Advertising Journal
Television advertisements appeal to youth culture through the use of music and young and attractive actors. Using multiple minority groups in ads also helps advertisers reach a broad and socially liberal young audience. Marketing products on the basis of their cheap price helps attract a college-age crowd. Also, showing a car or cell phone's hip stylishness and trendiness draws the viewer's attention and suggests that the product will make the consumer feel hip and trendy. Advertisers also appeal to young people by suggesting that a product will help a person make a lot of good-looking friends. For example, many car and cell phone commercials depict a whole group of friends of mixed race and gender laughing and having a great time. The message is that that car or that phone will make a person popular.
Unfortunately, advertisements are more often annoying than creative. The worst television ads include those for furniture warehouses and local car dealerships. In both cases, the main speaker or actor shouts about "low prices!" And the jingles they use are insipid. McDonald's ads are far slicker than the local ads but are annoying for the same reason: an irksome commercial jingle. Other annoying commercials include several of those for SUVs, which are sometimes shown driving over speed bumps to suggest that no other car could ever navigate through a city than an SUV. Similarly, some SUV commercials show the driver truly off-road, but most consumers use their SUVs in the suburbs and never drive off-road. Therefore, bad ads are generally unrealistic or annoying to the senses.
Good ads, on the other hand, can be hilarious and even enjoyable to watch. A recent UPS ad depicts some office workers who can't figure out how to send an international package. The acting is good and the commercial uses no annoying music or cliches. The Axe body spray commercials are slightly annoying but still have comedic value because they depict a pile of attractive women assaulting the man who uses the product. Some of the Budweiser commercials that air during sporting events use great music, and are therefore good commercials for their simplicity and lack of silly skits.
