Someone explain TV advertising to me

[GoldenBear]

I mean, half the commercials I see are from big companies, such as Pepsi which really DON'T need much advertising as I have never met one person who's never heard of Pepsi. And plus, the commercials do absolutely nothing to make me want to buy one. I mean, I see Faith Hill singing a song, or a little girl who wants a Pepsi, and I don't see how anyone with half a brain would be influenced by it. It's not like, "hey there's a little girl who drinks pepsi, I think I'll go get some pepsi."

Other commercials are worse, as they spend 95% of it with some really dumb plot line, and only until the last second do you know what it's about, and half the time the company and plot line have NOTHING to do with each other.

Some commercials are rather effective, but I really don't see why companies spend millions on worthless TV spots. And I'm sure lots of people, like me, simply change the channels whenever a commercial comes up anyway..

 

[Azraele]

Advertising has infiltrated society to go as far as spam in our email. I'd say a lot of it's pretty effective, even though annoying. By portraying "what's cool" or "what's good to eat," you get a set idea of what is good to buy. The constant airing only reinforces this notion. I know when I see a piping hot meal set on a perfectly set table with a good atmosphere, I usually end up drooling over whatever the entree is. The only thing that would sway a person otherwise is a strong personal distaste for the product itself, strong enough to overwhelm the message the commercial portrays.