended in translucent molded blobs, similarly turns my stomach. Eww.
I've enjoyed a good wiggly dessert, but somehow a wiggly salad is just not cool.
But of course gelatin is derived from cow's hooves, making it more of a meat product, which means there's no real reason it shouldn't be linked to vegetables as well as, or instead of, fruit. As with so many things, it's all what you're used to.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Absent-Mindedness Sets In
Hmm. There was totally something I was going to post about, but I can't remember what.
Well, enjoy this piece on Science-Based Medicine explaining the problems with unregulated supplements by examining the purported evidence for one such product.
Be suspicious! Just because citations are listed, doesn't mean the references listed actually say what the ad implies they say.
Why, I could list 50 reputable sources for my claim that reading this blog will boost your intelligence...but I've got a busy schedule this evening.
Well, enjoy this piece on Science-Based Medicine explaining the problems with unregulated supplements by examining the purported evidence for one such product.
Be suspicious! Just because citations are listed, doesn't mean the references listed actually say what the ad implies they say.
Why, I could list 50 reputable sources for my claim that reading this blog will boost your intelligence...but I've got a busy schedule this evening.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Phenomenal Cosmic Laziness
For lo these many days, I have been impatiently saying to Google Chrome, every time I open a new tab, "no, I do not want Angry Birds!"
I know everyone in the world is playing Angry Birds, and I wish them joy of it, but I find it difficult to get really engaged in a game in which you can't regularly throw fireballs at people.
But Chrome kept recommending it, every single time. There would be this image of some angry birds in a shopping bag on every new tab, just waiting for me to download the game.
There's a "hide this" link to make it go away, but I didn't click it for ever so long because I wondered if Chrome would eventually recommend something else that I might find more intriguing.
Angry Wizards, perhaps.
Finally, giving up, I did say "hide this," and now it just shows me the adorable tiny images of my eight most frequently visited sites that were long Chrome's habitual new-tab fare. They're very helpful.
The crucial point I wish to make here is this: inertia is a powerful, powerful thing.
I have never been inclined to actually download Angry Birds, and all I had to do to make the ad go away was click a link, yet I could not be bothered to do so for...I don't know, I think it's been a couple of weeks.
It's somehow easier to think, every time I open a new tab, "no, I do not want Angry Birds!" than it is to move the mouse an inch and click. Irritable thinking is free! Mouse-moving requires precious, precious effort.
Also, of course, there's my general uneasiness at ruling things out. What if I were to click that link and Angry Birds were to go away and then minutes later I suddenly wanted it?
I would obviously never be able to find it on the internet without that helpful link. There's no way to locate things on the internet! Angry Birds will be lost to me forever!
Just at the point where you start being able to throw fireballs at people!
The mind is a strange place.
I know everyone in the world is playing Angry Birds, and I wish them joy of it, but I find it difficult to get really engaged in a game in which you can't regularly throw fireballs at people.
But Chrome kept recommending it, every single time. There would be this image of some angry birds in a shopping bag on every new tab, just waiting for me to download the game.
There's a "hide this" link to make it go away, but I didn't click it for ever so long because I wondered if Chrome would eventually recommend something else that I might find more intriguing.
Angry Wizards, perhaps.
Finally, giving up, I did say "hide this," and now it just shows me the adorable tiny images of my eight most frequently visited sites that were long Chrome's habitual new-tab fare. They're very helpful.
The crucial point I wish to make here is this: inertia is a powerful, powerful thing.
I have never been inclined to actually download Angry Birds, and all I had to do to make the ad go away was click a link, yet I could not be bothered to do so for...I don't know, I think it's been a couple of weeks.
It's somehow easier to think, every time I open a new tab, "no, I do not want Angry Birds!" than it is to move the mouse an inch and click. Irritable thinking is free! Mouse-moving requires precious, precious effort.
Also, of course, there's my general uneasiness at ruling things out. What if I were to click that link and Angry Birds were to go away and then minutes later I suddenly wanted it?
I would obviously never be able to find it on the internet without that helpful link. There's no way to locate things on the internet! Angry Birds will be lost to me forever!
Just at the point where you start being able to throw fireballs at people!
The mind is a strange place.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Jingles of Yore
I was thinking about jingles. A catchy advertising jingle is a deadly and terrible thing.
I do not, and never have, bought Skippy peanut butter, but I can still remember the "everybody's Skippy-dippin'" song from...I want to say about 1984. Maybe later. Maybe it was the early 1990s.
Fortunately, the internet knows: here it is, from 1989. I was sort of close. Sometimes it runs through my head when I'm spreading non-Skippy peanut butter on something. Thanks, Skippy.
Also, "Trust Woolite (wo-wo-wo-wooliiiite!) in your machine)."
And that Reese's Pieces jingle! Actually, to this day I kind of like that one. "Time pieces. Chess pieces. Mantlepieces. Reese's Pieces."
Sorry, I totally can't find it online. Man, that was the one I really wanted to see, too. Internet, you have failed me!
I actually may have fewer of these things lodged in my memory than many people, because there were long stretches of my formative years during which we didn't watch TV. Nevertheless, the ones that linger, sure do linger.
And I was thinking about one jingle that I've never even heard vocalized, but which I still recall from the time I found it when I was looking up (in a book!--because the internet existed, but I didn't yet know that you could use it to look up every darn thing you ever wondered about) the origins of the phrase "hit the spot."
So I was in the library, in college, and I found this book of phrase etymology, and it included as an example of early use of the phrase,
This was, let's see, going on 14 years ago, and I still think of that bit of doggerel every time I hear that something hits the spot. Thanks, Pepsi.
I couldn't find a recording of that radio jingle, but you can see on this page that I'm not misremembering it (although I didn't have the whole thing).
I don't know if these are good advertising jingles from the standpoint of their producers, since I don't use Skippy, and very rarely eat Reese's Pieces (I prefer my candy to be chocolate) or drink Pepsi (or any other variety of soda--it's just not my beverage of choice).
I do have some Woolite in the closet, though. It must have been the "wo-wo-wo-wooliiiite!" that got me. And do I still think of that ditty every two years when I wash something by hand?
Yes, I do. Thanks, Woolite.
So the little jingles may be memorable, but effective?
Enh. Middlin'.
I can't really think of anything very recent that sticks in my head the same way these ones do. I'm not sure if I don't pay as much attention to commercials these days, or if the jingles aren't as catchy, or if my brain is just too full of old ones to remember any new ones.
Or, possibly, I'll remember this decade's horrible tunes 20 years from now.
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I do not, and never have, bought Skippy peanut butter, but I can still remember the "everybody's Skippy-dippin'" song from...I want to say about 1984. Maybe later. Maybe it was the early 1990s.
Fortunately, the internet knows: here it is, from 1989. I was sort of close. Sometimes it runs through my head when I'm spreading non-Skippy peanut butter on something. Thanks, Skippy.
Also, "Trust Woolite (wo-wo-wo-wooliiiite!) in your machine)."
And that Reese's Pieces jingle! Actually, to this day I kind of like that one. "Time pieces. Chess pieces. Mantlepieces. Reese's Pieces."
Sorry, I totally can't find it online. Man, that was the one I really wanted to see, too. Internet, you have failed me!
I actually may have fewer of these things lodged in my memory than many people, because there were long stretches of my formative years during which we didn't watch TV. Nevertheless, the ones that linger, sure do linger.
And I was thinking about one jingle that I've never even heard vocalized, but which I still recall from the time I found it when I was looking up (in a book!--because the internet existed, but I didn't yet know that you could use it to look up every darn thing you ever wondered about) the origins of the phrase "hit the spot."
So I was in the library, in college, and I found this book of phrase etymology, and it included as an example of early use of the phrase,
Pepsi Cola hits the spot,
Twelve full ounces, that's a lot.
This was, let's see, going on 14 years ago, and I still think of that bit of doggerel every time I hear that something hits the spot. Thanks, Pepsi.
I couldn't find a recording of that radio jingle, but you can see on this page that I'm not misremembering it (although I didn't have the whole thing).
I don't know if these are good advertising jingles from the standpoint of their producers, since I don't use Skippy, and very rarely eat Reese's Pieces (I prefer my candy to be chocolate) or drink Pepsi (or any other variety of soda--it's just not my beverage of choice).
I do have some Woolite in the closet, though. It must have been the "wo-wo-wo-wooliiiite!" that got me. And do I still think of that ditty every two years when I wash something by hand?
Yes, I do. Thanks, Woolite.
So the little jingles may be memorable, but effective?
Enh. Middlin'.
I can't really think of anything very recent that sticks in my head the same way these ones do. I'm not sure if I don't pay as much attention to commercials these days, or if the jingles aren't as catchy, or if my brain is just too full of old ones to remember any new ones.
Or, possibly, I'll remember this decade's horrible tunes 20 years from now.
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Saturday, October 30, 2010
Yay! Also, Boo!
Faithful readers may have observed that I'm generally full of sunny good cheer when it comes to the idea of voting.
Go vote! It's a party in our system of government and every citizen who registered to vote is invited! Don't think of it as your civil duty: think of it as a civil privilege! Exercise the franchise! Yay!
It's enough to make you sick, how sunny and cheerful I am.
And then every time there's an election coming up, it gets to the point, right about now, where I really, really, cannot wait for the happy day to arrive, because I am totally sick of campaign ads.
Shut up and get off my television, campaign ads.
But go vote, everyone. Soon! Mercifully soon!
.
Go vote! It's a party in our system of government and every citizen who registered to vote is invited! Don't think of it as your civil duty: think of it as a civil privilege! Exercise the franchise! Yay!
It's enough to make you sick, how sunny and cheerful I am.
And then every time there's an election coming up, it gets to the point, right about now, where I really, really, cannot wait for the happy day to arrive, because I am totally sick of campaign ads.
Shut up and get off my television, campaign ads.
But go vote, everyone. Soon! Mercifully soon!
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Sunday, October 24, 2010
Advertising Horror of the Day
I just saw a reprehensible TV commercial for the Dodge Charger.
First, the usual blah blah chatter about how awesome and manly this car is (during a football game, every single thing advertised will be bristling with aggressive manliness, which is eye-rollingly tiresome but too commonplace to stir me from my reading).
Then, the money quote:
"It's not just American craftsmanship. It's an American craft manship."
Gag.
Seriously, Dodge? That's a really terrible pun. Also, it's stupid.
The commercial goes on to make much of the newly-invented term 'manship,' summoning, I suppose, both the concept of a seafaring vessel that is bold, masculine, square-jawed and rippling with taut muscles, and the use of '-ship' tacked onto a word to indicate a quality.
Like, you know, 'leadership,' refers to a quality of 'being a leader,' so 'manship' apparently refers to a quality of 'being a man.' A man with a bold and masculine seafaring vessel at his command. The master of his fate, and the captain of his soul!
The kind of man who's man enough to go buy a car, because it takes some real manliness to do that, as evidenced by the paucity of automotive vehicles on the roads these days.
Sometimes in the old days we might have used the word 'manhood,' but '-hood' doesn't have anything to do with 'craftsmanship,' so clearly a new word had to be made up.
I'm not at all opposed to making up words, but I am opposed to making up words specifically so you can make terrible puns with them.
Shut up and get off my television screen, Dodge. Your feeble wordcraftery disgusts me.
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First, the usual blah blah chatter about how awesome and manly this car is (during a football game, every single thing advertised will be bristling with aggressive manliness, which is eye-rollingly tiresome but too commonplace to stir me from my reading).
Then, the money quote:
"It's not just American craftsmanship. It's an American craft manship."
Gag.
Seriously, Dodge? That's a really terrible pun. Also, it's stupid.
The commercial goes on to make much of the newly-invented term 'manship,' summoning, I suppose, both the concept of a seafaring vessel that is bold, masculine, square-jawed and rippling with taut muscles, and the use of '-ship' tacked onto a word to indicate a quality.
Like, you know, 'leadership,' refers to a quality of 'being a leader,' so 'manship' apparently refers to a quality of 'being a man.' A man with a bold and masculine seafaring vessel at his command. The master of his fate, and the captain of his soul!
The kind of man who's man enough to go buy a car, because it takes some real manliness to do that, as evidenced by the paucity of automotive vehicles on the roads these days.
Sometimes in the old days we might have used the word 'manhood,' but '-hood' doesn't have anything to do with 'craftsmanship,' so clearly a new word had to be made up.
I'm not at all opposed to making up words, but I am opposed to making up words specifically so you can make terrible puns with them.
Shut up and get off my television screen, Dodge. Your feeble wordcraftery disgusts me.
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Saturday, January 23, 2010
Speaking of Free Expression...
I can't wait to make a billion dollars so I can bankroll a politician!
Aunt B at Tiny Cat Pants asks an interesting question about the Supreme Court's January 21 ruling on campaign finance: what if a corporation funds a candidate who then makes a public disgrace of him- or herself? Does that reflect badly on a company that has openly backed this politician?
In the hypothetical example given, where we imagine that Pepsi threw its weight behind John Edwards in the last presidential election, could Coke then capitalize on this with its own ads? Aunt B's suggestion for an ad:
Incidentally, I think "be like a decent human being" should immediately become a marketing slogan for something. Ideally something that doesn't involve burning women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug, but I'm flexible. This slogan is powerful enough to cover a multitude of sins.
It doesn't imply that you need to be a decent human being, only to emulate one. A lot of people could relate to that!
That, and license for extremes of behavior.
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Aunt B at Tiny Cat Pants asks an interesting question about the Supreme Court's January 21 ruling on campaign finance: what if a corporation funds a candidate who then makes a public disgrace of him- or herself? Does that reflect badly on a company that has openly backed this politician?
In the hypothetical example given, where we imagine that Pepsi threw its weight behind John Edwards in the last presidential election, could Coke then capitalize on this with its own ads? Aunt B's suggestion for an ad:
“Be like John. Drink Pepsi. Or be like a decent human being. Drink Coke.”
Incidentally, I think "be like a decent human being" should immediately become a marketing slogan for something. Ideally something that doesn't involve burning women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug, but I'm flexible. This slogan is powerful enough to cover a multitude of sins.
It doesn't imply that you need to be a decent human being, only to emulate one. A lot of people could relate to that!
That, and license for extremes of behavior.
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Thursday, November 26, 2009
Questioning Trucks
I'm oddly puzzled by that new Dodge Ram commercial, where a sort of stoic (possibly grizzled), old-fashioned-manly-type voice says "My name is Ram," and introduces himself, as this description explains:
Then at the end it repeats "my name is Ram, and my tank is full," which sounds a little like something you shouldn't really promise in an ad, unless Dodge has actually perfected an endlessly self-refilling gas tank (which would certainly be something worth advertising).
I mean, I guess maybe it comes with a tank of gas, and all the ad is speaking for is the brand new model moments before you drive it away, but this phrase also raises questions for me about the extent to which the Natural State of an automobile could be considered to be 'possessed of a full tank.' I don't quite buy that this is one of the inherent qualities of a truck.
I would say that an inherent quality might be 'possessed of a gas tank which must have some gas in it in order for the truck to run.' That makes sense. But if you're going to claim that the vehicle's Natural State is full-tank, then does your truck become less Rammy if you happen to let it run down, in the course of a hard day's work? (During which you will not, however, be working as hard as your truck is. 'Cause that's how this truck rolls. On wheels.)
"I was driving a Dodge Ram, but I ran out of gas, so now it's just a hunk of worthless metal. Better get a new truck!"
The tone of the ad kind of reminds me of those Levis commercials that use Walt Whitman poems, with the flat, matter-of-fact-ish reading and the man's voice, so I also start to think "does this truck claim the soul of an unconventional poet, on top of all his other fine qualities?"
I'm inclined to look a little askance at this Ram character, to be honest. Just not quite seeing how all these pieces fit together.
Not quite sure, I guess, what advantages this automobile has over, say, a train, which I could also afford.
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After intoning, "My name is Ram, and my tank is full," the commercial keeps going (and going, and going) with stuff like "I am fueled by optimism, driven by passion and stopped by nothing," and "I am built to reward the doers who climb behind my wheel every day by working even harder than they do."
Then at the end it repeats "my name is Ram, and my tank is full," which sounds a little like something you shouldn't really promise in an ad, unless Dodge has actually perfected an endlessly self-refilling gas tank (which would certainly be something worth advertising).
I mean, I guess maybe it comes with a tank of gas, and all the ad is speaking for is the brand new model moments before you drive it away, but this phrase also raises questions for me about the extent to which the Natural State of an automobile could be considered to be 'possessed of a full tank.' I don't quite buy that this is one of the inherent qualities of a truck.
I would say that an inherent quality might be 'possessed of a gas tank which must have some gas in it in order for the truck to run.' That makes sense. But if you're going to claim that the vehicle's Natural State is full-tank, then does your truck become less Rammy if you happen to let it run down, in the course of a hard day's work? (During which you will not, however, be working as hard as your truck is. 'Cause that's how this truck rolls. On wheels.)
"I was driving a Dodge Ram, but I ran out of gas, so now it's just a hunk of worthless metal. Better get a new truck!"
The tone of the ad kind of reminds me of those Levis commercials that use Walt Whitman poems, with the flat, matter-of-fact-ish reading and the man's voice, so I also start to think "does this truck claim the soul of an unconventional poet, on top of all his other fine qualities?"
I'm inclined to look a little askance at this Ram character, to be honest. Just not quite seeing how all these pieces fit together.
Not quite sure, I guess, what advantages this automobile has over, say, a train, which I could also afford.
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Friday, November 20, 2009
Paths to Popularity
Another nice example from Sociological Images of how beauty standards change, with an ad advising that "if you want to be popular...you can't afford to be skinny!"
One way or another, it's all about changing something, isn't it? I guess there are a lot of things it would be tough to sell stuff to people by telling them things are OK the way they are.
One thing that we see doesn't change is goofy names/spellings for products: the one in the ad referenced is cleverly called "Wate-On."
Of course, phonetic spellings of words related to the product's intended purpose seem kind of retro at the moment--right now, we like to leave the initial letters off anything with an X in it ('Xtreme' is very hot) or attach any sort of masculinity-related term to pretty much anything marketed to men ("Dude-Wear Clothing!" "Bro-othpaste!" "Man-larm clocks!" "He-lium Balloons!").
This will seem very old-fashioned one day. Tomorrow, with any luck, because I'm already tired of it.
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One way or another, it's all about changing something, isn't it? I guess there are a lot of things it would be tough to sell stuff to people by telling them things are OK the way they are.
One thing that we see doesn't change is goofy names/spellings for products: the one in the ad referenced is cleverly called "Wate-On."
Of course, phonetic spellings of words related to the product's intended purpose seem kind of retro at the moment--right now, we like to leave the initial letters off anything with an X in it ('Xtreme' is very hot) or attach any sort of masculinity-related term to pretty much anything marketed to men ("Dude-Wear Clothing!" "Bro-othpaste!" "Man-larm clocks!" "He-lium Balloons!").
This will seem very old-fashioned one day. Tomorrow, with any luck, because I'm already tired of it.
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Monday, September 14, 2009
Not Messing With Any States at This Time
Like lisa* at Sociological Images, I have long been familiar with the phrase "don't mess with Texas" (living in a New Mexico tourist town, one becomes familiar with many things Texas) but I wasn't aware that it was an anti-littering campaign.
I must say I regard it somewhat more kindly now, since I am in favor of not littering. It comes across as a sort of tough, "don't try to push me around" statement, which would appeal to people with a sense of themselves as rugged outdoorsy types. Pretty clever, really.
Advertising: Not Solely For Evil!
My sisters and I used to take the phrase for a challenge, and talk about how we would totally mess with Texas, but we always meant hassle it, not litter in it. 'Cause we were raised better than that, I hope.
New Mexico's anti-litter campaign was something like "be kind, don't litter," which always struck us as somewhat uninspired. Maybe, being rugged outdoorsy types, we would have responded better to a tougher slogan. (I mean, we didn't litter, so our response was technically correct, but then, we weren't planning on littering anyway, so I can't completely credit the campaign.)
Unfortunately, I can't think of any tough slogan phrases that have any rhyme or assonance with 'New Mexico.' Probably something the sloganeers also noticed.
*I am assuming that blog etiquette calls for listing someone's name the way they give it, and am therefore eschewing capitalization.
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I must say I regard it somewhat more kindly now, since I am in favor of not littering. It comes across as a sort of tough, "don't try to push me around" statement, which would appeal to people with a sense of themselves as rugged outdoorsy types. Pretty clever, really.
Advertising: Not Solely For Evil!
My sisters and I used to take the phrase for a challenge, and talk about how we would totally mess with Texas, but we always meant hassle it, not litter in it. 'Cause we were raised better than that, I hope.
New Mexico's anti-litter campaign was something like "be kind, don't litter," which always struck us as somewhat uninspired. Maybe, being rugged outdoorsy types, we would have responded better to a tougher slogan. (I mean, we didn't litter, so our response was technically correct, but then, we weren't planning on littering anyway, so I can't completely credit the campaign.)
Unfortunately, I can't think of any tough slogan phrases that have any rhyme or assonance with 'New Mexico.' Probably something the sloganeers also noticed.
*I am assuming that blog etiquette calls for listing someone's name the way they give it, and am therefore eschewing capitalization.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Advertising Made Me Buy It!
Health Populi talks about a Harris Poll showing that US citizens blame advertising "for peoples' economic woes."
I should note that this blame is "compared to others in "The Media,"" not overall, so the poll is not actually saying the people think advertising is the main problem facing this country today. Which is good, because that would certainly be an oversimplification.
I have mixed feelings about advertising, to be sure. There are plenty of things I wouldn't know existed without it, and therefore would not buy, thus saving myself money.
On the other hand, there are things I may find out about via advertising that I actually like, want and find useful, but would never have had a chance to get if I never knew they existed. Which might still save me money at the moment, but at the cost of convenience, time, increased efficiency that might save me more money in the long run, etc.
You just can't relax with advertising, I think is the thing. It's always out to get you. It may give you some useful information, but that's not its primary purpose, so you have to be constantly suspicious, which is kind of wearing.
And the fact that I'm constantly suspicious of it may cause me to have less-than-kindly attitudes toward advertising in general, and therefore to be inclined to blame it for everything bad that happens to me.
You suck, advertising! If not for you, I never would have bought that new EZ-SuperMop and decided to clean my floor and then slipped and fallen and thrown my back out!
I'm just using myself as a theoretical example here, not relating an actual occurence or attitude. In real life, rather than blame advertising, I choose merely to steer clean of cleaning the floor. Safer for everyone in the long run.
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I should note that this blame is "compared to others in "The Media,"" not overall, so the poll is not actually saying the people think advertising is the main problem facing this country today. Which is good, because that would certainly be an oversimplification.
I have mixed feelings about advertising, to be sure. There are plenty of things I wouldn't know existed without it, and therefore would not buy, thus saving myself money.
On the other hand, there are things I may find out about via advertising that I actually like, want and find useful, but would never have had a chance to get if I never knew they existed. Which might still save me money at the moment, but at the cost of convenience, time, increased efficiency that might save me more money in the long run, etc.
You just can't relax with advertising, I think is the thing. It's always out to get you. It may give you some useful information, but that's not its primary purpose, so you have to be constantly suspicious, which is kind of wearing.
And the fact that I'm constantly suspicious of it may cause me to have less-than-kindly attitudes toward advertising in general, and therefore to be inclined to blame it for everything bad that happens to me.
You suck, advertising! If not for you, I never would have bought that new EZ-SuperMop and decided to clean my floor and then slipped and fallen and thrown my back out!
I'm just using myself as a theoretical example here, not relating an actual occurence or attitude. In real life, rather than blame advertising, I choose merely to steer clean of cleaning the floor. Safer for everyone in the long run.
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