Has advertising gotten better?
February 22nd, 2008 | Published in Marketing and Advertising, Links, Art and Design | 8 Comments
Has advertising gotten better since 9/11? Paula Scher thinks so. An excerpt:
On the whole (with the exception of movie and theater advertising) ads are better designed than anytime I can remember since the sixties. The concepts are smarter, the layouts are more sophisticated, type choices are more appropriate, and art direction is more nuanced.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am (#)
If by “better” she means that advertising is more effective, more persuasive, or more efficient at selling people things they don’t need and can’t afford, then she’s right. But this “better” trend started long before 9-11. Maybe Bush’s post 9-11 admonition to “go shopping” gave an inspirational boost to advertisers, but the 9-11 connection seems coincidental at best.
I think she hit the mark when she observed “The graphic design community doesn’t like advertising; it thinks advertising’s immoral.” I think media ecologists would agree with those in the graphic design field who say that engaging in a practice that encourages others to over-spend, over-consume, degrade the physical environment and obsess on superficialities is indeed immoral.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:04 am (#)
I agree that art direction has grown a little less heavy-handed in some fields, but really…the Axe ads, for example, are hardly an exercise in subtlety.
Here’s to looking forward.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:10 am (#)
I think you’re absolutely right, Artie. Except, I don’t think the sentiment that “advertising is immoral” is exclusive to the design community. I think it just happens to include the design community, along with just about every other community with a moral compass.
Excepting the advertising community, of course.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:19 am (#)
Come on guys, do you really think “advertising is immoral”? At what point do you draw the line — me putting an ugly ad up on craigslist is okay, but a fancy one that makes people laugh isn’t? What about advertising a small business? How are you supposed to get people to know about you, if you don’t make yourself known through some kind of advertising (even if it is word of mouth)?
Advertising can be immoral, of course, but so can most things. To think that it is inherently immoral seems indefensible. (You might not think it is, but it came off that way.)
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm (#)
I’m talking about advertising in the context of the article; commercial advertising. Jokes aside (which I do hope my intended humor came through), it’s not so much that advertising is immoral as it is the advertising industry is immoral.
How many ads have fine print at the bottom? Generally speaking, that means there are terms and conditions that would make the product, service, or whatever else is being promoted a little less desirable. Instead of being candid, they place it in an ad as inconspicuously as possible or, in the case of radio ads, speed it up so that it essentially becomes gibberish.
Is that moral?
Is it moral to advertise to children using cartoon characters? Is it even moral to advertise to children at all?
How about suggesting a product will turn out miracles; there’s plenty of that out there. Results not typical, simulated imagery, diet and exercise required – the fine print wouldn’t even be there if law didn’t require it.
Advertising can be immoral, and a lot of it is. If you put an ugly ad up on Craigslist saying you had a couch in great condition and come to find out, it’s stained and the springs are sticking through, then no. That’s not okay. The reverse is also true for the “fancy ad”. If it says a product can make you a millionaire overnight, and it actually does; that’s just fine with me.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:45 pm (#)
You’re right, Josh. Not all advertising is immoral. Paula Scher’s statment suggests that the graphic design community thinks that ALL advertising is immoral, and obviously the graphic community is not of one mind and she can’t speak for all graphic designers anyway.
And “graphic design community” really stretches the definition of “community, as does any variation on “_____ community” like MySpace community, home schooling community, etc. Community used to refer to a people living and working in close geographic proximity, sharing a variety of ideologies, ethnicities and occupations. Now the definition is changing to mean any group of people sharing a common interest, regardless of where they live.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:01 pm (#)
Advertising is a force to be reckoned with, to be sure. But I’ve stopped paying attention to ads, I long for a world where I don’t ever ever have to hear about the self-promoting bull a network goes through to pitch a show you’re watching.
I have a great deal of antipathy towards ads just because of the fact that they’re another part of television, practically a sub-show within a show.
Of course, this is television advertising I’m talking about, but really, I hope to God it dies as it should. Advertising is to me at this point a wall between me and the content I want. It doesn’t matter if it’s effective, if it tickles my funny bone or somehow draws me in. It is keeping me from what I want to see. If I load a page on a heavily trafficked site, IGN, RottenTomatoes, I could get subjected to a string of spiteful ads that do nothing for me.
I don’t say it’s immoral, because advertising, like so much else, happens to apply itself to good and evil in strikingly disproportionate amounts. The goal of advertising is apparent to anyone who can ask “Why was this made?” I’m frankly baffled at its impact sometimes, why “I just watch the SuperBowl for the ads” became a statement making you better than a football fan. Are beer commercials worth anyone’s time?
Honestly, what I’m afraid of is talented people getting greater control over ads, which is what that article implied to me. Saying ads are getting better, that implies something changed. So September 11th, that was the impetus. I’m more concerned, not with the stupid narrative of September 11th, not with that, but that talented people now are getting the reigns of something as omnipresent as advertising.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:57 am (#)
Andrew, I agree, it seems that advertising is keeping us from what we want to see. Although I appreciate an artisitic ad, I believe by UPS with the guy drawing lines between london, paris, and rome(?)with the Postal Service song playing in the background. I learned something about business and at the same time felt like the guy taught me something. I feel sophisticated after watching this commercial.
We cannot ban commercials in our society, but I would love it if that actually happened. Commercials are like Misquitoes. They come land on your skin and suck the blood out of your body without even asking. They just do it. “Hey Misquito! I didn’t say you could take my blood!” But they do it anyways. Commercials don’t suck your blood out, but they steal my attention without asking. Is that immoral? Are misquitoes immoral? I kill a misquito when its biting me.
What if all the artists started working for companies using their talent towards commercials instead of writing the next american novel?
Nate