Ads Don't Always Ad Up!

I am not a big fan of advertising. However, I have been led to believe that it pays the cost of much of the technology that now streams into our home. When I get my Bell bill however, it does cast some doubt on that theory. Some ads I actually like, especially those that are humorous. At the same time I realize what I consider funny may be considered inappropriate by others. I might ask, "Are vaguely insulting ads really funny?" But that is the problem with mass advertising, you can't please all the people all the time.

Then of course, there are aspects of advertising on Television that I abhor. Seeing the same ad over and over again ad nauseam really turns me off. As they say in the industry they have a 'wear-out' factor. Some ads seem to roost for weeks at a time, or even months! Nor do I like ads that seem to treat the public as illiterate idiots, such as negative political ads, (that so called 'man in the street' or 'the little guy' as one politician used to say) which by the way date back to the 1930's in Canada, or ads that demean men or women. I don't think the public should be treated as children or considered stupid and apathetic. Recently, the ASC or Advertising Standards Canada, went after an ad by a large building supplier for portraying men as "losers". The Pepsi ad during Super Bowl XLV, where a pop can is thrown at the boy friend of husband but slams into the head of another person resting on the bench grabbed a lot of  negative attention. Calls of racism and violence were heard in response even though the ad was intended to be funny.

It is true I don't have to watch or listen to the ads I don't like. I can mute the sound or tune them out. Many of us now have a DVR-Digital Video Recorder-that allows us to save programs minus the ads if we want. Some people now call it a PVR or Personal Video Recorder. TV viewing is being radically altered. Of course, the advertisers don't like this technology and are pushing now for VOD-Video On Demand- where it is impossible to delete the ads!

But a lot of this is going to change in the near future. It is going to become more difficult for advertisers to target markets as they have in the past. Old media was to target large demographic segments, like the recent observation that the leading edge of the Baby Boomers has now reached sixty-five opening up a new group of consumers who will have specific needs. The problem is of course, it will be difficult to sell to the general population that which is specifically designed for older citizens. I do like the idea of a car that can park itself however! Some think the days of surveys and focus groups are finished, and are thinking about neuromarketing advertising or reaching beyond into the subconscious level of the brain to gain brand loyalty.

In a way it is rather exciting to be living in a great period of societal change. Moving us from the traditional mass media age to the digital age, now referred to as the Relationship Age by some. (Twitter, Face Book etc.) Mass media and mass production based on the idea that one size fits all is becoming obsolete.

I like to get some news where I am the passive observer as from the TV or the newspaper. But I much prefer interactive news, which can be found in the Huffington Post or Reddit for example. Not only the printed news, but plenty of pictures, videos and feed-back opportunities. They are now developing ads that are being directly aimed at me. For example, after searching for something on the Internet, specific ads will appear on my iPod! I love the example of the guy who does a search on 'erectile disfunction' only to become the target of the Viagra ad agency!

So in the mean time, please spare me the repetitious belittling and boring ads that are massed produced. Keep them comical or at leas unarguably funny and let them entertain me and not bore me to death.

That's A Dick's View of the World anyway.