Does the cynicism of Ads in todays Market Place- TV & Internet bother YOU?

[KoKo]

or, do you find it hilariously funny and scream for more. Maybe you don't even find it "cynical." Maybe you aren't over 45 years old...maybe some of us remember something different. Not that what we remember in advertising was better...(tugging at heartstrings...or showing the virtues of how "mops" were great at cleaning kitchen floors and clothes air dried outside were "refreshing in the Spring air") but, some of these commericials today for cars and clothes and personal products make me want to run screaming from the room.

Am I out of touch with what appeals to the Average American, today?

:shrug:

[seriousstan]

1. Do you have some examples?

[KoKo]

4. Only what you see when you turn on your TV Today...for examples...

If you are like many DU'ers and never watch or only watch a teeny bit (like me) then you might not get what I'm saying. I'm saying I'm really blasted away with the commercials...because they differ so strongly from the marketing when I grew up. But, that might be because I'm "Out of Touch" with what sells today. (OFGS...I'm not some old codger...but I'm over 45..and think so many ads are crap that it really made me wonder if I had lost it. :D)

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. I have a different view on this.....

call me cynical, but it is advertising drives my wife and I away from TV, and recently, the movies. If it needs to be advertised, then our feeling is that it must be faulty. Our preference is to read and educate ourselves and make a choice based on what we find out. One complaint I have about AAR on AM is that you have to go through the ordeal of the endless snake oil ads. Think about it - we have this box in our house (the TV) that tells us all what to buy, what to think,etc. Best thing - turn off the box, listen to music, read, take a walk, go kayaking....

[KoKo]

7. I think that's what I was getting at...but didn't say it as well as you

did. Too many ads...but I still feel that what ads there are are sort of "turn off's" to me. I wondered if anyone else felt that way. What "THEY" are SELLING..."ME." I'm not interested in and resent the intrustion. :shrug: But, others might feel they love the ads because they are great for the music or visuals.

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. I think they used to be worse

Ring around the collar!
RING AROUND THE COLLAR!
RING AROUND THE COLLAR!

:puke:

[Karenina]

5. I'll tell you what bothers me!

Closing the stall door in a public restroom only to gaze upon some 4-color nonsense wanting me to "multitask" and absorb their message as a cellphone rings in the adjacent stall and a loud voice fills the "live" room. (Tile, ya know).

[Berry Cool]

16. Oh man, I HATE people who use bathroom stalls as "cell phone booths"!

Did it ever occur to them that sometimes people want to have PRIVACY in a bathroom rather than have their "business" transmitted to people over a telephone?

Did it ever occur to them that maybe the PERSON ON THE OTHER END (so to speak) doesn't really want to hear those sounds either? (even if it's no worse than the sound of flush after flush)?

Did it ever occur to them that it's bad manners to occupy a bathroom stall when you don't really need the toilet (as do others waiting for you) but are just using it for a phone booth? And that if you really DO need the toilet...using it and calling someone at the same time is ruder that hell? "Hi, I was taking a crap so I thought I'd call you."

It's enough to make one wish for phones with smell-o-vision.

[mongo]

6. Different maybe

but no more cynical -

Taryton cigarettes - I'd rather fight than switch.
Salem - "refreshing"
The Marlboro man
Benson & Hedges - America's favorite cigarette break.

Beer commercials where people actually drank.

Commercials for the Ford Mustang.

Maybe they were a bit more subtle in words - plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is rather than nausea - heartburn - indigestion - upset stomach - diarrhea - ah pepto bismal. But the images were just as intense.

The vietnam war on the nightly news interrupted by Tic tacks.

Flick your bic.

I don't think it's really all that much different today. The only difference is big pharma telling you all about some condition they know you're just gonna need their pills for.


(and FWIW - I'm 43)

[getmeouttahere]

9. Hey Mongo, I'm checking out your website....

my favorite is Mercedez...any chance you've got her movies in stock?

[getmeouttahere]

10. Found 'em....looks good

like the look of the website, too.

[mongo]

13. Thanks!

Although we really don't control the online shoping part of the store - it is just an affiliate program.

Really our website is just a way to direct folks into our brick and mortar store.

[KoKo]

11. You make a good point...tastes and health requirements have changed.

So...you say the "message was softer" but the ads for the Corporate Jerks promoting how to "kill yourself" weren't much different. It's just the emphasis and the presentation that I find fault with. :shrug:

I think that's what you are nicely pointing out? :shrug:

[mongo]

14. Yeah - I just don't see much difference

between advertising in the 70's and today on more than a superficial level. TV and movies in general move much faster today than the 70's.

But advertising is still pushing the same buttons in us it has since TV was introduced. Self-esteem, glamor, power, wealth - all obtained for a small fee with the purchase of our product.

[getmeouttahere]

8. I know I'm out of touch, because I think most of them are moronic...

and I'm only 39. But I don't care if they are cynical, because there's a lot to be cynical about in this FUBAR country.

[dweller]

12. The outright and implied violence bugs me more.

i have to wonder what part of it sells the product? Are the marketers only trying to sell to those violence prone?

an example: the guy who is beat about the room by a fly ... to sell carpet. :shrug:

dp

[wli]

15. I've boycotted the MSM too long, but...

Japanese anime looks relatively commercialized and cynical. It just has more depth in the drama and/or message.