Quote:
Originally Posted by LazyScot
As I understand it, the ads mean money is taken out of their account and put into the cofers that keep MR running. At least something good can come out of this...
I guess, like HarryT, what intrigues me is that the debates and interviews in US elections seem so gentlemanly, yet the adverts (or the few I've seen picked up over here) seem the opposite.
But then the language of adverts in the UK is very different from the US. Until recently it was very rare to see and add say something like "Buy X, because our competitor Y is awful." So perhaps that is why.
I think these are good, but probably pointless as the rich will probably find ways round these (I thinking of things like special interest groups who claim no political allegiance).
But what worries me is the debate about state funding. I still don't believe that this can be made watertight.
|
I can remember when that was "just not done" here either. Back in the days when the ads always compared their product to "Brand X".
But then someone out there decided it was perfectly alright to do ... and ads have never been the same since.
Of course, I don't watch most of the ads for the same reason I don't watch the debates. I make my decisions based on other forms of research. What they attempt to "feed" to me via the television is mine to (1) mute, (2) mute and walk away from (very important for bathroom breaks) or (3) turn off the set and do something else entirely.
In fact, I honestly cannot think of a single TV ad that actually made me go out and purchase the product. Even the Apple vs. PC ads (from either side) aren't going to make me decide I don't like my PC, or like it more.
Probably 80 percent of everything I purchase is based on actually wandering around a physical store and looking at stuff. The other 20 percent is based on wandering around the interwebs and reading reviews about stuff I can't find in a physical store (or where the physical store is too far away).
Nope ... ads, for products, political campaigns, for anything really, are a complete waste of money on someone like me. Even when they are super cute and funny .... most of the time I can remember the joke ... but not which company paid for the ad, or why I would want to buy it in the first place.