Introduction to Advertising

It's easy to dismiss advertising as something that we accept yet ignore, without substance or sustenance - chewing gum for our eyes and ears, yet considering how much money is spent on it each year it must have some value.

Due to its perceived purpose of simply 'selling stuff', advertising is often seen as without artistic merit or even of any use to an audience - but as we'll see through these lessons, advertising is far from simply selling us stuff, it is selling ideas and lifestyles, furthermore it has the ability to entertain and to transport us away from the mundane humdrum of life, and sometimes, even in a world saturated by advertising has the ability to engage and wow us...

...consider this first ad for Honda cars...

What's the appeal? Do you like it? Why? Why not?

Most people agree that the advert is clever - and at the same time simple. Perhaps this juxtaposition makes us smile. Particularly the ironic humour at the end when the Voice Over announces: "Isn't it nice when things just work?" as an audience member we can only imagine how many times that something like that must have taken to set up and shoot - particularly if we notice that it was only one single continuous shot.

And this itself often arouses our curiosity... How did they do that? We ask. Was it real? Did they really do that? Our skepticism is expected, the advert is incredibly intricate and we take nothing for granted in an era of computer generated effects.

The other appeal of the advert is that it often reminds people of the board game Mousetrap, this little nostalgic trip will make us feel as though there is a familiarity with the product and the Honda brand - this is also achieved through the recognisable soundtrack: The Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight. Being from a similar era as Mousetrap this gives us an idea of the age of the target audience - those born in the late 1960s who would have been young adults in the early 1980s.

This advert is nearly ten years old itself now - however the fact remains that there is a uniqueness about the advert, particularly as adverts are so desperate to grab our attention with loud music and in your face graphics and visuals. There is something quiet and understated about this advert and it makes a change.

Regardless of what you like about it, you can't deny that there's a lot going on with this ad. And as we'll see, advertising has a number of tricks up its sleeves to persuade us to pay attention, sit up and listen and eventually put our hand in our pockets and buy!

You may find that there are commonalities amongst the adverts that you have thought of - often people remember adverts that are funny, or have famous celebrities, or are completely strange and surreal.

Very rarely do we remember them specifically because of the product that they're advertising - in fact some adverts are memorable and yet we can barely remember what the product is.

Take this ad for example - most people remember this advert whether it's for the impressive production values, the dream like visuals, the calming acoustic music or even the nostalgic wish fulfillment (come on, who didn't want to be able to drop a bouncy ball down a steep hill when they were a kid?). Did you remember that it was an advert for a TV!?

Considering the cost of the advert and also how much this stuck in people's consciousness then we have to admit that advertising is not all about the product and must be something else.

Before we start to consider the connections made between advertising texts an audiences we should look a bit more at the techniques that we recognise...

Don't forget to think about the following elements...

• Images
• Language devices and linguistic techniques
• Messages that are being sent out (ideologies)

Make sure you use examples from the adverts as your evidence!

Let's start with this 1942 advert for toothpaste...

So what techniques can we see being used here...

1. The most obvious might be the use of a young, healthy looking smiling woman - look how shiny white her teeth are! This exaggerated use of an image to promote a product is still used today... do models really have hair that shiny?
2. The second element of the image is the use of the spotlight - and with it are connotations of fame and notoriety. The spotlight is for stars of the stage and screen and if you use this product you'll be as famous as them!
3. Now we start to look at some of the ideologies that are on offer... consider the ideology that: 'Personal appearance is important' - that's part of the drive of this advert, however there are lots of other things going on here.
4. The context of the advert is important for us to recognise the ideologies at work. 1942 was obviously in during World War 2 - and as such those associated with the war effort were revered and respected, it's therefore of no surprise that the young woman chosen to advertise the product is a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force - this endorsement is obviously a good thing for the product. Not only this but the advert suggests that by purchasing Kolynos - you can actually help the war effort. Look at the 'Important' section below the main copy of the advert.  By recycling the packaging - the government can recycle the metal. This product is basically offering you the reward of a good deed done by simply buying it, and also reaching out to our patriotism!
5. War time brings with austerity with it. Everyone was on rations, no one had anything to spare - a simple tagline: "The Economical Tooth Paste" reminds the audience of this and again, tells them that they are making the best choice with Kolynos.
6. The language used to sell this product is all about the experience - look at words like "Cleansing" and "Refreshing" - they make us think of something pleasant to use, something sanitary and perhaps even exhilarating!
7. What about: "Essential" and "Vital Importance" - these words are telling us what to do - they are imperatives and must be obeyed!
8. How about the opening copy: "Never before have the women of England..." sound familiar? It should do it's rather uncannily similar to perhaps Winston Churchill's most famous speech of all time - particularly the phrase "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed, by so many, to so few." This reference to an iconic man - to an iconic speech would certainly have been recognised by a 1940s audience.

Are these devices still used today?

Next up is this advert for Harlene Hair-Drill from 1931...

Lots of similar stuff going on here but there seems to be a greater attention to detail when it comes to personal appearance - the message seems clear: "If your hair is s**t then you look s**t! Simples."

There is clearly a lot more copy than images, and this is an indicator of the times and how advertising changed over the years. However if we take a closer look at this copy we can see devices that are recognisable today.

How about the use of lists - Harlene seems to target the 5 top hair needs: "Strengthens each Hair Shaft and quickly Banishes Baldness, Lifeless Hair, Brittle Hair, Impoverished Hair" - might sound a little old fashioned, but this technique is still used today...

What about all the fancy words in the advert. I don't know what these mean: "Uzon", "Cremex" and "Insufficient Follicle Nutrition" all sounds very scientific to me!

Maybe people were smarter then? Or maybe advertisers have always enjoyed making up scientific words to make us feel as though they are an authority figure...

Bifidus WTHeck?

No-one knows what these things are, but it just goes to show that these techniques are not new.

So, if the product's not an issue and we've seen all these techniques before, then how on earth are they still able to sell this stuff?

The answer lies in the connections made between the text and the audience...