Before watching the documentary, The Persuaders, by Frontline, I noticed how advertisements have plagued our everyday lives. For example, before watching Youtube videos, you normally have to sit through a 15-second ad before you are allowed to watch the video itself. After watching the documentary, it opened up my perception to how many ads are actually produced nowadays. It feels like the advertisement world has become a competition to see which company can produce more ads. In the video, it states that the more one advertisement company advertises, the more another rival company tries to put out. The more these companies create, the more they need to make to get through to us- the public-, thus resulting in a lot of clutter. Because there are so many ads, we've become immune to them. I found it interesting how many companies have developed new techniques to overcompensate for our immunity. One way is that companies are creating ads to try to communicate with us on a deeper level; they are targeting our emotions rather than our minds. Companies also have used pseudospiritual marketing, where they are trying to connect ads to nature. For example, a commercial for Haagen-Dazs ice cream shows soothing clips of nature rather than someone enjoying the ice cream. They are also creating ads that the public wants to see, in terms of entertainment, with the products. It's no longer about the message of what they are trying to sell, but what makes us entertained. To me, it's crazy how there are so many advertisements I have seen that don't even relate to the product the company is trying to promote. Advertisement companies have focused on making ads appeal to the sense of identity with their products to make consumers feel as if they're special.
What surprised me the most was how many companies, such as Facebook, actually sell their customers' information to advertisement companies. The advertisement companies then, in turn, use the provided information to create ads targeted for certain customers. I think it is scary how much of our private information is revealed to random people we don't even know. This creates a large issue around how much privacy we actually have. I feel like we don't get to choose whether or not we want our information disclosed, and I think it sucks how companies put it in their long agreements; no one has the time to read through that. I think the measures of how far advertisement companies are willing to go to produce ads for our society, is definitely extreme.
The lengths companies will go to in order to sell a product is crazy. It seems like everyday I see a new commercial, whether that be on youtube, tv, or even my social medias. I also think it is crazy that advertisers need to constantly change up their ads in order to keep us interested and get through the clutter. I agree with you in that we build up a sort of immunity to them. It is almost like they are viruses that we develop immunity to the more we are exposed to them. But of course a new one will come along that we aren't immune to yet, the same with new ads and commercials.
ReplyDeleteI think it's crazy how much ads have evolved over the years. It has gone so far that several ads no longer relate to the actual product. The companies are so focused on captivating our attention in this clutter they've created, that they have to keep coming up with new strategies, even if it means just being entertaining. I totally agree that it is scary for companies to be throwing around our personal information. We don't realize that people are constantly tracking our interests and when we step back to think about it, it's pretty shocking. What's worse, is that this is not going to stop happening because it is for the benefit and profit of the companies.
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