December 10, 2002

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Anti advertising rant: why advertising is bad and how to beat it

Before I start, I want to be clear that I'm not saying all advertising is bad. Touting your trade has been a necessary part of human life since language began and probably before. People handing out leaflets with simple information about gigs or products are not doing any harm in my view. It's when they start trying to deliberately trick you that I'm not so happy. Even this could be seen as fair play in a market economy. But this is just about how to avoid the vicissitudes of psychological slavery.

People think that adverts don't affect them. Everyone I speak to says "Oh I don't think I would buy something because of an advert." . But that's exactly what you're meant to think, stupid. They work subliminally and you really don't know they're getting to you.

Read on to see some of the nasty tricks they play on you. Like this one:

  • Nasty trick No. 1. Subconscious symbollism. Have you ever noticed that many adverts contain phallic symbols. Long thin things with some sort of fluid coming out of the top, long thin things going through holes. This page shows some really obvious examples. In the Nokia ad, there are 3 phallic symbols, the most obvious being the sprinkler, ejaculating white liquid into the spreadeagled woman's legs - but there is also the pyramid and the tower in the background. Perhaps the grass is a symbol of youth and growth? In the bag advert, there are the two round bags and then the book with the nobby thing on top and then the pot with brushy things coming out of it. I might give them the benefit of the doubt with the chess peices but you never know... If you think about what's behind that it's really sick - it's deliberate psychological manipulation! People say - well that's not what I think of when I look at it - but that's the whole point of it - they wouldn't show pornographic pictures - they show seemingly innocent pictures which access your subconscious.
    This is not just random - it's manipulation. Freud, Joseph Campbell and our dreams show us of the importance of symbolism in the human subconscious. Advertisers know all about it. It's not just phallic imagery that gets used either. Images of freedom are also used to ensare you like birds, sailing boats, skiing etc... These guys are very clever.




    For some more examples of adverts which manipulate you through your subconscious, check out Here |Here |Here |Here |Here|Here |Here
    Here's another one (below) which I have added to this page recently. There are 2 really obvious ones in this one from a popular British magazine - it's kind of funny once you spot what they're up to- the hair and the 2 round oranges next to the big green column shaped shampoo bottle with the ejaculating liquid right next to it. Then of course, there are the obvious chocolate bar and lipstick felatio ads.
    DSCF0133.jpg
    Please send me more if you find them...

  • One of the things people think they do is to say "Buy this and you can sleep with this sexy woman". But who really believes that. The real trick here is that they make you want something a lot and then show their product, so that you transpose your desire onto that product. It's the same old trick over and over again. Something really desireable which makes you yearn for it, but which you know you can't have like a sexy woman or man (not many people have a supermodel girlfriend), or a young couple in love , humour, laughter, cosiness food, love, cute well behaved children - whatever the people they're targeting most want. Here are some particularly amusing examples of this particular one (they are Italian sock packets).


    • . Then along with that, the product which you can have (for a fee). OK it's second best but maybe it'll make you feel better?
  • Playing on your base fears or desires - fear and insecurity - insurance salesmen describing worst case scenarios - what if something goes wrong on holiday - what if your children die etc...
    • e.g. Adverts for houses play on the desire for a secure, stable environment (and a 200k mortgage??)
  • Play on a deep fear of missing out or being left out. Limited offer, only for the next week.
  • Bombardment. A mere awareness of a name is enough to make you choose a product. You might not know anything particular about Ford but because you've heard of it, you'd rather buy one than a Vectron.
  • Take over a respected source which appears to be unbiased - e.g. pay a tv program or a newspaper to review their product.
  • Creating spurious associations in your mind - e.g. between cigarettes and sportiness by sponsoring sport.
  • Ever noticed that the most interesting article in a magazine advertised on the front page is really hard to find inside. So you have to leaf through the whole thing and look at all the ads. Check the index first then leaf through to the page number.
  • Blatant absurd lies - if you look at it for more than 2 seconds. Here's an example. "Currys - always cutting prices" (this is a real slogan). Think about that for 4 seconds and you'll realise that if that was true, then pretty soon they'd be giving things away free. Then after that, they'd be paying you to take things away. What goes down must come up.... Also - things like "we only care about YOU" are blatant lies - they care about their profits - OR - more likely - the ad is written by someone who has been paid to write it and has not the slightest idea what the employees of the company care about but they know people are individualists so they write that.
  • Capitalising on curiosity. Presenting you with something that you have to think about a lot to understand. That way you spend 1 minute thinking about something associated with a product and it sticks in your mind. Can't think of an example but you probably know what I mean.
  • Perhaps the most ironic technique of them all. The "As individual as YOU are" technique. This is somewhat related to the "stand out from the crowd" technique (see below) as it plays on people's desire to feel special. The basic technique is to emphasise the ego of the person being targeted - to play to people's sense of self-importance. There are so many ads with YOU in capital letters, or emphasised in the voiceover "Made for YOU", "Designed around YOU", "As soft as YOUR skin" etc.... etc... (If I am the target customer, then who else would it be designed around???? If it means me individually then how the hell do they know how individual I am. If I fall for this ad, then I'm certainly not). If you think for a second, these are particularly absurd. How do you know how **** individual I am mate. And if you I fall for your bull, as you're hoping I will, then as you well know, I most certainly am not an individual.

Advertising is often targetted at specific groups - here are some of the techniques I have noticed:

1. Teenagers/young people - "stand out from the crowd" - buy the same product as everyone else we're hoping to persuade with this ad. Be an individual, flout convention, assert your freedom, be a rebel - ( and do what we want you to do along with as many other people as possible) . So many ads (I must find some examples) use this one. Product x means you are an individual - not just a faceless advertising statistic (which of course you are). Risquee' jokes.
Other teenager tricks are - no fear - buy a snowboard and you won't be afraid any more.
Be accepted by a group of good-looking peers.
2. Smug married family types - security - happy children, familiar not too close to the bone jokes etc...
3. Young children - the worst as they are psychologically defenceless and yet very good at controlling parent purse-strings. I'm not sure what techniques they use - perhaps someone can help me here but I think they use friendly cartoon types like Ronald McDonald and of course they put the sweets at the counter in the supermarket.

I have also noticed a lot of adverts talking about things which seem to be woefully lacking in most people I meet. "Live life to the full" "The excitement of the open road" - buy a 4WD and cruise around London at 4mph. "Pure emotion" - I heard this morning on the radio - I can't remember but it was probably advertising a car or a shampoo or something. It seems that if you appeal to a person's deepest feelings of inadequacy (I think many people feel they live dry, unexciting lives) they won't notice that what you are saying is utterly absurd.

I need to collect some examples of these - any you can send me are welcome.
How to beat it? - be aware of these tricks. There are also some practical measures - don't watch TV or read too many newspapers and check out these links.
  • Advertising is bad because its whole aim is to make you feel like you're not good enough as you are: that you have to get product x in order to be happy.
  • Advertising is bad because it is full of lies like 'buy product x and you'll be able to sleep with this sexy woman'
  • Advertising is bad because it plays on and encourages all our basest instincts.
  • Advertising is bad because it encourages materialism, consumerism and selfishness.
  • Advertising is bad because it controlls your mind.
  • Advertising is bad because it invades your privacy via spam, junk mail, bill boards
  • Advertising is bad because it clouds your mind. Do you really want to be bombarded with useless information from morning to night.
  • Advertising is bad because it gives you a false idea of reality. Smiling happy couples everywhere - so why is the divorce rate over 50%??
  • Advertising is bad because it encourages impatience. Buy now.
  • Advertising offers you freedom, untamed spirit, wildness - and it gives you conformity and stress.

Posted by giles at December 10, 2002 02:05 PM
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