What Is Advertising?
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
Mark Twain
“Advertising says to people, 'Here's what we've got. Here's what it will do for you. Here's how to get it'.”
Leo Burnett
“I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.”
David Ogilvy
“Kodak sells film, but they don't advertise film. They advertise memories.”
Theodore Parker
“Advertising is salesmanship mass produced. No one would bother to use advertising if he could talk to all his prospects face-to-face. But he can't.”
Morris Hite
“Advertising is of the very essence of democracy. An election goes on every minute of the business day across the counters of hundreds of thousands of stores and shops where the customers state their preferences and determine which manufacturer and which product shall be the leader today, and which shall lead tomorrow.”
Bruce Barton
“You can tell the ideals
of a nation by its advertisements.” Norman
Douglas
“[The
advertiser articulates]...a novel magic which offers to meet the familiar
pains of a particular society and history, to soften or to sharpen ambition,
bitterness, solitude, lust, failure and rapacity.” Fred Inglis
Advertising is...
- paid
for
- a way
of promoting products, services or information
- a form
of communication (between manufacturer and consumer)
- a physical
commodity
- an integral
part of pop culture
- an important
economic force
- a part
of our urban landscape
The
analysis of advertising is an integral part of Media Studies. Advertising
manifests itself in all known media forms, and is constantly seeking
new media, new channels of communication. Through looking at advertising
we can learn not only how the most simple narratives are constructed
(a print ad is simpler than a magazine article, a TVC is simpler than
a feature film, although they use the same narrative techniques), but
how ideas can be communicated at great speed, through the use of single
images and words.
For a basic
definition, check out the GCSE
pages.
FOR DISCUSSION...
- Advertisements
create false wants and encourage the production and consumption of
things that are incompatible with the fulfilment of genuine and urgent
human needs.
- Advertising is
economically necessary and has brought many benefits to society.
- Advertising is
an irrational system which appeals to our emotions and to anti-social
feelings which have nothing to do with the goods on offer.
- Audiences are
completely free to ignore advertising therefore it cannot brainwash
people.
- Advertisements
usually suggest that material gain is the only route to social success
and happiness.
- Advertising increases
the sales of mass-produced goods and therefore stimulates the economy.
- Advertising creates
jobs and prosperity
- Without advertising, there would be no television or internet.
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