knowledge

1. Advertising
and Commercial Culture

2. Our increasingly sponsored
lives
• David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
• College football bowl games:

3. Our increasingly sponsored
lives
• David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
• College football bowl games:
– Nokia Sugar Bowl
– Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
– Fed Ex Orange Bowl
– Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

4. Our increasingly sponsored
lives
• Sports facilities:

5. Our increasingly sponsored
lives
• Sports facilities:
– Coors Field (Denver)
– United Center (Chicago)
– Fleet Center (Boston)
– Bank One Ballpark (Arizona)
– McLeod Arena

6. Our increasingly sponsored
lives
Where have you seen ads lately?

7. TV: 1 hour prime time TV
–1988: 10:17 ads
–1998: 15:40 ads
–2004: 16:27
–2005: 17:00
–2007:

8. Advertising History
• 3000 B.C. - ancient Babylon, shop
owners hung signs
• U.S: early 1800s -- first ad agencies
were space brokers. Bought
newspaper space and resold it.
• 1875: N.W. Ayer, first modern ad
agency, Philadelphia.

9. Advertising History
• Late 1800s -- department stores and
patent medicines as major advertisers.
• Advertising invented “problems” that
needed to be solved by products
– E.g., Odor Oh No
– AXE soap

10. • Radio: first ad, 1922
– Advertise to people in their living rooms
– Targeted kids
– Sell soap on soap operas

11. • Slogans
–No More Tears (Johnson & Johnson)
–Nobody Doesn’t Like Sara Lee (Sara Lee)
–Nothin' says lovin' like somethin' from the
oven (Pillsbury)
–Once you pop, you can't stop! (Pringles)
–M'm, M'm, Good! (Campbell's)
–Quality is Job 1. (Ford)
–Snap! Crackle! Pop! (Kellogg's Rice Krispies)
–See the USA in your Chevrolet. (Chevrolet)

12. Advertising Today
• Influence of visual design:
– 1960s-70s -- European design
– 1980s --

13. Advertising Today
• Influence of visual design:
– 1960s-70s -- European design
– 1980s -- MTV -- changes visual style for TV
ads, makes hit music part of advertising
– 1990s --

14. Advertising Today
• Influence of visual design:
– 1960s-70s -- European design
– 1980s -- MTV -- changes visual style for TV
ads, makes hit music part of advertising
– 1990s -- the Internet
• Google
• Yahoo!
• MSN

15. Advertising Today
Agencies
–Mega Agencies --
• Omnicom: $6.7 billion (21.5 %)
• WPP Group: $4.54 billion (14.6%)
• Interpublic: $3.65 billion (11.7 %)
• Publicis: $2.76 billion (8.9%)
• GOOGle: $16.6 billion

16. Advertising Today
Agencies
– Boutique Agencies -- like Wieden &
Kennedy, Digital Kitchen, Peterson Milla
Hooks

17. Advertising Today
• The Structure of Agencies
– Market Research - VALS (SRI Business
Consulting)
– Creative Development
– Media Selection
– Account and Client Management

18. Persuasive Techniques
• Famous person testimonial
• Plain folks
• Snob appeal
• Bandwagon effect
• Hidden fear
• Irritation
• Unique selling proposition

19. Persuasive Techniques
• Association Principle -- associate
product with a positive cultural image or
value
• Disassociation Corrolary
• Liberation Marketing - product takes the
language of rebellion, nonconformity

20. Persuasive Techniques
• Myth Analysis
(Claude Levi-Strauss)
– Narrative -- tells us a story
– Binary Opposition - conflict
– Resolution

21. Critical Issues in Advertising
1) Children and advertising
– Influence $500 billion in spending each
year
– Advertising in Schools
• Channel One

22. Critical Issues in Advertising
2) Health and Advertising
– Eating Disorders
– Tobacco
– Alcohol
– Prescription Drugs
• Not advertised until 1997
• $4.7 billion in 2005
• FDA enforcement of misleading claims on the decline

23. Critical Issues in Advertising
Advertising and Democracy
Broadcasters earned from political ads:
1996 -$400 million
2000 -$665 million
2004 -$1.6 billion
2008: $2.5 billion
Campaign ads are about 10% of total
revenue in those years. How does this affect
broadcasters’ support for campaign finance
reform?