Advertisement. (n.) An unsolicited message for the purpose of convincing others to do things they would not do otherwise.
What is an advertisement? I’m sure Wikipedia (which is never wrong, you know) could give you a deeper explanation of the word, but the definition above is the best one I’ve been able to think of on my own. Ads are unsolicited (who wants to get spam?), they’re messages and they exist to get you to change your mind and do any number of things: vote for a candidate, give to a charity, join the military or, most commonly, buy a product. The definition is simple and accurate, but it doesn’t take into account the fact that advertising incurs all kinds of obvious social costs — and valuable, hidden benefits.
From nothing but my plain description, it’s hard to see anything wrong with ads. In this country, we pride ourselves on free speech. Organizations have the right to plead their cases to the general public, don’t they? If a company can make a rational, convincing argument in a commercial, people will reward it by giving it their business. If it can’t, competition in the free market will force that company to change its product or lower its price to better serve the consumer.
Of course, I came up with this civic-minded argument while secluded in my ivory tower (assuming the Warren Towers dining hall is made of ivory). When I went home and turned on the TV, the first thing I saw was the following important message:
“HeadOn: Apply directly to the forehead! HeadOn: Apply directly to . . .”
OK, clearly commercials aren’t rational appeals serving the public interest as I thought. A quick flip through the channels reveals that commercials, far from presenting logical reasons to buy certain products, use any number of underhanded tactics to get their messages across.
Yes, advertisers have no qualms about distorting the truth. They misrepresent products, twist words and present false images. Commercials make a mockery out of scientific research (clinical tests have now shown everything, including bacon, reduces your weight) and play on your worst fears (if you don’t buy a patented Slumberpedic Mattress now, you’ll probably die of a heart attack in your sleep). Ads clutter up our landscape with logos and clutter our memories with endless jingles and slogans. Perhaps worst of all, they clog the tubes of our Internets with flashing banner ads and pop-ups.
I’d love to think that people are smart enough not to fall for these cheap tactics. Clearly, advertisers don’t put that much stock in the intelligence of the general public.
They seem to be right, too. Modern advertising is so successful that it has become an industry unto itself. There exist marketing firms that produce nothing tangible for society, earning profits by selling other firms’ products. Corporations have whole departments dedicated to researching the effectiveness of various slogans, logos and ad campaigns on various target demographics. Here at BU, the College of Communication even offers a degree in advertising, and the School of Management offers a degree in marketing. (Note to advertising and marketing majors: Sorry for trash-talking your entire field of study for three months.)
The most remarkable thing about all this is not the sheer inanity of the commercials that this industry manages to come up with – it’s that organizations that advertise, especially businesses, continue to spend money on them. Remember, a business is an entity that exists to make money. Executives don’t waste their budgets on ads unless they’re effective enough to be worth it.
Every successful campaign must, if it’s run by a profit-seeking company, bring in profits. That is, it must make more money than it costs to run the ads. The income, of course, derives from the business of new and old customers that the ads manage to win over. But where do the expenses go?
A part of the expenses goes to the marketing industry, which produces the ad. The rest goes to whoever owns the airtime, billboard or print space that is rented to display the ad.
This is a major source of revenue for organizations across the proverbial board. If advertising disappeared today, the American economy would be turned upside-down. Sure, without commercials, your favorite shows wouldn’t be interrupted with pleas to ask your doctor about Lunesta. On the other hand, your favorite shows probably wouldn’t be aired at all, unless they held pledge drives like PBS or sought government backing like the BBC (requiring them to purchase television licenses).
Without advertising revenue, the Red Sox organization would be unable to pay its players the millions and millions of dollars that it does. The MBTA, which is already facing financial troubles, would have to raise fares by even more if it lost its billboards. Magazines and newspapers with no ads would have to increase their prices, and The Daily Free Press would become The Daily $1.50 Press.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I still hate advertising with the burning fury of a thousand suns. It’s just that advertising underwrites so much of our economy that, for you and me, viewing an ad is equivalent to getting paid.
As any economist will tell you, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. You may think that Facebook, for example, is free. It’s not. You may not pay for it, but somebody does — advertisers. All they ask, in exchange for using the site on their dime, is that you look at their “important messages.”
Everybody who sees ads has advertising revenue passed on to them as savings. Not everybody buys the thing being advertised. Because of this, advertising is like a game. If you do what ads tell you to do, you lose. If you don’t let ads affect your judgment, you win.
Your odds in this game go way up if you understand the techniques that advertisers use to manipulate you (if you let them). Maintaining a healthy skepticism is a good start. Taking stock of what a product actually is before you buy it is vital.
Despite what commercials say, you can’t buy “refreshment.” What you can do is drink soda. If that’s what you want, then buy the soda that tastes the best, whether or not you saw an ad for it. If there’s something else you wanted, save your money, thank the corporations for paying for your fun and move on.
Aaron Segal, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
