Advertising Techniques

Advertisements are all carefully constructed to appeal to your senses. You watch something on television, and think; "Hey, that looks amazing... I need to buy it." It probably isn't as great as it seems. The media and companies have carefully decided on advertising techniques to catch the eyes of certain targets, who are most likely to buy their products.

Well, there are things used for these products, such as color, camera angles, lighting, music, sounds, the product itself, and more. For example in the picture above, it shows a shiny new car the company is selling. What makes this car better than any other car? Nothing, except that its shiny, and looks nice. It probably doesn't have any other advantages that the usual cars don't have. The company hired the media to advertise this car, and they used techniques to sell this car. First off, the camera angle is a full shot of the car, and its showing the back of the car, which is the coolest looking part of the car, attracting attention. They make the lighting bright, but still showing shadow, though the brightness makes the car shine, and look pretty and appealing. The angle is overhead, and slanted slightly, because straight on angles aren't as appealing. Diagnal or tilted angles give a move

ment and exciting feel. The overhead view makes you look down on the car, but it makes it look like your main target, and you have to have it. The slightest little techniques will make a product look a million times better than it may be. Does the car below look as appealing? Noooope.

To appeal to gender, colour is often used. As described in my previous blog, stereotyping the colours boys and girls are suppose to like, takes place in advertising. Blue for boys, pink for girls. Cool, strong, manly colours for males. Pretty, bright, girly colours for the females. This car is directed mostly towards males. Its a grey/silver, and its a duller colour, not very bright, and its a truck. Directed more towards men. Also, its a bigger car, showing the strength of men. Now if you get a small white minivan, or tiny purple car, its directed towards woman. Isn't that odd? People should decide what they want no matter who its directed to, and that's what we do. Advertisements don't always work, though the techniques catch our eye, we don't fall for it all the time.

Other ways of advertising could consist of things directed to your country to show patriotism, or your background, your interests, or if your a regular person, living a regular life, there's the plain folk appeal. Other appeals would be snob appeal, card stacking (giving more and more positives without negatives), bandwagon, facts and figures, weasel words, and more. Most common in commercials is card stacking, like when they advertise Sham Wow, or things to cut vegetables in your kitchen. They stack the positives about the product, and don't tell you "They don't work as well as this product." Or "It'll break in 3 weeks and we wont give you your money back!" :D YEAH! They also repeat the product name to engrave it in your brain SHAM WOW. So when your watching television, take a look SHAM WOW at the commercials, and try to pick out the advertising techniques SHAM WOW used. You'll notice how they drew you in SHAM WOW in the first place. :) SHAM WOW.

By the way, the same goes for when the media advertises womens clothes. They make the women look sexier, so you'll buy the clothes, and that encourages EATING DISORDERS AND SELF CONCIOUSNESS! So beware, don't fall for the traps, be yourself, buy what you need, and don't give in to peer pressure.

- The Queen of Neptune.