Advertisements

Everything you need to know about the way humans work you can learn from advertisements. They are a short, 30secs packed with hundreds of hours of effort, study, knowledge, and observation. If you were to only analyze advertisments and how, why, when, they work, you'll learn more quickly than if you study books on the subject or go to college.

Depending on the audience, different ads pop up. I walked in on ESPN the other day, they advertised beer and tums. Then I walked in on some new MMA show on another channel, probably MTV, where these redneck kids in Louisiana duke it out on friday nights in a cage. The show focused mostly on the lives of these high school/post-high aged MMA fighters and how dramatic and stressful their lives are. One kid was married and had a baby but then they divorced. She went to nursing school while working as a CNA; he went to training and...it didn't get into if he had any other job. I turned to my companions watching the show and said, "this feels a bit over-dramatic and girly." No sooner had I said than the commercials popped on: tampons, pro-active, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trailers...

It's interesting that GWDT trailers would pop up.--I haven't seen the show, but from what everyone describes to me the thought just keeps coming to my head that it is more of a girl's movie than a mans. Sure, there are brief aspects of it that are solely for men, but it's about a girl who was severely messed up due to sexual trauma. Men are typically repulsed from that kind of stuff. Most men want to avoid thinking that women suffer from things like that--Not because men are evil and abusive, but because by nature, men like to think life is structured and orderly and that women who appear strong on the surface are strong inside too. It messes with the male mind to discover when women have major issues and is almost a traumatic experience for men just making the discovery. It's a different experience from hearing that a male companion of theirs was molested when he was little... it's just...weird. In this example, advertisements can prompt understanding of human interrelations.

Not only do ads reveal things about the audience of the tv programming, they also reveal things about the audience the ad is targeting. For instance, look at the color paterns in womens' product ads. Shampoos, tampons, beauty products, they like to incorporate white, whereas Male soap, condoms, and shaving gear use darker colors like deep blue or green. Why? I am not sure, but I assume it relates to the emotions those colors conjure, like deep colors are more manly and white and hot pink or orange or bright blue are more pure or "spunky" and fun.

Yogurt ads are clutch too...how many men do you see in yogurt adds? Their colors, even the transitions they use seem to be targeted more for men than women. It's odd really...I enjoy yogurt. It's part of my Swedish blood I suppose, and Yoplait Strawberry Cheesecake is the best ever. My stomach hungers for it just thinking about it. The most dominant Yoplait ads that stick in my memory are the angel women eating up in heaven. --The ads don't attract me to the product, but I find it interesting.

After making my comment about the MMA show, one of the girls in the room (I know!...the guys weren't enjoy it, but the girls were, kinda proves a point, doesn't it?) countered by saying, "I don't get it, earlier you said you wanted to see GWDT, now you're saying it's a girl show."

I didn't get the chance to explain to her that as a student of life, rhetoric, and culture, I on occasion watch, read, and study things that aren't necessarily geared for me, nor will I agree with them. It's the same reason why I occasionally listen to a country song. Watching and experiencing these things helps me to understand other people better. I may not enjoy it, but if I'm careful, I can spot why the other side appreciates it. After all, women's ads aren't all written by women, they're written by men too, (and I'd beg to argue that you're sexist for thinking otherwise!)

Ads are unique because they aren't secret about what they're doing. You know entirely what their argument is up front, and it's easy to pick apart what words they use to argue it. The pictures might be a little more difficult, but it's all common sense stuff; and from that common sense you can infer other "common sense" knowledge that is very practical--like not to watch or comment about that MMA show to "The fellas" because they'd think you were gay. :-/