Advertising as a Tool For Impacting People

So, I’ve decided to start this article from the fact that I left off smoking half a year ago. By the way, I smoked for 8-9 years. But it’s not the top matter…

And the matter is that, while I was giving up smoking, I clearly understood one thing!

“What kind of?” – you might ask. But let me pass ahead and counter ask you: what is an advertisement? And, I’m completely sure that more that 70 % are likely to answer that “an advertisement is the trade gear”, and so forth… But I bet that there will be a few of people who are likely to answer that the advertisement represents a powerful lever for managing mass minds in addition. Let’s try to sort out the matter and explain why it is so.

Lyrical digression: There is no doubt that it’s to take into consideration the impact of the smart advertising of high quality – but make sure in advance, please, that a cheap handout or a pitch about some abstract sausages from some abstract Poppingtown in deepest Russian backwoods are out of our recognition.

So, let’s return to our muttons and let’s see it on real examples – what’s going on.  Imagine - the period of the XX^th century is expanding in high gear, as well as the advertising of tobacco goods in its beginning. Their central idea is to promote a good image of a smoker: the smoker always gains success, he is well-to-do, and he is cool at last! For example:

Another example – is the Malboro Man. So, in a total, statistics data show that mass consumption of cigarettes starts in the forties (Pic.2).

Lyrical digression: Concerning Russia, such advertisements hardly took place on TV, and even in the middle of nineties there they were. But now – what still remains is the wretched labor on billboards. It specifically concerns the Viceroy cigarettes e.g. In general, nowadays the image of a successful guy with a cigarette in his teeth has a great disruption in masses. That’s why it’s not surprising that in nowadays this image is out of date for a long time.

One more vivid example is the legalization of the weapon in the USA.

Example:

So, what we have then – it’s the country where anybody can anywhere shoot at anybody. So, such kind of advertisement shows us that a man feel more comfortable and more assured, when he has a gun in his hands. Therefore, side negative effects are the paranoia, unsound mind on the ground of deep paranoia, and ensuing consequences…

The lyrical digression: my friend hardly avoided a skirmish on the Bâton Rouge station in Louisiana, though he just left to make a brief visit to the gentle room.

The next example – and what do you think it is? – yes, surely: the food advertising. This direction of advertising is a real art in fact, so long as it’s necessary to show the food so, that a target customer would be eager to swallow the food advertised. One example can be like:

The fast food and soft/soda drinks advertising merit a specific attention from ours.

In its advertisements the Coca-Cola Company (let us take it as an example) uses the image of Santa Claus in the way to promote its production with long-term intentions. And maybe, it considers kids as its target audience or not – but what we all would do without the magic time on Christmas, and – nowadays – without Coca Cola as well???

Lyrical digression:  By the way, there is one more positive side effect, which came with Coca Cola, is the image of Santa in his red garment, with a barb and a shiny smile. It came in the early thirties in the image, created by Haddon Sundblom and intended to promote the worldwide brand of the coke in such way. And you see, today there are no doubts that it became worldwide known.

Now let’s touch the advertisement, which is actively run by TV today. Of course, I mean the advertising of so well-known and «bi-loved» McDonald’s. One ad, which my tongue can’t but itch to say about, is the ad with a woman who is shown like a girl, working in McDonald’s. In the course of the ad it becomes clear that she is a manager. And what you think she pronounces in the end? If I’m not mistaken, something like «I present to people high spirits, and you?». Does it mean that people have to come to McDonald’s in hope that they get a great job, which means actually mopping a floor in most inconvenient places for the Mcstaff?

Lyrical digression: by the way, McDonald’s is out of the number of the most popular fast foods in the USA for some reason… However, McDonald’s is known as one of the biggest producers of toys – and this is a fact! In Russia many McDonald’s visitors are enormously unfriendly, and this reason causes even more inconvenient conditions for the McDonald’s staff, let alone the everyday furious pace which became usual for its employees. Yes, in Russia normal people turn to unfriendly visitors, as soon as they cross the threshold of the cafe: it seems like every employee from the staff owe them a lot of things! It’s paradoxical at least! Oh but bussing after the meal is considered to be good form in any country, as we see, with the exception in face of Russia…

While we have spoken about the meal, the second ad, I’d like to bring to your critical eye, is the advertising of Happy Meal as well.

So, the action is like this: the football tournament among kids, one team is winning, the opposite one is losing, and everything is clear in the meantime, BUT the goalkeeper of the loosing team suddenly gets the Happy Meal – and that’s ALL! I mean ALL is definitely clear in the ranks of the winners (children and their parents at that!) – low spirits, despair, and, finally, they just consider they are total looosers! So now – let’s try to sort out the matter on the idea level - what does this ad say to children? «Happy Meal is cool», «the win is not the cutting edge, but the Happy Meal is», «The sport is rubbish –the really important thing is a delicious meal from McDonald’s (of course, it can’t do without a toy)», and in general «The one, who has Happy Meal, rules the world!». I’m totally honest, that having seen this ad, I was eager to look in the face of the person who invented that.

Lyrical digression:

By the way, a bit of statistics – it’s an open secret that the US is leading in people, who suffer from obesity. It makes 61 % of adult population there, whereas Russia faces the same problem on the level of 50-54 %. If it’s clear enough with Russia – no need to eat so much, speaking about the United States the problem looks like «Please, one double McBurger fried chicken hut, large McChips, three dips  - oh, and a diet McDrink»(!!!). Unfortunately, I guess that in such case the diet coke doesn’t save the day.

In truth, I had nothing against McDonald’s; I’m just probably not for it. Sure, they have a lot of funny, nice and high quality advertisements with no message to mass subconsciousness, except those I described.

So, what I’d like to tell you, to top it off – hey, guys, just keep your wits about you!