Transcript Ad Intro Continued

Advertising Intro
1926 Ad Quote
• “Historians of the future will not have to rely on the meager
collections of museums, will not have to pore over obscure
documents and ancient prints, to reconstruct a faithful picture of
1926. Day by day a picture of our time is recorded completely and
vividly in the advertisements of American newspapers and
magazines. Were all other sources of information on life today to
fail, the advertising would reproduce for future times, as it does for
our own, the action, color, variety, dignity, and aspirations of the
American Scene.”
—N.W. Ayer and Son (Philadelphia ad agency), 1926
Old vs. New
Old vs. New Ads
Old Ads
New Ads
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•
•
Visual Elements
Visual Elements
•
Black and white
•
Colorful
•
Complex & simple (showing
product or other images)
•
Complex and simple (product
or other images)
•
Some strange images
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Some strange images
Text Elements
•
Text Elements
•
Lots of it
•
Not a lot of it
•
Message tells a story or simply
tells why the product is better—
connects with a need
•
Message communicates an
idea—connects with a need
•
Describes some ideas about
beauty, relationships
•
Contains Taglines
•
•
Describes some gender roles,
ideas of beauty, relationships
Contains Taglines
Questions
• So, after describing the ads from the past
and present, respond to these questions in
your journal…
• What similarities do the ads from the past
and present share?
• What differences?
• How accurately do they reflect our
culture?
Pair and Share
• Share your response with a partner.
• Did they notice anything you missed?
• Share with the class.
Today’s Ads
• If ads do, in part, reflect our culture, and,
according to the statistic in Merchants of Cool,
you are subject to 3,000 ads per day, what are
some of the most popular of today’s ads saying?
• Which ad campaigns stick out in your mind as the
best? Why?
• Which ad campaigns stick out as the worst?
Why?
We know a world…
• Populated by Mr. Clean, the Michelin Man,
and Colonel Sanders;
• In which dogs and cats sing into
microphones about dinner choices;
• In which raisins dance and household bugs
spill their guts;
• In which a giant green man in a scarf and
cookie elves can be trusted
We know a world…
• In which “Because I’m worth it,” “You
deserve a break today,” “Be all that you can
be,” and “We try harder” are taken at face
value;
• In which you can feel “really clean”;
• In which various tigers tells us what to put
into our cereal bowls and gas tanks;
• In which we are encouraged to be a Pepper
It is a world of
• Feigned sincerity and eternal optimism,
• With lots and lots of small problems that we can
master.
• Filled with power…
• Where more people report crying over a greeting
card company’s advertising than over any other
regularly televised event.
From James Twitchell, Twenty Ads That Shook the World (2000)
Your homework
Look at the ad campaigns that you wrote down as
being “the best” and write down your response to the
following questions…
1. What do these ad campaigns say about our current
culture?
2. How accurately do they reflect the current culture?