My Theory Of Advertising

PositronWildhawk Advertising is more than just making one aware of a product. If you just see the words "Samsung Galaxy S5", next to the phone, it means nothing. Ads have to be hard to forget, and the way in which ads are made hard to forget is with elements which are either funny, weird, or creepy. The Snickers ads with Mr. T*, the GoCompare opera singer ads*, and the PS3 ad with the baby* all display mainly these characteristics respectively.

But not every ad draws a line between these properties. Ads can try to be one and be more of another. Often, in lack of humour, a stale quality can diminish the advert, making it weird, or, if this case is extreme, creepy. This places the majority of ads into the second and third category. In my opinion, the GoCompare ads began to fit these categories after aging.

Finally, what links weird to creepy is often repeated advertising techniques. When an advertising scheme ages, the advertisers run low on material, and resort to bizarre qualities, which become normal until it becomes more extreme, or creepy. An advertiser may try completely new material, which is creepy, but has been considered normal. A good example is the creepiest ad I know, the Humpty Dumpty ad for Kinder Bueno*.

I ad to make my point clear.

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ona7QYULRVE *https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBFF9BDAF7796AC56 *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkNPcUMffU *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8y6nJIOySA

Comments

It's a nice analysis from someone who hasn't studied about marketing techniques. To be frank, your point applies on most cases, and it surely proves to be effective. To support your insistence over "creepy" advertising, it is known that people who didn't like something they saw tend to tell it to 11 other people, while people who liked something only tell it to 3. Therefore, if your intention is the voice to voice in a snowball effect, creepy advertising should be your aim.

Anyway, it is also fair to point the fact that in some cases it's not necessary to fall under any of those three categories. Sometimes, when the product is well known and established in the market, simply advertising with the popular name of the product should be enough to increase your sales, remembering your product exists. Also, for products that have been established as "serious" products or those ones whose target is a niche of loyal customers, making rather funny, weird or creepy advertising could ruin your image, decreasing sales.

Anyway, each case is difference and creative ideas could work even when they seem crazy, if it is backed-up with a good reason to do it. - keyson (8/19/2014)

I totally agree, some ads are really annoying and others don't make sense - yatharthb (8/21/2014)

Most advertisements are either weird, annoying, or REALLY, REALLY OVERPLAYED! - Turkeyasylum (10/11/2014)

I find the new GoCompare ads even more annoying than the old ones. - visitor (12/30/2016)

I'm honestly so sorry that that horrible Kinder toy is actually sold in your country.

P.S. I'm still retired but I usually check to see if anyone else has commented on one of my posts. - visitor (6/3/2018)

Sucks how Kinder is sold in your country man. - visitor (6/9/2018)

Welp...we do have Kinder eggs, which aren't sold in yours because of the potential choking hazard.
Funny what America will and won't ban for the safety of its people. - PositronWildhawk (6/10/2018)

I'm just saying that if I had to live in a nation where a toy that's associated with a demon Humpty Dumpty is sold in stores I'd probably have some issues. - visitor (6/10/2018)

Here's a not-so-fun fact about me. I started using YouTube at a very young age (age 10) and I started to explore the depths of the website. Then I came across the Humpty Dumpty ad and it traumatized me ever since. - visitor (10/21/2018)