When I was told that we were going to watch a presentation about advertisements and the science behind them I had no idea what to expect. I certainly did not expect to come away with a greater appreciation for the focus placed on specific wording and the depth of subtext in a commercial. The presentation was quite captivating as the speaker, Dr. Leech, was surprisingly relatable. This was not the sole reason that I enjoyed the presentation and I am sure that the rest of my peers enjoyed it for the same other reason that I did. Apart from the speaker, the information was extremely relevant due to the fact that we all spend a good portion of our day exposed to commercials like the ones discussed by Dr. Leech.
This presentation opened my eyes to the way in which advertising, commercials specifically, target different demographics through an array of different tactics. I learned that in essence, there are two types of commercial; “good” commercials and “bad” commercials. These names do not describe the success or failure of a commercial, but rather the ethics, or lack thereof. A “good” commercial is one that is simply pitching the product by explaining its benefits and allowing the viewer to decide if they want or need it. These types of commercials do not use any other methods to entice viewers to become consumers. The “bad” commercials on the other hand, cleverly, although wrongly, entice the viewer to become a consumer through such methods as playing on their fears and insecurities. These types of commercials are “bad” because they make the viewer feel that they need to purchase a product for a problem that isn’t really a problem. Furthermore, many of these commercials are the sole reason that the problem exists. These commercials create a problem for a product to solve. As an example, I will use the one presented by Dr. Leech about the cover-up product that promises to make pores invisible. This is not a problem, as pores are there for a reason; to allow skin to breathe! In my personal opinion and past experience, I have never thought of a girl’s pores as unattractive.
Ever since the presentation, I have not been able to stop myself from analyzing each commercial I see. I think about the intended subtext, who is being targeted, and also whether the commercial is “good” or “bad”. Initially, commercials came about as a form of advertising that allowed for their message to be both heard and seen by a great number of people. As advertising companies gained more experience over the decades they realized that they could manipulate viewers into becoming consumers and buying their products. Although, this is definitely not true for all advertisers, one must be able to properly understand the advertisement in all of its complexities. For this very reason, I believe that there should be one minimum high-school compulsory media credit that explores the same types of issues that Dr. Leech exposed to us. In his presentation, Dr. Leech told us that Australia has a compulsory courses to create media literate graduates, so why shouldn’t Canada?
No comments:
Post a Comment