[helene_t]

Most adds are repulsive. They pretend to sell sex and sunshine rather than the product advertised.

Probably they work subconsciously anyway. I am only aware of a couple of instances in which I have actually bought a product after having seen an advert for it. One was a piece of jewelry, the other was a book. But it has probably happened dozens of times and I just forgot (or wasn't even aware).

After the fall of the Berlin Wall I read that advertisers would have to take a more cautious approach in East Germany since East Germans are not used to advertisements and tend to take the view that if it is necessary to advertise a product, it must be faulty. So no sex and sunshine and unverifiable adjectives, just plain facts about the products. This is not 25 years ago so probably by now the East Germans have become braindead consumer sheep like the rest of us.

[cherdano]

helene_t, on 2017-January-05, 04:41, said:

Probably they work subconsciously anyway. I am only aware of a couple of instances in which I have actually bought a product after having seen an advert for it. One was a piece of jewelry, the other was a book. But it has probably happened dozens of times and I just forgot (or wasn't even aware).

There is an alternative viewpoint. Until online ads, it was extremely difficult to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. (Of course it's more true for some form of advertising - especially "brand building campaigns" - than for others - say direct mail catalogues.) Perhaps not coincidentally,

• online ads pay much less than ads in traditional media, and
  
• they seem generally much more specific and factual than classical ads.

[ggwhiz]

http://brieflaugh.co...-products-ever/

On the in person front, I once worked a Christmas season in retail when they had a fluffy green thing at the cashes that when you pressed the button said "WHAZ UPPPP!".

Every time a kid hit it, a parent would scream "PUT THAT DOWN!". I offered to buy lunch for anyone that sold one... no takers.

[billw55]

helene_t, on 2017-January-05, 04:41, said:

Most adds are repulsive. They pretend to sell sex and sunshine rather than the product advertised.

Probably they work subconsciously anyway. I am only aware of a couple of instances in which I have actually bought a product after having seen an advert for it. One was a piece of jewelry, the other was a book. But it has probably happened dozens of times and I just forgot (or wasn't even aware).

After the fall of the Berlin Wall I read that advertisers would have to take a more cautious approach in East Germany since East Germans are not used to advertisements and tend to take the view that if it is necessary to advertise a product, it must be faulty. So no sex and sunshine and unverifiable adjectives, just plain facts about the products. This is not 25 years ago so probably by now the East Germans have become braindead consumer sheep like the rest of us.

It is now widely known that emotional manipulation is much more effective than facts and information. Chances are this was discovered by politicians before advertisers.

Also, advertisers don't care if they turn off, repulse, or anger viewers who weren't buying the product anyway. In fact it is often better to do so, that way they get some use out of you as publicity in internet forums.

[Winstonm]

The ads about the poor suffering animals always makes me wonder how much money could be going to help these unfortunate creatures when so much is being spent on television advertising and overhead. It's like they are showing moving pictures of sad animal faces in order to tweak emotions and then saying, now that you feel rotten about yourselves, send me some money and make yourself feel better!

[barmar]

billw55, on 2017-January-06, 07:25, said:

It is now widely known that emotional manipulation is much more effective than facts and information. Chances are this was discovered by politicians before advertisers.

And perfected by Trump -- he's essentially a marketer who made the switch to politics.

[Zelandakh]

barmar, on 2017-January-06, 10:10, said:

And perfected by Trump -- he's essentially a marketer con-man who made the switch to politics.

FYP.

[mycroft]

Zelendakh - aren't those two phrases synonyms?