Advertising A Difference.

Time Capsule

2009-03-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

My painstakingly customized and hopefully accurate predictions of the type of designer that each of us would be in the year 2019. It can either serve as a reminder and aspiration to work towards or a self-check after 10 years.

The translation exercise based on the archive and expressed as 'a series of…'

2009-03-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

Budding designers from ADM, School Design and Media in NTU, are selected to give their creative suggestions for improving these controversial advertisements. The suggestions are written on transparencies, which can clearly mark out their respective positions and bind together by metal rings so that they are adjustable.

Selection of suggestions used in the construction of the improved advertisements are based on my understanding of the public's level of tolerance through various case studies seen in this blog archive and their obvious effectiveness and frequency.

D&G SUGGESTIONS:

To me the ads are typical D&G and what they lack in creativity they make up in formulaic provocation. Like most of their ads, the figures are seperated by a couple of feet and show no physical connection with each other. Such a placement focuses on the product rather than an expression or reality of life and design. The placement of a man and woman in the center in a provocative pose does not work well with such a composition and leaves the viewer disturbed.

I am a little bit on the fence... i agree the image is a little shocking, not because of the two figures in the middle and their positions, but rather the facial expressions of the men peering on and the dark moody colors.... which make it subcousciously “disturbing”. Make it a classic black and white photo instead. dont think it constitutes banishment, however...its just a strange ad (and i think they could have done better).

This ad definetly represents violence toward woman, and could very well be a portrayal of a gang rape. It is used to grab your attention, but I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t make me feel warn and fuzzy and good all over. I think the ad is very degrading to women. Tell me this, How does the image have anything to do with what they are wearing. The emphasis is on the action that is taking place in the photograph. You can barely even see the dress she is wearing.

First problem: What is it selling? Clothes? Brand? People? Body? What it really looks like is they are promoting sex, rape, gangbangs etc. However, they are actually promoting attitude. The sexy attitude? Can sexiness be promoted a different way? Mabe you can focus more on the clothes? Make it less raunchy, maybe more sophisticated. Maybe a sexier layout instead of a sexier pose.

First of all, I find this ad very terribly done. It’s very intimidating as a female, to look at it. So simply, I think just by removing the 3 guys in the background would take away a large portion of the ‘gangbang’ feel.

I like this ad. Where’s the controversial part? If you want, have the lady sit high and mighty sexily on a sexy looking chair, looking all empowering. The poor males then cower at her feet. Maybe even have her pick up guys at a lineup for her insatiable appetite. She got the power!

Seems like gangbang to me with the female highly enjoying it. Then again this seems to mean that the product is promoting the sex appeal of the men (and maybe the women). How about you turn the image to portrait instead of landscape or tilted 45 degrees. So it’s like dancing. Dancing can be sexy too. Then the guys can stand around as usual. Change background to some dance background?

Just one male and female model is enough. Too many male models just makes it look like they want to gangbang her! If they are trying to sell S&M, because of the black leather, the femlae should be more dominant, i.e. holding a whip. Heighten up the mood. Instead of looking like a virgin sacrificed and so vulnerable.

Too many irrelevant models in the background communicate sublimnally a sleazy connotation. What is with the black and white standees in the background? Abrupt cutting off of unneeded models heads and limbs is visually damaging. Profile projection of models is visually unsettling. Heavily oiled bodies are vastly passe and unappealing. Improvement proposal: 1. Setting, change to a more believable set with furniture like a couch. 2. Remove oil. 3. Frontal projection.

Too much use of male models to illustrate the message. Male models do not need to be bare naked in the top half to make this advertisement tasteful. Perhaps not so sexually intended to convey some meaning? Possible suggestions: 1. Cover up and remove unnecessary models. 2. Less is more, simplicity to work.

SONY PSP SUGGESTIONS:

While we can all agree that Sony meant no ill will, I really find it hard to believe Sony’s explanation about how it merely contrasts the white and black PSP. They are essentially the same product in different colors; why the animosity between the two metaphors in the ads? It makes no sense. The last thing anyone should want is for their own product lines to clash. I guess Sony evades the rule by making one product line clash with itself?

What would have been a clever idea would have been to have a white figure with black clothing/hair, and a black figure with white clothing/hair, thus (sort of) negating racial conflict. Does the white figure represent the black or white PSP? If they represent the black one, then how can they be making a pro-white statement?

If the ads involved a white and black figure in a cooperative outlook, and with a less confrontational slogan than ‘white is coming’, even something as simple as ‘black and white’ with white in italics.. then no one would even bat an eyelid at this. Indeed, there might even be a chance among the more Politically-correct circles that Sony would be applauded for the encouragement of good inter-race relations.

A picture of an aryan woman assaulting a black woman, with the slogan ‘white is coming’ has racist connotations. A picture of a black woman assaulting an aryan woman, (especially with the slogan “Black is coming”) would have equally racist connotations. If it didn’t have the slogan, perhaps not.

If this was an advert with two identical twins - only one being platinum blonde and one being black haired there wouldn’t be any problem. Even if they were posed in the exact same position as this I dont think there would be any outcry at all. Or if the first round of PSP’s were green and the second round of them were red, and the models were body painted to those colours, nobody would have a problem with it either.

I dont see what the big deal it. If the situation was reversed, there would not be an issue. Then again, they could have used cartoon PSPs to depicts this. Plus, that chick looks like a freak!

Its nothing to do with who is seen as dominant. The advert highlights and uses the colour of peoples skin as the basis of its message. Defining people only by their colour is racism. What if they had used black and white monkeys? Would we still be having this discussion? I don’t think so.

Show them together, show them seperate, but don’t show one trying to overpower the other. If it is part of a series where the role is reversed then neither is “winning”, therefore neither is portrayed to be inferior to the other, therefore it can’t be racist.

They should have had a black and white chick that look almost identical, and a 4th ad picture depicting them covered in mud so much so that you can not tell who is who (caption - “good clean fun”).

First why did they go out their way to find the blackest person they could find? Second why is it so hard to see the details of the black (woman/man) in this ad? If this is infact a black woman why is she portraded so plainly while the white woman is looking very attractive with seductive clothing and a far greater detail. The black woman does not even appear to have makeup on. Why is the black woman displayed with her eyes closed hands by her side position? The black woman seems to be the undesired thing where as the white woman is the thing to be lusted after. One could say the white woman(white Playstation looks supperior to the black playstation). Think about it what would have been wrong with this white woman facing off with a Beyonce? That pair would definitely look more equal then this photo of a black person in the plainest of cloths against this well dressed nicely made up white woman.

PEPSI MAX SUGGESTIONS:

I think to show this idea doesn’t have to be in the way that show a lonely calorie is going to kill itself, it is too extreme maybe. Maybe can just use illustration of a calorie with lonely, sad face. For using funny illustration style, I think it’s already good because if they don’t then it will be too sad with the idea of lonely calorie. I mean the ‘lonely’ itself is already negative meaning, so the illustration might be good to show the ‘happy’ side.

Dark humour! If I didn’t read the caption, I wouldn’t knew the blue guy is the lonely calorie. My initial impression was the blue guy still look like part of pepsi. If calorie is the ‘boycotted’ part, maybe it shouldn’t be in a roundish shape that is quite similar to pepsi’s logo. Overall didn’t remind me of the brand, think it should be more obvious. Because you only have 1 to 2 sec at of advertising time per person.

Pepsi as a brand, ‘blood’ and ‘gun’ are the key deciding factors that makes the piece ‘dark’. The graphicness of the blood coming out the back of the head... brain splatter from a gun is a conversation that I am not ready to have with a 5 year old and is certainly something I don’t want associated with an innocent drink I may have in the fridge. The character could portray a happier look? The brand association, on a lighter note could revolve around happier motifs but still retaining the ‘sucidal’ approach. Replace them to something friendlier and create crude humor instead of out front seriousness. Crude humor! Play on that.

They could have avoided some of controversy with a lonely calorie fondling a blow-up calorie. But I doubt avoiding controversy was the point.

A drawing depicting suicide by cartoonish methods like strapping himself to a rocket is one thing... but I do think they carried it a step too far with the gun. Those are things that happen in real life, and very very sensitive subjects for people considering it as well as people who have lost loved ones to suicide. Topics like that are inappropriate to be exposed in a way that over-simplifies them. Yes, as a society we are desensitized to violence, but that doesn’t mean we need to exploit what manners and tact that we have left. What it really comes down to is that Pepsi could have sent the same message by using more “Saturday-morning-cartoon violence,” and that’s how it should have been.

The concept is good and there are ways to deal with these issues - the creative team just needed to work harder/push the concept further. The classic bugs bunny characters were able to express these sentiments without the need for disturbing graphic images - it is not the matter of “What” action they did as much as it is “How” it was represented/illustrated. For these print ads they took a more crass easy way out versus trying to find a more elegant solution that would be more socially acceptable to the general populous. A good concept and a good illustration does not guarantee a good ad.

That’s a pretty harsh route for that calorie to be taking. I agree suicide isn’t exactly the best way to go with this one.

Pepsi in not promoting suicide yet they are not showing a positive picture of one single calorie either. Death is final and people get hurt and some never recover from the losses. Put the humor back not the tragedy in.

There are some things that really are inappropriate. I would say using suicide to promote your low-cal drink is right up there. Of course, they do say the calorie is “very, very, very” lonely so I suppose that means the only out is suicide. If the poor little calorie was only “very, very” or even “very” lonely, he would just need some heavy-duty counseling.

I like this ad. I absolutely love the artwork. But I do understand why it would be problematic. The controversy will probably do well for the product, though. What I would do is, rework the ad, minus the suicide theme, and do a worldwide public apology for the old ad. That would create an interest in the product, and at the same time, cut costs on doing a full blown worldwide-scale advertising campaign.

The archive 'as such'

2009-03-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

All the advertisements that I have come across while archiving are split into the 3 categories in the legend.

The 2 posters

2009-03-03T22:25:00.000-08:00

The lights behind advertisements can be perfectly represented by the three hues of traffic lights; red for banned or rejected, yellow for controversial (may be banned and rejected in some places while accepted or created a commotion in others) and green for approved advertisements. The city's night view which is saturated in green reflects the majority of approved advertisements seen in our daily lives while some controversial and banned advertisements exist too.

Spot the difference is inspired by the archive show title, 'Advertising A Difference'. It gives a playful sneak preview of how the design solution is arrived through changing parts of the controversial advertisements.

Sony PlayStation Portable: Retry

2009-02-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

I am certain that soldiers, fighters and armies all over the world would love this retry feature. The “Retry” Ad for Sony’s PlayStation Portable player gives you a gruesome visual with limps and organs all over the place; a retry is most welcome!

The ad was photographed by Kaustubh Kamat with art direction by Pavel Roy for the Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art advertising school, Mumbai, India.

Vandol Cream: Cupid

2009-02-10T05:41:00.001-08:00

Ad: Vandol Cream. Controversy: Perhaps a tad too graphic for North America, this ad for vitamin cream in the Philippines ran with the slogan "For less irritable babies. Vitamins A + D - Vandol Cream". (Courtesy DM9 Jayme Syfu)

Burger King Ad Controversy

2009-02-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

A humorously sadistic series from Burger King. Personally, I appreciate the dark humor and logic behind them.

Pepsi Max: Lonely Calory, Noose

2009-02-05T06:01:00.000-08:00

As advised, I am not supposed to say anything about the controversy behind this series of Pepsi Max advertisements. But I would say it's pretty obvious in this case. Looks feasible for me to reproduce by drawing.

Intel under fire for 'racist' ad

2009-02-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

THE ALMIGHTY Chipzilla has come under some fire for what some ad experts are suggesting is a rather inadvertently racist Core Duo advert.

The ad, which can be seen here, shows a white IT manager looking pretty pleased with himself, having successful managed to "multiply computing performance" and "maximise the power" of his employees.

Here's the downer: for some bizarre reason, the employees are all depicted as black athletes, crouched as if starting a sprint race - but also appearing to all bow down before the smug white dude.

Public response to the controversy seems to range from "Stupid ad but not racism" and "Not even a little bit racist. At worst, stereotypical. At best a completely crap ad", through to "This one is a shit storm waiting to happen. You could say it's racist for so many reasons."

Whilst we don't suggest for a second that anybody at Intel is racist, it is slightly strange that this one got through MarComms without anybody pointing out the potential problem. Is everyone asleep over in San Jose?

Intel, it seems recognised its folly, but a tad too late. Nancy Bhagat Vice president, director of Integrated Marketing at the chip maker writes of the ad in her bog, here: "We have used the visual of sprinters in the past successfully. Unfortunately, our execution did not deliver our intended message and in fact proved to be insensitive and insulting. Upon recognizing this, we attempted to pull the ad from all publications but, unfortunately, we failed on one last media placement."

Source: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/060/1004060/intel-under-fire-for-racist-ad

Alcohol Advertising Neglected!

2009-02-04T02:03:00.000-08:00

Only when compared to regulations for tobacco advertising.

Recently in CorpusChristi, Texas, a commercial advertising whiskey was aired. The premise of the commercial involved two cartoon dogs having been depicted as obedience school graduates, with one of the dogs wearing a hat that said “valedictorian”. Instead of holding a graduation diploma, the little pooch had a bottle of Seagram’s Crown Royal whiskey. “The ad marked the first time that a liquor company had broken the 60 year old voluntary industry ban on hard liquor” (“Should Liquor Be”). This kind of commercial is obviously directed towards younger viewers in an attempt to begin drawing a parallel between cute little cartoon dogs and Crown Royal whiskey.

Although that liquor commercial has recently been the focus of an alcohol advertising controversy, what’s really important is the beer that is being advertised. Have you ever thought about the effects the three little frogs who blurted out “Bud-weis-er” had on society? Or how about the Coors Twins who can be seen in commercials with the subliminal message of “drinking doubles your fun”? These ads, among others, have had a more significant effect on us than one might consciously think about.

Even though alcohol is just as harmful to you as tobacco, the same regulations on tobacco advertising seem not to apply to alcohol advertising. Tobacco advertisements have been severely restricted within the past decade, and there seems to be no reason why these kinds of restrictions cannot be applied to alcohol advertisements. For some reason, alcohol restrictions seem to be exempt from such regulations because of its grasp on our national economy. Alcohol advertising is something that should be more strictly controlled so that the younger generations are not constantly bombarded with alcohol promotions and subconsciously told that drinking equals being cool and having fun.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said on NBC's “Meet the Press” that “[advertising alcohol on TV] is a big mistake. I think it would have a bad impact on our children and young people and society as a whole” (“Should Liquor Be”). People take for granted the amount of alcohol that is being advertised daily on the average television.

Kids see only one of the industry’s "responsibility" ads, for every 60 alcohol commercials they watch. Research suggests what most parents already know: This barrage of alcohol advertising is a threat to their children. The federal government spends only $71 million a year on anti-underage drinking efforts, compared to $18 billion fighting drug abuse. And yet, alcohol abuse kills 6.5 times more kids than all drugs combined. Meanwhile, the alcohol industry is spending $3 billion a year on alcohol ads. (“Tighten Youth Access”)

In a study held by Laura Lieber, director of the Center on Alcohol Advertising, found that many children can easily identify some beer commercial characters. In a study of children ages 9 to 11, 70% of them knew that the frogs in the Anheuser-Busch Co.’s ad say Bud-weis-er (“Tobacco and Alcohol”). It is clear that children are very receptive of these alcohol ads. “According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, underage drinking accounts for 20 percent of all alcohol consumption in the United States” (“Tighten Youth Access”).

People underestimate the effect that banning alcohol ads, and alcohol for that matter, can have in the United States. Back in the early 1900’s during the Prohibition, the government issued a ban on the selling of alcohol in the United States. This government regulation had a serious impact upon the consumption of alcohol in the country and resulted in a decline in alcohol related health problems. “John C. Burnham argued that the national ban on alcohol [during the Prohibition] helped improve Americans' health. Death rates from liver cirrhosis fell from 29.5 per 100,000 men in 1911 to 10.7 in 1929, while admissions to state mental hospitals for treatment of alcoholic psychosis also declined markedly” (“Should Liquor Be”). Although alcohol has such a strong hold in our economy today, these measures seem unlikely. However, a campaign for stricter regulation of alcohol advertisements centers on the “proposed Sensible Advertising and Family Education (SAFE) Act, first introduced in 1993 by Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., and Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, D-Mass. The legislation would have required all advertising for alcoholic beverages to include one of seven health warnings on a rotating basis” (“Should Liquor Be”). Simple warnings could help tremendously, but the industries refused.

People who believe that alcohol and tobacco advertising should be regulated also agree that the icons, slogans, and cartoons used to advertise those products are in part directed to appeal to children (“Tobacco and Alcohol”). “A survey reported in the December 11, 1991 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that the Joe Cool character was as recognizable to American children as Mickey Mouse, the mascot of Walt Disney World and Disneyland, children-oriented theme parks. More than 90% of six-year-olds in the study could link the Camel character to cigarettes” (“Tobacco and Alcohol”). This survey clearly shows the impact of how a simple cartoon advertising for Camel cigarettes can be such an influence in the minds of little children. Because these kids have grown up watching Joe Cool, when they are introduced to smoking, the cigarette companies hope that they would choose Camel cigarettes.

As tobacco industries continue to spend more money on advertising, it does not seem like a coincidence that as a result of their spending there is an increase in teenage smoking. “A study appearing in Journal of Marketing (April 1996) found that, on average, a 10% increase in spending by cigarette makers on their ad campaigns resulted in a 3% greater share of the adult market, but a 9% greater share in the teenage market” (“Tobacco and Alcohol”). When cigarette companies plan their advertising schemes, it seems that their main audience is young teenagers and children. Defenders of tobacco and alcohol advertising try to refute the notion that they market their products to children. They believe “that their main focus is not to have people start smoking and drinking, but to influence the choices in brands the consumers make. They claim that adult choice is what they structure their ads on” (“Tobacco and Alcohol”). If this is the case, then how come in a 1973 internal document written by the assistant director of research and development of a tobacco industry, it reads: “Realistically, if our company is to survive and prosper, over the long term, we must get our share of the youth market. In my opinion this will require new brands tailored to the youth market” (“Tobacco and Alcohol”). Obviously tobacco and alcohol industries take advantage of the youth of America by advertising their products to them in an attempt for them to begin using their products at an early age.

In recent years however, the government has taken a new approach to the tobacco and alcohol advertising problem. They have begun to strictly regulate tobacco advertisements, and these regulations have had a significant impact upon youth consumption. A few of these restrictions are:

· Ban billboard advertisements of tobacco products from within 1,000 feet of schools or playgrounds; all other tobacco billboards and signs will be limited to black and white text only, except those in adult-only facilities, such as bars or nightclubs

· Restrict tobacco ads to black and white text only in all magazines that have a youth readership of more than two million, or more than 15% of total readership. Popular magazines affected include Sports Illustrated, Vogue and Rolling Stone.

· Ban brand-name sponsorship of sporting or entertainment events by tobacco companies.

· Ban promotional giveaway items, such as hats and t-shirts, that bear brand names or logos of tobacco products. (“Tobacco and Alcohol”)

It is clear that the government has taken into consideration the impact that tobacco advertising has on children. They have taken steps to restrict these advertisements, but for some reason they tended to forget about the alcohol advertisements. These regulations, however, have not been taken easily by the tobacco industries. “The tobacco industries and their defenders contend that they have the same rights to promote and advertise their wares as any other legal product. Nearly all products, from cars to aspirin, can be used irresponsibly and abused” (“Tobacco and Alcohol”). This statement holds some validity, except for the fact that most of the products that can be “used irresponsibly and abused” if they are taken in excess. At a moderate amount however, pills help people feel better and get healthier while cars serve as an essential mode of transportation. Smoking in moderation does not have any useful purpose at all.

Tobacco and alcohol industries should look at the impact their advertisements have on the youth of America. Obviously the government should regulate the advertisements, or the industries themselves should come up with different advertising campaigns that would focus more on the older, maturer generations. The repercussions these advertisements have had on children have been severely underestimated, and unless the government or the industries themselves do something about this problem, things will only get worse. The government has taken the right step in beginning to regulate tobacco advertising, and if it can only focus its attention on alcohol advertising, the younger generations’ well-being will significantly improve.

Source: http://www.timlindgren.org/courses/fws-fall2003/documentf1d7.html?id=347

Anti-anorexia ad sparks controversy

2009-02-04T01:48:00.000-08:00

Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, famed for his shock campaigns for clothing company Benetton, launched a new campaign – in the middle of Milan fashion week – featuring the naked body of an emaciated young woman.

An Italian advertising campaign featuring photos of an emaciated girl won praise recently from designers and the government for targeting anorexia, but campaigners warned it could encourage the disease.

The ads for Italian clothing firm "No-l-ita", which have been published on double-page spreads in the press and are posted on billboards across Italian cities, feature the slogan "No" to anorexia underneath.

"Well done Oliviero Toscani, his campaign is very effective," said European Affairs Minister Emma Bonino, while Health Minister Livia Turco said she "appreciated and supported" the photos.

Endocrinologist Fabrizio Jacoangeli said it was hard to judge what impact the photos would have but warned the campaign risked creating "competition" among anorexic people to be like the woman in the photograph.

“When you do something extreme, there are always people who oppose it,” Toscani said. “It shouldn’t be the photos that shock, but the reality.” The Italian photographer said he became aware of anorexia while working in the fashion world. “It’s this milieu that influences women to go on diets, to become thin. I studied the disease while making a short film about a 16-year-old girl suffering from anorexia that was shown at the Locarno (Italy) film festival in 2006,” he said.

However, the campaign has already alienated some of the very people who champion the cause Nolita is trying to embrace. And it has also stirred up controversy over whether the brand is raising awareness about anorexia, or possibly profiting from it. “This girl needs to be in a hospital, not at the forefront of an advertising campaign,” said Fabiola De Clercq, founder and president of ABA, the Italian association against anorexia, bulimia and obesity.

Ms. De Clercq, who says she suffered from anorexia for more than 20 years, called the ads “useless and dangerous.” She said the campaign “glorifies a woman who is sick and could lead others to be sickly thin because of all the attention.”

Thumbs up from the catwalk
The view from the Milan catwalks was positive, however. "Finally someone tells the truth, which is that (anorexia) is not the fault of the fashion industry but a psychological problem," said designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.

Giorgio Armani added at the end of his fashion show: "I think that these campaigns, with such harsh images, are just and well-timed."

Anti-anorexia manifesto
At the end of last year, the government, the Italian Fashion Federation and a group bringing together Italian designers in Rome and Milan adopted an "anti-anorexia" manifesto to try to promote a healthier kind of beauty. Meanwhile in Paris recently, the French actress and anorexia sufferer who modelled for Toscani's campaign, Isabelle Caro, said she had wanted to alert young women to the dangers of being too thin.

The model speaks out
"Thinness leads to death and it is anything but beautiful," the 27-year-old, who has suffered from anorexia since the age of 13, told RTL radio.

Caro currently weighs 32 kilogrammes (70 pounds) for a height of 1.65 metres. She says she has gained two kilos since the photo shoot, and five in the past year. "I thought this could be a chance to use my suffering to get a message across, and finally put an image on what thinness represents and the danger it leads to – which is death," she said.

Caro said taking part in the campaign was a way "to make people react, for young girls who see this to think: 'Oh, so that's what lies behind the beautiful clothes, the hair, the image that we are shown of fashion'."

Over the past 15 years, Caro has been repeatedly hospitalised as her weight fell to dangerously low levels. "You feel as if you master everything, that you are in total control, and then little by little you fall into this hellish spiral, a spiral of death," she said in a separate interview with France 3 television.

Source: http://www.women24.com/Women24v2/ContentDisplay/w24v2_ArticleCapture/0,,15992,00.html

'No God' slogans for city's buses

2009-02-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

Bendy-buses with the slogan "There's probably no God" could soon be running on the streets of London.

The atheist posters are the idea of the British Humanist Association (BHA) and have been supported by prominent atheist Professor Richard Dawkins. The BHA planned only to raise £5,500, which was to be matched by Professor Dawkins, but it has now raised more than £36,000 of its own accord. It aims to have two sets of 30 buses carrying the signs for four weeks.

The complete slogan reads: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

As the campaign has raised more than anticipated, it will also have posters on the inside of buses as well. The BHA is also considering extending the campaign to cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.

Professor Dawkins said: "Religion is accustomed to getting a free ride - automatic tax breaks, unearned respect and the right not to be offended, the right to brainwash children. Even on the buses, nobody thinks twice when they see a religious slogan plastered across the side. This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think - and thinking is anathema to religion."

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the BHA, said: "We see so many posters advertising salvation through Jesus or threatening us with eternal damnation, that I feel sure that a bus advert like this will be welcomed as a breath of fresh air. If it raises a smile as well as making people think, so much the better."

But Stephen Green of pressure group Christian Voice said: "Bendy-buses, like atheism, are a danger to the public at large. I should be surprised if a quasi-religious advertising campaign like this did not attract graffiti. People don't like being preached at. Sometimes it does them good, but they still don't like it."

However the Methodist Church said it thanked Professor Dawkins for encouraging a "continued interest in God".

Spirituality and discipleship officer Rev Jenny Ellis said: "This campaign will be a good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life. Christianity is for people who aren't afraid to think about life and meaning."

The buses with the slogans will run in Westminster from January.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7681914.stm

Advertising panel approves British `No God' bus ads

LONDON (RNS) Rejecting protests by Christian groups, Britain's advertising watchdog agency has given the go-ahead to a campaign to plaster atheist signs on hundreds of buses and other vehicles across the country.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the campaign, which uses the slogan "There's probably no God," was unlikely to mislead or "cause serious or widespread offense."

The ASA is a powerful regulator set up as a self-governing agency for the nation's advertising industry, with the authority to take its cases to the government's Office of Fair Trading. As such, its decisions are rarely, if ever, challenged.

The $100,000 ad campaign is sponsored by the British Humanist Association. The signs, in full, say, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The ads will be placed on some 200 buses in London and on 600 other vehicles in England, Scotland and Wales.

The campaign has prompted one Christian bus driver, Ron Heather of Southampton, England, to walk off the job in protest. When he first caught sight of the banner, Heather said, "my first reaction was sheer horror." He added that "it was the starkness of this advert which implied there was no God" that got to him, and that "I felt that I could not drive the bus."

But Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, told reporters that "I can't understand why some people have a different attitude when it comes to atheists."

Most of the 326 complaints that the ASA received were from Christian organizations and individuals, who said the slogans denigrated people of faith. Others argued that the advertiser could not substantiate its claim that God "probably" does not exist. However, the ASA said the ads amounted to an expression of the advertiser's opinion and that its claims were beyond objective substantiation.

Source: http://pewforum.org/news/rss.php?NewsID=17392

"No God" bus ads banned in Italian city

ROME (Reuters) - Italian atheists have lost a bid to run "no God" advertisements on city buses after strong opposition from conservative political parties, a member of the group said on Saturday.

The ads reading "The bad news is that God doesn't exist. The good news is that you don't need him" were to have been put on buses in the northern city of Genoa, home to the Catholic cardinal who is head of the Italian Bishops Conference.

The mock-up was ready and the contract was sent to the group for signing but the publicity agency changed its mind and said the ad could not run it because it violated an ethics in advertising code, according to Giorgio Villella of The Italian Union of Atheists and Rationalist Agnostics (UAAR).

"Right-wing politicians criticized us ferociously," Villella said by telephone from the group's base, adding that at least one bus driver in Genoa said he would refuse to drive a "no God" bus.

"It's strange that in a country where ads depicting near-naked women wearing skimpy lingerie is permitted on buses that we can't run ads about atheism," Villella said.

Villella said the group's lawyers would likely file an appeal to a court to overturn the decision and that the group would try to run the ads in other Italian cities.

Atheists in Barcelona, London and Washington have already run "no God" ads on city buses.

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKTRE50G1QP20090117

Offensive Last Supper Ad Banned by Churches in France

2009-01-31T14:17:00.000-08:00

The Catholic Church in France has won a ruling in the Court yesterday to ban an "offensive" advertising poster, which is based on Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting of Christ's Last Supper. This is the second time the poster has been banned in Europe after the Italian city of Milan in February rejected to use it as a parody of a key event in Christian history.

The advertisement from the leading French fashion house, Marithe and Francois Girbaud, shows women in chic casual clothes seated at the table of the Last Supper in postures. To the right of the Christ figure in the poster, a woman embraces a shirtless man in jeans.

Reuters reported that an association called Beliefs and Freedoms, which was created by the French bishops' conference in 1996, complained against the poster. In a statement, it stated that the poster did "great injury to Catholics because it represents the Last Supper in denigrating conditions."

The representative lawyer of the Catholic association, Thierry Massis told the court the advertisement was deeply hurtful to Catholics.

"When you trivialise the founding acts of a religion, when you touch on sacred things, you create an unbearable moral violence which is a danger to our children. Tomorrow Christ on the cross will be selling socks," he said.

Judge Jean-Claude Magendie ruled yesterday that display of the ad posters in public was "a gratuitous and aggressive act of intrusion on people's innermost beliefs", quoted by the Australian newspaper.

"The offence done to Catholics far outweighs the desired commercial goal," he added, despite the fashion company arguing that the poster was just a photograph based on a painting, not on the bible and that caused no harm to Catholic religion.

Currently, the Paris Court have ordered the French fashion house to take down the posters within three days.

Da Vinci's famous painting - the Last Supper - depicts Christ's farewell to his disciples as recorded in the Gospel. In 1495, Leonardo Da Vinci began painting the Last Supper on the wall of the refectory (dining hall) of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy, and completed it in 1498. This church has now become a very famous tourist point.

Controversy over the clash between the increasingly secularised society and historical religious traditions was raised by the defence lawyer in the case. Reuters reported that the lawyer asked why the Church took legal action against the painting which is not designed to attack the Catholic faith at all, while doing nothing against the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code by US author Dan Brown.

The international best-seller, argues against Christian teaching, and incorporates controversial and sensitive issues, such as that Jesus was married to his follower Mary Magdelene and that the Church had conspired for centuries to hide this.

In recent years, many similar cases of alleged blasphemy against religions were seen in Europe. The Australia newspaper cited that the Catholic Church reacted with anger to a poster for the film Amen by Constantin Costa-Gavras, which showed a cross whose branches turned into Nazi swastikas three years ago.

Now compare it with Da Vinci's Last Supper:

Source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/offensive.last.supper.ad.banned.by.churches.in.france/2330.htm

Archive Fever

2009-01-30T18:22:00.000-08:00

I opened my blog one day and found it swamped with images of "Photo-bucket exceeded bandwidth". This is annoying but I changed my blog template once again. Hence pardon me if you have to search for this post for my main problem and sub problems till I manage to fix the problems. Meanwhile, more exciting advertisements are coming your way.

As the amount of advertising increases, it would appear that there has been an increase in the amount of controversial advertising shown in various media as agencies try to become more creative to “cut through the clutter” to gain attention and brand awareness. For advertisers the problem can be that a controversial advertising campaign can be very successful or very damaging, depending on what ultimately happens in the marketplace. The result of a controversial advertising campaign can, therefore, be offence that can lead to a number of actions like negative publicity, attracting complaints to advertising regulatory bodies, falling sales, and product boycotts.

The issue for some advertisers and their agencies is to determine who may be offended by their controversial campaign and what are the reasons for offence, particularly when the product itself may be controversial:

(1) Gender/Sex Related Products (eg. condoms, female contraceptives, male/female underwear, and feminine hygiene products);

(2) Social/Political Groups (eg. political parties, religious denominations, funeral services, racially extreme groups, and guns and armaments);

(3) Addictive Products (eg. alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling); and

(4) Health and Care Products (eg. Charities, sexual diseases and weight loss programs).

The objective is to encourage advertisers undertake some social responsibility not to offend people by their advertising images, yet in a free market they should be able to communicate a message to their customers.

Further research should be undertaken into types of people who are offended and the areas of offense to assist advertisers in making better managerial decisions when is comes to deciding on a controversial advertising strategy.

Instead of hard selling this ideology to advertisers, a more effective approach should be considered.

Selection of controversial advertisements for this project should represent categories as wide ranging as possible.

PSP goes racist

2009-01-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

The new white PSP is coming to Europe soon, and Sony’s marketing department has put together an ad that will certainly be “controversial” (read: racist). The billboard shows a white woman, white hair and white clothes “abusing” a black individual. I bet she’s thinking “white PSP power”. Clearly this doesn’t appeal to anyone else than Starbucks Moccachino-drinking buzzword-throwing Manhattan marketers. I feel like getting rid of my (black) PSP in protest.

Sony has responded to the criticism while speaking to gameindsutry.biz, defending the ad campaign:

“A variety of different treatments have been created as a campaign to either highlight the whiteness of the new model or contrast the black and the white models.

“All of the 100 or so images created for the campaign have been designed to show this contrast in colours of the PSPs , and have no other message or purpose.”

Sony is saying there are no racial intentions, but there’s a reason many people have expressed discomfort over this. Sony also said that they have no plans of running the ad in the UK. Perhaps because the black poplulation is far greater in the UK than in Holland?

Sony has now removed the controversial ads from their Dutch PSP site. I think that’s the last we’ll see of it.

Now US civil rights group NAACP has criticized the ads as well, saying;

“The latest Sony ad conjures up bad memories of when stereotypical and offensive images of people of color were accepted means of selling a product. Sony should immediately apologize and discontinue these archaic advertising tactics.”

It is clear (from reading many of the comments people posted on DigitalBattle), that the ad is offensive, something the NAACP president Rick Callender agrees on:

“I can’t begin to determine Sony’s motivation but I believe this marketing strategy is unnecessary and is clearly offensive to many in our community.”
Source: http://www.digitalbattle.com/2006/07/07/more-problems-for-sonys-psp-ad/

Offensive Nitendo Parody Ad (this time shapist)

Thanks to Ctrl+Alt+Del's Tim Buckley, we now have a good idea what Nintendo would have done if given the same billboard for PSP Dual Screen Lite. Good photoshopping skills.
Source: http://kotaku.com/185768/offensive-nintendo-parody-ad-this-time-shapist

Racism

2009-01-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

the strange history of racist spokescharacters.

Today, State has a slide show featuring a whole host of racist and stereotypical advertising imagery throughout the 20th century:

Source: http://www.slate.com/id/2164062/nav/tap1/

Dolce & Gabbana

2009-01-28T01:49:00.000-08:00

02/23/2007

Dolce & Gabbana plans to pull the advertisement, which shows a man holding a woman to the ground by her wrists while a group of men look on, following complaints from consumers' groups.

Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has branded Spain as being 'behind the times' for demanding it withdraw a controversial advertising campaign, a newspaper reported on Friday. Dolce & Gabbana plans to pull the advertisement following complaints from consumers' groups. "We will only withdraw this photo from the Spanish market. They're a bit behind the times," La Vanguardia newspaper quoted the Milan-based fashion house as saying.

Dolce & Gabbana, known for their risque clothes and adverts, declined to comment on the matter. Spain's Labour and Social Affairs Ministry branded the campaign as illegal and humiliating to women, saying the woman's body position had no relation to the products Dolce & Gabbana were trying to sell.

"The advertisement showing a woman pinned to the ground by the wrists by a bare-chested man, with other men in the background looking on", has been banned since yesterday, the Advertising Self-Discipline Institute (IAP) said.

The body said the ad "offended the dignity of the woman, in the sense that the feminine figure is shown in a degrading manner. The woman has an alienated expression, with an absent look".

The woman in the ad is "immobilised and subjected to a man's will", the IAP said.

"Because of the passive and helpless position of the woman relative to the men around her, (the image evokes) the representation of abuse or the idea of violence towards her," the IAP said.

"One could infer from the advertisement that it is acceptable to use force as a way of imposing oneself on a woman, reinforced by the passive and complicit manner of the men looking on," the ministry said in a statement.

Dolce & Gabbana defended the campaign as art in comments reported by La Vanguardia. "What has an artistic photo got to do with a real act?" the paper quoted the firm as saying. "You would have to burn museums like the Louvre or the paintings of Caravaggio."

The fracas follows criticism from Britain's advertising watchdog last month about another Dolce & Gabbana campaign showing models brandishing knives.

The British Advertising Standards Authority upheld more than 150 complaints from people concerned that the pictures glorified and condoned violent crime. In that case, the company said the ads were heavily stylised and mimicked early 19th century art.

One could argue the ad certainly paints a questionable picture and perpetuates an activity that certainly does not need perpetuating. Others might argue the ad, and many other fashion ads, is so over-the-top cartoonish in its desire to be "edgy," that it's a harmless toss off passed over as one glosses through the fake world of fashion magazines. What do you think?

SAPAC

2009-01-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

Sexual Assualt Prevention and Awareness Center.

He’s Watching You

This advertisement eroticizes stalking, which is not only one of the most dangerous and deadly forms of sexual violence, but also one that is rarely taken seriously. In addition, by using an emaciated model that looks vulnerable and weak, DKNY demonstrates that it supports an unattainable standard of beauty characterized by extreme gauntness and female helplessness.

Here, Dolce & Gabbana is recreating an 18th century painting: the colors are dark and muted and the male models pose austerely with objects celebrating the science, art, and history of the Western world (busts, leather-bound books, pistols, armor, telescopes, chalices, fine furniture, framed by opulent architecture). It is against this backdrop a thin, emotionless woman is propped—so pale she seems to glow—standing in stark contrast to the men behind her who don thick garments of leather, denim, and wool. This ad drives home the notion that women are out of place in the Western historical context. The frailty of her position and vulnerability in her shy attempt to cover herself complete the sexist nature of this ad.

This advertisement glamorizes lifelessness or emotionless in women in your advertisements. This is making dead or subhuman sexy and this can lead to a contribution to a rape culture that condones and promotes sexual assault, domestic violence, and other forms of violence against women. It also puts a woman in a subordinate position, giving the notion of power versus powerlessness, where the woman is without power.

Isaia Napoli pushes their clothing by pushing the issue of sexual abuse. This ad clearly shows the man in a position of power over the woman. He tries to forcibly kiss her as she turns her head away; the situation lacks consent. Not only this, but in the background a separate androgynous character watches as the dominating male forces unwanted sexual activity on the woman, without trying to stop the abuse, thus making it seem alright for the man to be doing this.

Kenzie Clothing portrays their models in a very childlike manner. They are dolled up in bobby socks with ruffles, ringlet curls, and innocent looking pouts, complemented by pale, porcelain-like faces. Not only does this full spread advertisement sexualize young girls through imagery, but position as well. The models are posed in slouching, carefree or rigid, tense positions, made to look small, fragile, delicate, and waif-like.

Cut and Paste

“Cut & Sew” is a high-end men’s clothing line that seems to equate fashionable “cutting” with that of a woman’s body. Here, the models face and neck have been cropped from view, rendering her person to a gaunt torso and stocking-clad legs. In the background lie scattered Polaroids that objectify the model’s individual parts. With the emphasis on black clothing, passive positioning, and the skull and crossbones on the male model’s shirt, the viewer cannot help but equate this picture of passivity with glamorized death.

You Know You Want It

This advertisement is problematic for several reasons. First, communicates to the viewer that “no” really means “yes,” and that women enjoy – or should enjoy – street harassment. This kind of thinking not only encourages sexual violence, but it also teaches women that they need external validation to feel beautiful. Secondly, Noxzema glorifies an unattainable standard of beauty by depicting a young woman with an anatomically impossible body shape. Finally, this advertisement perpetuates negative stereotypes about male blue collar workers, particularly those in construction work.

Samsung’s ad in InStyle Magazine for it’s a 990 camera phone depicts a disappointing portrayal of a man and a woman. The man is on top, physically dominating the woman. He is photographing her with the new product, and she has her hand on his arm, resisting him. This ad is glamorizing rape and non-consensual sexual relations. It is also glamorizing the stalking of female victims by her resistance to his photographing her.

It is interesting how I have never interpreted some of the advertisements in the same manner as above. Most of them seems too over sensitized to me. Since different people have different benchmarks for acceptance, how do we determine what is sexism in advertising and what is not?

Source: http://www.umich.edu/~sapac/sia/2007/index.html

Sexism

2009-01-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

advertising: system of sexist oppression.

As we all know, capitalism operates in a cycle: the production of commodities, the distribution of those commodities, and the consumption of them which produces more capital so that the wealthy can then in turn take it and produce even more commodities. Each of these elements is equally important, and if any of them are taken away, the cycle is halted and the rich will cease to get wealthy.

That is where advertising enters the picture. Before 1925 advertisements focused on the actual properties of the products being sold, but at about that time corporations realized that method did not generate enough capital so they tried a different approach: relating products to real human desires and emotions. This is the system we see to this day.

One of these basic human desires is sex. Advertising frequently uses the image of sex or sexual pleasure to sell a product that has nothing to do with sex. With this portrayal of sex in advertisements, women are almost always the ones to provide the sexual pleasure. They are shown to be willing and ready; in almost any circumstance life has to offer. More often than not, the body position of women becomes one of a passive and vulnerable person, rather than one who takes an active participation in her sexual affairs. She is shown with her finger in her mouth, looking coyly to the side or down, with the passivity of a little girl. This is not an image of power.

On the contrary, the way men are portrayed in advertising is quite the opposite. They are most often shown in an active stance: legs apart, firmly on the ground, with arms crossed. If they are not standing, they are portrayed doing something active, like sports, or taking hold of a passive woman.

Women are also “pieced up” in advertisements a lot of the time. In those instances, it is not just a woman on display, but rather her legs, waist, butt, or breasts. By doing this, women become literally and object rather than a full person. This is sometimes done to men as well, but not as often and with fewer consequences.

With women so frequently displayed as passive sexual objects, this has consequences for women in real life. According to the U. S. Department of Justice women get raped approximately 13 times the rate of men, and 18.2% of American women will be victims of sexual assault during their life times. We have to keep in mind that statistics are based on reported cases, so the number could very well be much higher. I am not proposing that advertising directly causes women to be victimized, but it contributes to the overall system in which women are viewed as objects that can be bought and sold, taken and used.

The fact is, while advertisements on the surface sell products, through their secondary discourse they sell normalcy, values, and ideas. The way we know that advertisements create culture rather than just reflect it, is by examining different cultures and time periods. Our concepts of gender are constructed and advertisements help construct it.

So why does advertising create gender stereotypes? To sell products of course, but that answer is too obvious. As I mentioned earlier, advertising sells normalcy, so not only does it tell society what a woman/man is, it creates an image of the perfect woman or man. The women in advertising are representative of less than 5% of the whole population. They are incredibly thin, with big breasts, and flawless skin. Almost always a person with a thin body is not born with big breasts, so most of the images we see with this body type have had plastic surgery. Not only this, but people in advertisements are air brushed and doctored to appear “perfect”. With this in mind, women are given an unobtainable ideal. The average woman can never look like this, so how is she able to? By buying the products of course.Advertising needs women to feel insecure about themselves or they will not generate more capital, and that is what the system is about.

It does not end there. Women exposed to this system of advertising are not merely shown an ideal image that they cannot achieve, but they internalize it and there are real consequences. Eating disorders are a huge problem, with an estimated 5-10 million girls/women in the United States and 1 million boys/men affected. Not only does the unobtainable beauty stereotype create physical consequences, but perverse mental ones as well. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance. Not only are they dissatisfied, women are obsessed with how they look and this prevents them from participating in other areas of life. In my opinion, this serves as a great tool to keep women out of the political sphere and public areas of life.

As socialists, we are aware of the corruptions within the capitalist system, and the institution of advertising is just another example of how people are harmed by motives for profit. If we as consumers are aware that advertising needs women to be insecure, perhaps we can internalize that instead.

Statistics:

· - 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner.’

· - 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat.

· - The average American woman is 5’4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5’11" tall and weighs 117 pounds.

· - Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.

· - 46% of 9-11 year-olds are "sometimes" or "very often" on diets, and 82% of their families are "sometimes" or "very often" on diets.

· - 91% of women recently surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting, 22% dieted "often" or "always".

· - Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet-related products each year.

*Provided by the National Eating Disorders Association

Source: http://www.geocities.com/youth4sa/advertising.html

Types

2009-01-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

types of advertising.

Television

The history of mass advertising and the history of television are closely intertwined. Without advertising, television would have made no headway in countries without a state sponsored broadcaster (mainly the US) and would certainly not be the instrument of mass communication it is today. Television advertising takes the form of tv commercials (often referred to as TVCs or spots) which are either 30 or 45 seconds long.

TVCs appear in gaps between and during regular programmes, known as commercial breaks. Advertisers buy time in specific breaks, knowing that their target audience must be the same as that of the programme during which the break occurs. Thus teen soaps have commercial breaks filled with pimple cream and music CD ads.

Advertisers may choose to sponsor a whole programme, which means their logo and a short identity clip accompany the beginning and end of a programme ("Brought to you by...") and their advertising may feature heavily in commercial breaks during that programme. This is controversial, as it is felt that sponsors may interfere in the content of the programme if it doesn't work in their favour.

Television advertising is under threat from devices such as the TiVo - hard drives which record programmes but edit out ad breaks. The problem is, without the funding that selling commercial space provides, there would be no TV programmes to start with, so TV companies are very anxious about the long term consequences of the TiVo. Read more about the debate here.

Cinema

Cinemas provide advertisers with a very specific audience (often sorted by age and taste, and often difficult to reach groups, such as 15-18 year olds) who are concentrating on a big screen in an environment without distractions. Because audiences are age rated, cinema commercials can be more daring and innovative than those that appear on TV which are aimed at a general audience. Cinema campaigns can be national, or extremely local (running in just one auditorium). Cinema advertising can also range from a single slide to a full length audio-visual commercial.

As well as advertising in cinemas, manufacturers can also use product placement to promote their goods & services. Read more about it here.

Press and Publication

This category can be subdivided into

Magazine Ad - colour or b/w, in double, full, half or quarter pages. Some magazines have a classified section which includes line and box ads.
Newspaper Ad - colour or b/w, again in double (rare for a newspaper), full, half or quarter pages. Many newspapers have a large classified section, sometimes as a separate pull-out
Advertorial - an ad presented in editorial style, endorsing a prodcut or service. To distinguish between advertorial (ie paid for) and editorial content, the word "Advertisement" appears across the top of the advertorial
Poster - can be displayed indoors. Usually used by not-for-profit or government organisations

Again, target audiences of advertisements must match the target audience of the publication in which it appears.

Direct Marketing

This includes material which is sent directly to people's homes or offices - catalogues, brochures, mailing offers etc. And spam.

Direct Mail - tips on making it work from about.com

Packaging

Many advertising campaigns now involve a rehaul of product packaging and design, meaning that images and colours are consistent across both promotion and presentation.

Outdoor and Event

Outdoor advertising comes in many different forms. In a busy city, people may not even glance at a standard poster, so in an advertising saturated world the agencies use many different tricks to get our attention. Advertising creeps onto hitherto unused spaces, becomes larger, moves - anything to be different and eyecatching. This can be regarded as cultural pollution, as our cityscapes are plastered with paid-for messages. Or perhaps it just brightens up dull urban areas with wit and creativity?

One of the most basic of these is the bus stop ad - a one sheet poster. However, much more inventive use can be made of the bus stop environment, as this FT sponsored example shows, with newsprint wrapped around the supporting columns and the whole bus stop given over to Financial Times advertising.

Size matters: especially in advertising. Buildings in prominent places can be partly or wholly remade as giant billboards as these examples show.

Big
Johnnie Walker
Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong

Bigger
iPod
West Hollywood, Los Angeles

Biggest
Financial Times
IFC2 Building, Hong Kong
(88 floors, tallest in HK, 3rd tallest in the world)

Source: http://www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/analysis.html

Branding

2009-01-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

advertising as branding.

Most advertising today is about communicating the complex range of messages about a product known as branding. A brand is a product or range of products that has a set of values associated with it that are easily recognised by the consumer. A brand is distinguished immediately by its name and/or a symbol (eg the Nike swoosh, the adidas three stripes). Brand Identity is created by using the following elements

1.
Brand Essence - a way of summing up the significance of the brand to stockholders and consumers alike of the brand in one simple sentence

Lynn Upshaw, USA
"Brand essence is the central nature of what the brand represents to all those who come into contact with it. It is closely related to Sal Randazzo's concept that a brand sometimes has a soul which he defines as "a spiritual centre, the core value(s) that defines the brand and permeates all other aspects of the brand"."
"Harley-Davidson motorcycles are considered by their owners to be a companion as much as a vehicle because consumers have affirmed the brand's positioning as a motorcycle will change your view of by conferring its personality as an American-style, machismo original."
"Essence can sometimes be prompted from the business team by asking them to think of the "ness" of the brand. What do you think of as "Coke-ness" or "Compaq-ness"?"

Helena Rubinstein, The Lab, UK
"The process of Brand Essence is that of defining the future direction and vision for the brand; how consumers, customers and management should view the brand in the future". When any employee or other servant of a brand (eg an advertising agency executive) reads the essence defining a particular brand, they should see "the enduring, competitive position of the brand expressed in an unique way".
A polished Brand Essence should be maintained in such a way that it has 100% recall amongst the whole business team. Because then it will influence every (branding) value judgement they make, be this communally or individually. Therefore, in the process of defining Brand Essence recognise that "it is not an advertising slogan, nor a description which will change with every communication. Essence should be a long term positioning which changes rarely and is more like a mission statement for a brand. For this reason, brands with strong Brand Essences tend to have sought the most fundamental consumer needs and sought to own them".

Jean-Noel Kapferer, France
It is most helpful to conceptualise a brand as a particular sense of 'meaning and direction' with which customers and the brand team organisation can develop a relationship through the products, services and communications which this directs. The essential purpose of brand strategy is to ultimately define this sense of 'meaning and direction'. The following questions can help rehearse a brand’s make-up: What is its individuality?
What are its long-term goals and ambitions?
What is its consistency?
What are its values?
What are its basic truths?
What are its recognition signs?

Andy Mosmans, BDO Netherlands
In true essence, a vision captures the life force that provides a brand with an identity and destiny. It reveals the brand's reason for being, then motivates the participants (developers and consumers as partners) to respond (to share, communicate, buy etc). It is:
Synthesising : It inspires each of the brand's actions on the market by interconnecting the brand's reality in terms of values, voice, endeavour, culture etc. It steer the perceptions that people are willing to invest in the brand.
Seminal : It leverages nothing less than the power of revelation. Inside and outside the branded company, it urges people to see the world and business in a new way. It therefore creates or recreates the market.
Stimulating : It electrifies people to act. For people who serve the brand, it is a guiding light compelling you, motivating you to continuous improvement. For customers, it generates empathy and establishes a relationship of shared visions (a brand that understands me or makes me understand something).
The power of a vision sets the brand free from being limited to a fact, it confers a self-destiny. the tension which vision animates provides the brand with more than a reason for being:
A reason for doing: the mission
A reason for becoming something more : the ambition

Look at the connections between Apple's:
Vision - "There is a great unexploited potential of creativity and intelligence in every individual"
Mission - "To make the power of computing totally subservient to the stimulation of people's intelligence and creativity"
Ambition - "To become the brand that is indispensable to anyone willing to develop his or her mindpower"
Mission originates in vision and drives the brand to achieve its ambition : what the brand, in fulfilling its duty, wants to be judged by in its contribution to the history of the marketplace. Vision is the essence of ultimate tension. Once aware of it, you can't continue looking at the business/the brand/the world as you did before. For that very reason, you can no longer just sit there without doping something.

Examples of campaigns:
Apple (The Power to be Your Best)
Marlboro (Marlboro Country)
BMW (The Ultimate Driving Machine)
General Electric (We Bring Good Things to Life)
Benetton (United Colours)
Body Shop (Trade not Aid)
Gillette (The Best a Man Can Get)
Visa (It's Everywhere You Want to Be)
Nike (Authentic Athletic Performance)
Hallmark (Caring Shared)
Disney (Fun Family Entertainment or Disneyworld, Magical Fun)
Starbucks (Rewarding Everyday Moments)
The Nature Conservancy (Saving Great Places)

Source: http://www.allaboutbranding.com/index.lasso?article=108

2.
Brand Slogan - a public way of identifying the brand for consumers - often associated with a logo

Strategy, vision, story telling and poetry. Haiku in 15 words or less.
When people speak of brand slogans and jingles it seems to conjure up the innocent days when bread cost 5 cents, milk was delivered to your door. A bygone era - cute and catchy - but quaint and naive.
But for all the good the new personalized communication tools are for marketers, a well crafted brand slogan can be exceptionally powerful. When they work, they capture the essence of the brand, its desired uniqueness/positioning in the market and even hint at the brand promise being made.
A brand slogan is not a tag line. A tag line is what you get if you fail. Taglines are one of the first things to change as soon as a new marketing or agency team or on the assignment. A slogan on the other hand is more enduring. It becomes the clarion call for the brand. The great ones take on a life of their own often receiving extended coverage from the media, popular culture and talk around the water cooler.
To have a great brand slogan you have to capture the voice, personality and soul of the brand promise that will embed itself deep inside the mind. Think of strategy, vision, story telling and poetry all coalescing in space and time to remind us of something important.

The following are a few of my favorite brand slogans:
New York Times (All the news that's fit to print.)
Amtrak (See America at see level.)
Avis Rental Car (We're number two. We try harder.)
General Electric (We bring good things to life.)
M&Ms Candy (The milk chocolate melts in your mouth - not in your hand.)
NYSE (The world puts its stock in us.)
UPS (Moving at the speed of business.)
John Deere (Nothing runs like a Deere.)
Kodak (Share moments. Share life.)
L’Oréal (Because I’m worth it.)
Michelin (Because so much is riding on your tires.)
NyQuil (The-nighttime-sniffling-sneezing-coughing-aching-stuffy-head-fever-so-you-can-rest-medicine.)
Smith Barney (We make the money the old-fashioned way—WE EARN IT.)
Oscar Meyer (I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener.)
Oscar Mayer (My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R.)
MasterCard (There are some things that money can’t buy. For everything else there's MasterCard.)
Canadian Blood Services (Blood. It’s in you to give.)
Dofasco (Our product is steel. Our strength is people.)

A wealth of others can be found at the sites listed below.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11748/Historyofbranding-com-Famous-Brand-Slogans
http://www.adslogans.co.uk/hof/2top10.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_slogans
http://adage.com/century/index.html
http://historyofbranding.com
http://www.taglineguru.com/sloganlist.htm

For a seriously in depth and mind numbing research on ad slogans, click here. Don't say I didn't warn you. I would also like to take this opportunity to award the most effective brand slogan of the year: London Choco Roll! The jingle is so addictive that once the commercial starts, my brother and I will immediately put down what we are doing and devote our attention to sing along faithfully. The power of branding is thus witnessed when I finally decided to try out the product; to my surprise, London Choco Roll costs more than the more well-establised Apollo (another brand selling similar product)! Well... You have to find out for yourself if it tastes as good as it sounds.
Chinese version
English version

Source: http://www.canadianmarketingblog.com/archives/2007/10/brand_slogans_-_strategy_vision_and_haiku.html

3.
Brand Personality - marketeers can describe their brand as though it were a person, with likes and dislikes and certain behaviour

To see how the relationship basis model works, consider the personality types of people with whom you have relationships and the nature of those relationships. Some of the types might be as follows:
Down-to-earth, family oriented, genuine, old-fashioned (Sincerity). This might describe brands like Hallmark, Kodak, and even Coke. The relationship might be similar to one that exists with a well-liked and respected member of the family.
Spirited, young, up-to-date, outgoing (Excitement). In the soft drink category, Pepsi fits this mold more than Coke. Especially on a weekend evening, it might be enjoyable to have a friend who has these personality characteristics.
Accomplished, influential, competent (Competence). Perhaps Hewlett-Packard and the Wall Street Journal might fit this profile. Think of a relationship with a person whom you respect for their accomplishments, such as a teacher, minister or business leader; perhaps that is what a relationship between a business computer and its customer should be like.
Pretentious, wealthy, condescending (Sophistication). For some, this would be BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus (with gold trim) as opposed to the Mazda Miata or the VW Golf. The relationship could be similar to one with a powerful boss or a rich relative.
Athletic and outdoorsy (Ruggedness). Nike (versus LA Gear), Marlboro (versus Virginia Slims), and Wells Fargo (versus Bank of America) are examples. When planning an outing, a friend with outdoorsy interests would be welcome.

Two elements thus affect an individual's relationship with a brand. First, there is the relationship between the brand-as-person and the customer, which is analogous to the relationship between two people. Second, there is the brand personality--that is, the type of person the brand represents. The brand personality provides depth, feelings and liking to the relationship. Of course, a brand-customer relationship can also be based on a functional benefit, just as two people can have a strictly business relationship.

THE BRAND AS A FRIEND

Fred Posner of Ayer Worldwide has observed that people live in a world characterized by stress, alienation, and clutter. [footnote omitted] Noting that people cope by developing escape mechanisms and meaningful friendships, Posner suggests that brands can provide these roles by being either an "aspirational" or a "trusted" associate. Escape can take the form of aspirational relationships which provide a social lift or trusting relationships which provide some expertise or knowledge of a subject in which a given person is interested. Posner believes that either relationship can be the basis for real differentiation and competitive advantage. He further suggests that the chosen relationship should be the centerpiece of brand strategy and execution.

WHAT IF THE BRAND SPOKE TO YOU?

Max Blackston of Research International has argued that to understand brand-customer relationships, it is necessary to consider what a brand thinks of you. [footnote omitted] One approach to obtaining this information is to ask what the brand would say to you if it were a person. The result can be illuminating. Blackston illustrates this approach with a doctor-patient example. Consider a doctor who is perceived by all to be professional, caring, capable, and funny--characteristics that most would like in a doctor. But what if the doctor also felt you were a boring hypochondriac? The resulting negative relationship would be impossible to predict based only upon perceptions of the doctor's personality or external appearance.

Blackston's approach was used in a research study of a credit card brand. Customers were divided into two groups based on how they thought the personified brand would relate to them. For one customer segment (labeled the "respect" segment), the personified brand was seen as a dignified, sophisticated, educated world traveler who would have a definite presence in a restaurant. These customers believed that the card would make supportive comments to them like the following:
"My job is to help you get accepted."
"You have good taste."

A second "intimidated" segment, however, described a very different relationship with the brand. This group's view of the brand personality was similar to that observed in the respect segment, but had a very different spin. The credit card was perceived as being sophisticated and classy but also snobbish and condescending. This segment believed that the personified card would make negative comments such as the following:
"Are you ready for me, or will you spend more than you can afford?"
"If you don't like the conditions, get another card."
"I'm so well known and established that I can do what I want."
"If I were going to dinner, I would not include you in the party."

These two user segments had remarkably similar perceptions of the brand personality especially with respect to its demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The two different perceived attitudes of the credit card toward the customer, however, reflected two very different relationships with the brand which in turn resulted in very different levels of brand ownership and usage.

RELATIONSHIP SEGMENTATION
Research International routinely segments consumers by brand relationship. In a first-phase research effort, fifty to a hundred subjects are interviewed, usually by phone. [footnote omitted] A series of open-ended questions are asked, including word associations, brand personalization, characteristics of liked and disliked brands, and a dialogue section (based on what the brand would say if it were a person).

The first analysis stage involves scanning the data and forming hypotheses about the types of relationships that exist. In the second stage, respondents are allocated to relationship categories on the basis of the hypothesized relationship groupings. In the process, the relationship typology is refined. The relationships are then formalized into specifications, and coders classify the respondents into those relationships. The groups are then profiled. Often the relationship groupings correspond to like, dislike, and neutral segments. The "dislike" group for credit cards, for example, perceived the brand as being snobbish; the "like" group, in contrast, felt that they were accepted by the brand.

Source: http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/marketing/PAPERS/AAKER/BOOKS/BUILDING/brand_personality.html

4.
Brand Values – what does it stand for/against?

Values-based approaches are essentially human. This means that there are bad value systems (like Hitler's) as well as good. There are also bad executions (Andersen had fine looking values), as well as ones lived by every person in the company.

1 NXT, 2002 'Network' house mag - website
Andrew Williams, Marketing Director
Strive to innovate
Look for the win-win
Meet or exceed expectations
Support, respect & learn from each other
Be Passionate
2 Fujitsu, 2002 - website
Indomitable spirit
Pride in providing high-quality products and services
Concern for environment
Deeply felt sense of responsibility to solving our customers' problems
3 IKEA, 2002 - website
nb IKEA tells founders stories as opposed to listing values. Listing approximate
Learning/curiosity - always be inquisitive about the possibilities tomorrow offers
Diversity & respect - beyond basic belief in same conditions & opportunities for all, when you work worldwide diversity is a dynamic to treasure
Low cost & right quality - we work hard and use our heads to make best possible use of limited resources
Developing value - with our suppliers in countries with hard-working craftsmen, with our customers (eg self-assembly), with employees
Servant-leader - main role of manager is help employee with most contact to customer to do best job
4 Body Shop, 2002 - website
Against animal testing - end the use of animals in cosmetics testing
Support community trade - big business has a huge responsibility to use trade not just to make money but also to have a positive influence in the world
Activate the self-esteem (of women) -awareness, self-confidence, self-worth, and self-acceptance ...don't get manipulated by latest beauty fad
Defend human rights - responsibility of every individual to actively support those who have human rights denied them
Protect our planet - business has a responsibility to protect the environment in which it operates both locally and globally

Source: http://allaboutbranding.com/index.lasso?article=259

Ad Industry

2009-01-17T18:35:00.000-08:00

the advertising industry.
The advertising industry has an important part to play in developed economies. As well as generating sales of goods and services, it provides often the sole source of revenue for media companiies such as magazines and radio stations. The institution of advertising is made up of a number of different advertising agencies. These agencies employ a variety of different personnel who perform diverse roles, from coming up with creative ideas, to doing audience research, to post production on TV commercials. The agencies provide expertise in a number of different areas (eg print design, market profiling) to manufacturers and thus provide a vital link to audience. It was recognised as long ago as the late nineteenth century that an advertising agency could offer the services of skilled personnel as and when their specialism were needed on a particular project, and that this was a more cost effective approach that individual manufactuers employing their own advertising department.

Advertising is a global industry, and just as there are huge global corporations who sell and advertise their goods around the world (Nike, McDonalds, Microsoft, Adidas, Samsung) so there are huge global advertising agencies who have offices in every major territory.The main advertising agencies (and their websites) are:

Bates Asia - includes useful case studes (Nokia)
BBDO - Their Mission Statement plus some good case studies (FedEx & Pepsi)
DDB - "bringing Humanity to the Digital Age"
M&C Saatchi - this is the mac link
Ogilvy - plus links to their different incarnations
TBWA - the UK site, flash-tastic (not), but again some good examples of campaigns

The advertising process and personnel

The manufacturer provides a number of different agencies with a particular brief. The brief includes details of the product and the aims of the campaign - it might be to launch an new line or inspire new interest in an old favourite - as well as limitations of budget, timescale etc. Each agency will then research the brief, and come up with a campaign idea which they will pitch to the client. The client chooses their favourite pitch and employs that agency to mastermind the campaign. The agency is then responsible for executing the campaign, producing in full the designs for adverts, buying space in magazines, on billboards and TV, and rolling out the campaign on the given dates.

Producing a single campaign can be an expensive process involving hundreds of skilled people - read about a recent Audi (A8) campaign here which employed over 600 people and "the kind of state-of-the-art film technology otherwise reserved for Hollywood blockbusters".

The main personnel who work for an advertising agency include:
Account Managers - They deal directly with the client and oversee all operations. They have overall responsibility for individual accounts - and their success or failure. Quite a responsibility if your client is FedEx...

Creatives - art directors and copywriters who are responsible for coming up with visual and verbal ideas. They are responsible for turning the strategy devised by the strategic planner and account manager into a series of original and effective advertisements.

Strategic Planners - are responsible for researching audiences and markets -an increasingly scientific task - and coming up with a strategy which will connect audience to product. They need to know about psychographics, demographics and economics.
Media Buyers - spend their time negotiating for pages in magazines, and bashing out deals with TV companies for prime time commercial spots. Because they are often negotiating on behalf of many clients at once, buying huge blocks of advertising space, they are powerful enough to get good deals.

Source: http://www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/analysis.html

History

2009-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

history of advertising - don't worry, it's in brief.

As we have seen, an advertisement can be very simple, and simple advertising, eg for events, has been around for a long as people have been trying to make money out of attracting a wider public. Posters announcing an event were probably the first form of advertising, and these date back to gladiatorial contests in Ancient Rome. The first advertisements, however, which fit our full definition of advertising (ie paid for, occupying space in a media form) appear in newspapers in the seventeenth century. These tended to be straightforward statements of fact, without any fancy typesetting or illustrations, and were often indistinguishable from the news stories around them. As the eighteenth century wore on, the Industrial Revolution gathered pace, and consumer goods became more sophisticated, manufacturers began to recognise that they needed to create a need for their products. Many items were new to consumers, or were new variations. Josiah Wedgewood, who manufactured pottery in England in the second half of the seventeenth century, was particularly good at creating new markets for his wares through advertising. He brought cups and plates into the budget and households of middle class families - a much larger market than the wealthy aristocratic households who had previously been the only purchasers of dinner sets.

The nineteenth century saw the skills of the advertiser come to the forefront, as ads began to mix images and words, and adopt the techniques of language and layout that we are familiar with today. With the proliferation of goods and services in this century, it became recognised that advertising was an important part of business, and should be dealt with by experts in the field. Most of the advertising agencies that dominate the global markets today were founded in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

During the early part of the twentieth century, governments began to recognise the power of advertising to get their message across to their 'consumers' (ie their citizens). This was particularly apparent during the First World War, when advertising was used to enlist soldiers and enforce government policies. We look back at some of these advertisements now and think of them as blatant propaganda, or the deliberate spreading of ideas in order to further a cause. Many of these ads use techniques of psychological manipulation which now seem to us crude and unfair, deliberately setting out to frighten the target audience, or shame them into following instructions. These posters assume a very specific power relationship between advertiser and audience, and we notice that the advertiser assumes that they know best and are giving the audience information for their own good. A modern audience has a more sophisticated approach to advertising and is more sensitive to any attitudes which might be considered openly patronising. How do you think a modern audience might respond to the poster below?

Click here for some analysis of a propaganda poster from 1916.

Advertising was a large, well established industry in 1914 and it continued to expand after the First World War. Psychology was growing in stature as a science during this period, and advertisers where quick to latch on to key ideas (the desire to 'belong', subconscious fears) in order to reach their audience. As new ways of reaching a mass audience became technologically available (cinema, radio) advertising was quick to latch on to new media and became an important way for broadcasters to help fund their programming. Radio was an especially successful way to reach audiences in the 1920s - between 1923 and 1930 60% of American families acquired a radio set. The term 'soap opera' as we know it came into being as soap manufacturers sponsored domestic radio dramas in return for frequent plugs for their product. Listen to some 1920s radio advertising here.

After the Second World War there was both a boom in consumer spending AND a new medium: television. Millions of dollars annually were poured into the coffers of advertising agencies as manufacturers sought to inform newly prosperous consumers of the dazzling array of new goods they could purchase (washing machines, vacuum cleaners, food mixers, TV sets...) that they never previously knew they needed. With the combined impact of image AND sound, it soon became clear that brand recognition was much greater with TV than with radio and soon the airwaves were full of programmes like Kraft Television Theater, Colgate Comedy Hour, and Coke Time as advertisers scrambled to access this new wave of consumers. This is sometimes referred to as the single-sponsor era, as the tv programmes were actually produced by the advertising agencies and paid for by a single sponsor. The 1950s were bonanza years for advertising, and it was at this stage that the men (mainly) behind the ads became media stars and shot into the league of the super-highly paid. Men such as David Oglivy and Leo Burnett graced the covers of magazines and were seen to have real power by the rest of the business world. Their theories of advertising were seized on by agencies around the world, and much of their thinking is still part of advertising practice.

As the 1960s began, the networks wanted more control over the content and style of programming, and as TV became more sophisticated and production costs rose, single sponsors began to struggle. NBC executive Sylvester Weaver came up with the idea of selling not whole shows to advertisers, but separate, small blocks of broadcast time. Several different advertisers could buy time within one show, and therefore the content of the show would move out of the control of a single advertiser - rather like a print magazine. This became known as the magazine concept, or participation advertising, as it allowed a whole variety of advertisers to access the audience of a single TV show. Thus the 'commercial break' as we know it was born.

Lam's bonus feature: For those who are more inclined towards moving images, click here for a multimedia presentation of the history. But trust me, the article above is much more informative.

For the hard core researchers, I have goodies for you too.

Ad*Access - database of advertisements published in US and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955
AdFlip - large collection of print ads from 50s-80s
Harper's Weekly - a selection of ads that ran in the magazine in the 19th century
History of Advertising Trust (UK-based)
History of Advertising - clear explanation of the roots of advertising
Top 100 Advertising Campaigns of the 20th Century (list plus article - from AdAge)

Source: http://www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/analysis.html

Definition

2009-01-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

what is advertising?

Advertising is a process, not a medium in its own right, although it uses different media forms to communicate. Advertising, in its simplest form, is the way in which the vendor or manufacturer of a product communicates with consumers via a medium, or many different media.

It can be as simple as a “For Sale” card placed on a supermarket noticeboard:

The vendor is giving notice that a product is for sale at a given price to people who might be interested in buying it. This harks back to the earliest forms of advertising, when exotic new goods shipped into Europe from the Far East and India (eg tea and spices) needed to be brought to the attention of people who had never encountered them before.

However, even a supermarket noticeboard might be considered a crowded marketplace as there may be other desks offered for sale, and other advertisements for customers to read. In order to attract a customer's attention to this particular advertisement, the person offering the desk for sale has to make it eyecatching - perhaps through simple use of colour:

They also have to emphasise the benefits of the product they are offering. There are only two basic benefits that a product has when compared to others of a similar sort. It can be described as being better or cheaper (or both!!):

They might also add an image of the desk - a picture is worth 1000 words after all - in order to persuade the consumer still further that this desk is the right desk to buy. They might add a headline or slogan to their ad, to announce exactly what it is that is being sold. Thus they have all the basic elements of print advertising: a catchy slogan, an image, and copy text. This advertisement will hopefully fulfill its purpose which is to provide information which might influence someone to buy the desk. It has done this by linking the vendor of the desk to people who are looking to buy a desk. The link appears in the medium of the supermarket noticeboard, and the vendor pays the owner of the medium to place it there. The vendor has chosen this medium because the kind of people who buy the kind of desk advertised read advertisements on supermarket noticeboards.

Therefore advertising is

A message from vendor/manufacturer to consumer
Intended to give information which will influence consumer choice
Aimed at a known audience
Paid for

Source: http://www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/analysis.html

Archive Fever

2009-01-17T03:28:00.000-08:00

advertising makes the world go round.

The messages relayed through advertising may range from the straightforward ("Buy this now - it's cheaper!") to the subtle ("Buy this now - it will make you attractive to the opposite sex!") but they all cost money to put "out there". A lot of money. The giants of the corporate world (Nike, Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble) all pour millions of dollars into advertising on an annual basis. They want their messages to be heard, and as a by-product of all this, they support financially the media through which we hear or see their messages. Without advertising there would be no television except re-runs, magazines would be thin, colourless and prohibitively expensive, and many internet sites would not be able to afford their server space. When big companies cut down their advertising budget (as happened after 9/11) the effects are keenly felt by the media which rely very heavily on revenue from selling advertising space. The money simply stops coming in and the economic effects are drastic: magazines fold, TV stations slash original programming, and dot.com companies crash out of existence. This is worth remembering next time you complain about the way a movie on TV is broken up by commercial breaks: if those commercial breaks weren't there you wouldn't have any local news story coverage.

advertising as part of our culture.

If you look around you, you will find your world filled with advertising - on huge billboards in the streets, on the pages of magazines, between the tracks played on the radio, on the walls of the subway, on the pages of internet sites, at the bottom of emails, on the backs of cinema tickets, on the shirts of football players. It seems that any surface that will hold still long enough to be read is considered a potential advertising medium. The fact that there is so much advertising out there means that it is part of our daily cultural experience - it's almost impossible to avoid it. Therefore the study of advertising is not just about WHAT manufacturers say to consumers, but it about HOW it is said. Advertisements can have an influence far beyond a simple message about a product. Advertisements can introduce characters to the public imagination, make icons out of actors, have everyone repeating a catchphrase ('Wassup" anyone?), get audiences arguing over plot points or waiting for the next instalment, and generate news stories. Advertisements often take on a cultural life of their own, and occupy space in the media beyond that which has been paid for. This, of course, is great for the advertisers!

This adidas ad, featuring David Beckham, made headlines as the largest ever piece of outdoor advertising in the UK, possibly the world, in May 2002. Fort Dunlop is a Birmingham landmark, and can be seen from the M6 (which is often completely jammed with traffic) although it was claimed that the ad could be seen from up to a mile away on a clear day. The ad itself was larger than a football pitch, with the image of Beckham's face measuring 20m x 20m (cue lots of Football Bighead headlines from the UK tabloids). As well as having a huge (sorry...) impact on the local environment, the ad generated press coverage around the world on account of its size.


Are the above ads sexist? If so, why? Which gender is being stereotyped unfairly?

As well as being part of the news agenda, advertisements are a reflection of a society's wants and needs at any particular point in time. They also, through the way that they represent gender, age, wealth, success, happiness etc provide excellent material for historians and sociologists researching social attitudes of an era or a culture at a particular point in time. Advertising reflects the values of a society - all the things that people want to have or to be - and can be used as a measure of dominant hopes and fears. Our own appearance-obsessed culture will provide plenty of fruit for future investigation. The Wallis ads shown (from a campaign entitled "Dressed to Kill") tell us a lot about attitudes to women - from both a male and a female perspective - and the power of sexuality in our society. They also show what we find acceptable to laugh at, even though the images involve certain death and destruction.

Therefore the study of advertising is essential for a Media Studies student. As well as analysing form and content, you need to understand how advertising allows other media to exist, and how it generates cultural identity. A world without advertising would be a very different place to the one that we know.

Source: http://www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/analysis.html

Original Problem

Design something that can serve as a reminder for designers of their moral responsibility towards the society in advertising.

Redefined

Instead of preaching fruitlessly, prove that "good" advertisements are just as effective or even more effective than "bad" advertisements.

Bibliography & References

Ads of the World - "Some people collect stamps. I collect ads. Ads that are above average. Ads that strike conversation. Ads that push the boundaries of the industry. And, I make them public for the creative professional and the general public. I hope the site will be useful for creatives who want to see what their colleagues are doing around the world. I hope the ads featured on this site will inspire you, the creative, to do better work. Hopefully with time this site will serve as a reference point for your new projects. For example you would look up the financial services category to get an understanding about what people have come up with for this sector in the past, so you can take it a bit further." The Ads of the World Research database currently has 2,720,051 ads, spanning 5 media types, 51 countries, and 27 languages.

Ad Access - The Ad*Access Project, funded by the Duke Endowment "Library 2000" Fund, presents images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955.

Adaholic - Visit the Adaholic art gallery and find your favorite 100% original print ad and get a piece of fabulous history to enjoy and collect!

Ad Flip - Adflip brags to be "the worlds largest collection of classic printed ads" and has some "Gallery of the absurd" style comments in the top ten section. Collection is huge - from the 40's onwards - neatly categorised and searchable. Good as well as "so bad they are funny" ads in here - as well as just bad

Ad Parade - Advertising Inspiration Archive

Ad Forum - AdForum is the Internet’s leading portal to the advertising, marketing and communications industry

Ad Land - the beyond-a-blog, commercial-laden delirium of heaven and hell for advertising addicts 'round the world.

Advertising Archive - Buy or sell old ads here, they have ads dating from the turn of the century, on the first page you are greeted by the Heinz Ketchup Ad where a woman exlaims "you mean a woman can open it?" about the new twist off cap. Oh dear! From the ad-pre-historic to clasics, visitors can search and download adverts from all eras in the vast database

Ad Slogans - Database of advertising slogans, marketing slogans, catchphrases, straplines, end lines, claims and taglines

American Package Museum - The primary objective of this site is to preserve and display specimens of American package design from the early decades of the 20th century.

Coloribus - Repeated AD Nauseum.

The Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850 - 1920 (EAA) - Presents over 9,000 images, with database information, relating to the early history of advertising in the United States.

HAT Archive - Provides a vast and unique research resource. The collections consist of every kind of advertising and public relations material, including original artwork, posters, point of sale promotions, brochures, proofs, press and magazine cuttings, complete consumer magazines, direct mail, photographs, transparencies, audio and video tapes,

Parody Ads - A Gallery of Parody Ads

Reclame Aresenaal - Dutch advertising collection site - museum of old ads combined with new articles.

Tic Toc Toys - Crazy ad galleries, kids food packaging, cartoon charachters and animated 1950's ads in this retro collection.

Other blogs and advertising related websites worth visiting:
Ad Goodness
newcreatives
The Inspiration Room
10ad
Coolzor
Fubiz
Creative Section
Beyond Madison Avenue
Adverblog
Advert News
Adverlicio.us
Brentter
BriefBlog
DOWEIRDO!
advertising for peanuts
advergirl
Ad Blog Arabia
exitcreative
AdArena
Adrants
Invisible Red
ibelieveinadv
Ad Freak
Ad Blather
Ad Jab
Ad-dict
Direct Daily
Stratégies
Joe La Pompe
Elmaltshift
Toma e Embrulha
Portfolio - a pasta de Portugal
AdPunch
The Ad Feed
iyi fikir! / good idea!
blog publicitario
The Ranch
The Ad Mad!
Mi Blog de Mercadotecnia
Rage Creative
AdParade
Master Com
Adverbox
madisonavenew
Eugens
Marketing, Advertising & Creativity in the UAE
Indra Sinha blog
Andy Jacobson Design
Tattoo Projects
Advert-eyes
Advertising etc
Dr_Who
A source of inspiration
Bicho de Goiaba
Casa do galo
Media ME
Lies by Joselin John
Creative Crusade
Pedestrian Typography
AntiSanti
AdMad
Partfaliaz
Brainposse
Guerrilla communication
Ad seduction
Ad of da Month
Dem Studio
ptFOLIO
Bliss
Critical Intent
Amo La Publicitad
The Brainchild Blog
Beneath the Brand
Ad(dicted)