Entry#5: Obvious Subliminal Messaging & Priming

In my opinion, there is no denying the existence and effectiveness of priming and subliminal messaging. In a world where we are bombarded by thousands of advertisements and promotions every day, it doesn't surprise me advertising companies are taking advantage of selling in a more quiet, subtle way. 

As a society, we are thrown into a world of promotions, slogans, and loud advertisements begging for our money and attention from the moment we wake up and check our e-mails, to the moment we turn off the television and head off to sleep. Both as a consumer and as someone who works in a retail environment, I can relate to a sense of annoyance with constantly being overwhelmed with add-ons and promotions. In a society where walking down a street in complete silence from the advertising world would be shockingly loud to our minds and ears, finding a way to quietly promote could almost be regarded as a miracle. If a brand could make its point, sell its pitch, and make the sale without anyone ever really noticing, both the consumer and the company could benefit. With the notion that the consumer is not being loudly persuaded with cheesy slogans and tired promotional campaigns, the consumer experiences a sense of relief — a fresh breath of air above the sea of crude, unrelenting promotional campaigns and advertisements. And by achieving a sense of understanding between the consumer and seller without ever really speaking a word, a sense of economical balance is created where the consumer feels in control and clear-minded, and the seller reaps the profits without feeling guilty and annoying for asking the buyer to spend just five more dollars to join our store's club, oh and seven dollars to get an extended protection, oh and don't forget to pick up a few of these little one dollar goodies before you head out...

On the other hand, whether this method of advertising is ethically or morally upstanding is another topic that is specific to every promotional campaign that utilizes subliminal messaging and priming. As mentioned in a previous post, the advertising world cannot be held accountable for feeding off the human psyche to fuel the success of promotional campaigns as they are simply doing as they should to bring home the bread. There are too many examples to define exactly where and when morality should be involved, but there is no denying that it should be considered false advertising, though it really implies the use of priming, when stores, such as Whole Foods, use design tactics such as signs that appear to be hand-written and imagery that implies the produce is locally grown, when it is not. However, I can see where the argument may exist that the hand-written signs were just a design aesthetic choice and simply accidentally eluded to the idea of locally-grown produce.

In conclusion, there is no escaping the advertising world. It is important to face every day with the knowledge that it is inescapable. This knowledge arms us with the power to understand when we are faced with both obvious and subliminal advertising, thus enabling ourselves to control where and when we spend our money in a deliberate, intelligent, and decisive manner.

Entry#4: Funny or Boring

The topic for this blog entry revolves around advertising and its bitter-sweet connection with humour. My personal opinion remains greatly indifferent to the debate over the effectiveness of humour in promotional ad campaigns, however after doing some research, I've come to the logical conclusion that advertisements that aim at making the audience laugh, are not successful in several ways. 

There are a slew of issues when it comes to including humour in ads such as the possibility of offending the audience, whether they be the target user or not. Though research may be conducted in order to determine the interests, sensibilities, and personal values of the target market, humour often is most successful when it pushes the boundaries of normal conversational constructs. People laugh when they are presented with ideas that are delicately balanced between abnormality and sensibility. As discussed in several articles I researched, the fine line between shocking and sensible is so fine that determining where an entire target market falls is highly risky. The risk of proposing a compelling, humorous advertisement and it being interpreted in a sour way is often too high to be a safe, business-savy way of promoting a brand. 

Moving forward, scenarios where humorous advertisements are properly communicated should be discussed. As mentioned in this article, the target market's positive response to a funny ad rarely results in increased sales revenue. People who laugh at advertisements tend to lump these ads in with the five thousand other ads we are bombarded with daily, thus proving humorous advertising to be ineffective in situations such as this.

Taking these two scenarios into consideration, the risk of offending the audience, or even worse, losing the audience is much too high for any brand looking to succeed financially. When people are offended, the brand's image may be permanently damaged, thus causing even financial loss. When the consumer understands the joke and reacts to it as per expected, the outcome is not always financially reflected. This is why my opinion, though not so highly invested, sides with the normal slogan & unique selling proposition style. Though it is safer and much more conservative, the results have been proven this technique to be successful time & time again. Using jokes in advertising is a hit-or-miss risk no up-coming or successful brand should be willing to take.