A Picture is Worth...

a thousand words.

So for this week, we're going to use pictures to describe advertising.

Advertising is...

And if you know caption that normally goes with this, then you'll get it.

Is Advertising Ethical?

eth·i·cal

/'eTHǝk(ǝ)l/

adjective

   1. of or relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with these.

       "ethical issues in nursing"

        synonyms: moral, social, behavioral

                      "an ethical dilemma"

   2. (of a medicine) legally available only on a doctor's prescription and usually not

        advertised to the general public.

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Do brands purposely misrepresent themselves?



Is all advertising, false advertising?



Are advertisements full of lies, deceit, misconstrued notions, and obscurities?

Are advertisements ethical?



Below is my answer with a limit of 140 characters, since this is a Twitter-filled generation.



The beauty of advertising is in the eye of the beholder; it's ethical & unethical, but if you don't like it, maybe consider a career change.

A Cacophony of Advertisements!

ca·coph·o·ny
/kǝ'käfǝnē/
noun
a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
"a cacophony of deafening alarm bells"
synonyms: din, racket, noise, clamor, discord, dissonance, discordance, uproar
                 "despite the cacophony, Rita slept on"

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Everyday, people are exposed to excessive amounts of advertisements.

You can find them in magazines and newspapers. They're seen on TV and before movies.

They're all over the internet, from simply being on the side of your website page to being in a video you want to watch. They might be a pop up, or they might be in a spam email.

You can find them in the sky, whether they're on a blimp, plane, or helicopter.



They can be found on buildings and inside of buildings. They're in cars, on the outsides of cars, and sometimes on top of cars. They're all over buses, trains, and subways.

You can find them on huge billboards outside. And they're even in public washrooms.

It seems that we have—or at least most of us—have built a filter or immunity to them.

We only let a very select number get through this filter, based on different criteria.

Maybe it's funny. Maybe it has a great cause that deserves attention. Maybe it's a visually appealing piece of work. Maybe it's a combination of all these things?

This filter can be good; it can be a means for raising the bar standard.

If it's a good advertisement, we give it our attention. If it's a great advertisement, ideally, it'll retain our attention. And if its an exceptional advertisement, we might just pass it on for someone's attention.

If the ad hasn't captured our attention, it must not be very good.

However, an extremely bad advertisement might still have the power to grab our attention, but maybe just not for the right reasons.

People are stuck in an endless cycle. Due to our filters and the abundance of advertisements everywhere, our attention spans diminish. And due to our attention spans shrinking, companies are pumping out more and more advertisements everyday to compete for our attention.


Below is a video appropriately named I Dare You To Watch This Entire Video, created by CollegeHumor.

As the name suggests, it's merely a video that dares you, the audience, to watch a boring 3-minute video. It's horrifying to think that most people are incapable of watching a simple, short video, without needing to check their phone, skipping ahead to see what happens, or completing the whole video.

Even if they video was about something interesting, I'm willing to bet that most people are incapable of watching the entire thing in one sitting, without skipping ahead or doing something else at the same time.

We're constantly bombarded by hundreds of ads. Everyday, all day, there's a constant flow of information thrown at us. There's so many different social media platforms, all of which have a feed that's constantly changing and being added to. New media, news, and events are always being created or broadcasted.

It's been said that we're in the Information Age. Or you can call it the Computer Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age.

Here's another video, called Look Up - A Poem That Will Inspire You to Put Down Your Smartphone by T-Series HD.

But it's not just advertisements and information that's on the rise. In a world so large, with so many people, there's more and more companies, products, and services than ever before. There's just so much of so many things!

Every category has subcategories and variations. There isn't just a product anymore; there's different brands that offer this product, different colourways, different models, different flavours, and different package quantities, to name a few. Consumerism is on the rise, and soon enough this planet won't be large enough to contain it all.

How does one weed out the good from the bad? 

How do we filter out which advertisements, products, or services to trust?

How does one know when to put down their phone, or turn off their computer?

As a designer and artist, it's almost part of the job description to be constantly taking in information—or rather, taking in inspiration.

Going through images, flipping through magazines and newspapers, and reading books are a means of inspiration. It's a means of knowing trends and therefore, a way to create new trends.

Life is about balance.

There needs to be a balance between taking in information, and having human connection.

There must be balance between technological/digital inspiration, and natural/environmental inspiration.

Inspiration can be found everywhere and anywhere, not just in a phone or tablet, on a computer, or on TV.

Let's get back to advertisements and attention spans though.

Are there are a lot of advertisements in this world? Heck yes!

Are there too many advertisements in this world? I suppose it matches the "way too much" amount of everything else we have in this world.

With all these advertisements around, they allow for great advertisements to stand out. Good ads and great ads will be good and great, no matter what, but the bad ads out there help emphasize and contrast with these better ads.

Then again, if these great ads stand out no matter what, there isn't really a need for the so-so and mediocre ads.

The lengths of attention spans are apparently getting shorter. It doesn't help that certain services cater to these shortening attention spans, with Twitter Tweets limit of 140 characters, Vine's 5-6 second video loop limit, and Instagram's 3-15 second video limit.

Speaking of Instagram, the app that vowed to be the last place to ever have advertisements, have recently introduced sponsored posts. What is the world becoming?

The copious amounts of ads we have doesn't necessarily bother me. However, the amount of pollution, trash, and any non-environmentally friendly ramifications of these ads, is troubling and distressing.

Don't !@#$ing swear!

pro·fan·i·ty
/prǝ'fanǝdē/

noun: profanity
     blasphemous or obscene language.
     "an outburst of profanity"
     synonyms: oath, swear word, expletive, curse, obscenity, four-letter word, dirty word, blasphemy, swearing, foul language, bad language, cursing; informal cuss, cuss word; informal imprecation; archaic execration

• a swear word; an oath.
• plural noun: profanities
• irreligious or irreverent behavior.
• synonyms: sacrilege, blasphemy, irreligion, ungodliness, impiety, irreverence, disrespect
• "some traditional festivals were tainted with profanity"

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Profanity is everywhere.

Swearing is happening all around us.

It's in movies and television shows. It's on the internet. It's used by comedians, (motivational) speakers, adults, teens, and the elderly. Profanity is even used by politicians. 

Swearing in advertisements, why the hell not?

Advertisements don't start trends, they follow them.

So if profanity and obscene language is used all around us, why isn't it more common in advertisements?

A quick Google Images search will show you that there aren't many advertisements out there that use profanity, especially openly. Sometimes it's censored; sometimes it's subtle or hidden.

But why is it something advertisers fear? What's the danger? 

If it's clever, why not?

If it's for a cause, why not?

If it's attention-grabbing, why not?

If it's relevant, why not?

If it's different, why not?

If it's relatable, why not?









If it's effective, why the !@#$ not?

Because it's controversial. What's wrong with a little controversy?

Because it's offensive. Why is everyone so sensitive?

Because it's unprofessional. Hasn't profanity has been used in the workplace environment plenty of times?

Because children shouldn't be exposed to it. What's so bad about exposure? Is ignorance a better option? Children can be taught; they seek to be taught. They're sponges of curiousity, so why not satisfy their thirst for knowledge?

I'm not saying to condone swearing from children. Exposure isn't bad, but it becomes a problem if they are not taught that swearing, at their age, is a bad thing.

However, one could argue that exposing children and youth to profanity could desensitize them to it. This could either be a good thing or bad thing. 

If there's swearing or obscene language used in an advertisement, chances are it isn't targeting children. Hell, it's probably not even targeting all adults. It's most likely targeting a certain group of people whom would appreciate or relate to the "inappropriate" ad.

Now, I'm also not saying profanity should be used in all ads, and start appearing in anything and everything.

I believe there's a time and a place for everything, and if the time and place calls for swearing, so be it. If the art directions calls for the design to go just a little bit further to better communicate the emotion and passion, and the solution just happens to be a swear word, I don't see the big deal.

I don't get offended when swearing pops up in a conversation I'm having with someone, so maybe my opinion is biased. Granted, if it's excessive, I might begin to worry or be cautious. 

Some of my favourite designers and artists swear; some of them are even known for using foul language. It doesn't make them any less of a designer, artist, or person. I prefer it, really. To me, they come across as genuine, raw, and real. They're more relatable. I feel more connected to them, as a person, as a human, rather than just some famous person.

I recently had the pleasure of attending a talk by Erik Spiekermann, a well-known German typographer and designer. One of the first things he said was that he tends to swear a lot. With English not being his first, second, third, or maybe even fourth language, to him, swear words are just words. Amazing does not begin to define his work in design and type.

He knows the rules, but knows when to break them. His experience and expertise is on a level out of this world, but because of his mannerisms and casual language, he is—in my eyes—quite personable and relatable.

Spiekermann's amount of swearing doesn't quite compare to, say, Aaron Draplin's amount of swearing, another designer whose talk I also enjoyed recently. However, Draplin doesn't seem any less personable than Spiekermann.

These guys know their stuff when it comes to design. It comes through when they speak, and there's no doubt in my mind that the profanity that they use has something to do with it. When they speak, they sound like they know what they're talking about, and then some. Their use of profanity sets a tone, they sound passionate and raw. They sound human, they sound genuine. So you believe them, whether or not you did before they started speaking.

If this can be achieved through voice, why not through advertising?

Surely, it can be risky. It could be dangerous, maybe offensive, but if it's effective, isn't it worth the risk? If it's going to effectively get your message across, would you not be willing to cross the line?

Meme here, meme there, meme everywhere!

This week's post is about our challenge to create a meme that represents us.

I've created the following that I think accomplishes this task.

Ubiquitous Humour

Humour is everywhere. Advertisements are everywhere. Humorous advertisements are everywhere!

I believe humour has the ability to bring people together. It can spark a conversation. It can help blossom a relationship. It can turn strangers into friends, friends into lovers.

Ask someone what they would want in a partner, and I'll bet most people with reply with, "someone that can make me laugh," among other things, of course. Or maybe, "someone who has the same sense of humour as me." Or even, "someone who knows how to laugh at himself/herself."

The last of the above statements goes deeper than just having a sense of humour, it can show self-confidence, and how comfortable they feel in their own skin. Humour isn't just about the laughter, it can define who you are. It's about the connection between individuals.

When I say humour, what do you think of? Laughter? Smiles? Happiness? These are all very positive words. Even if you think of sarcasm, the desired reaction is often still a positive one.

If humour is often associated with positive words, feelings, and emotions, it is no wonder why it's so commonly used in advertising. If humour, in general, often creates a positive connection between individuals, it's no wonder how it is so effective in creating a positive connection between the ad and company, and the audience.

I'm pretty sure a positively humourous ad is more memorable than just a simple positive ad. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'll create a little poll on here. Is humour effective in advertising? Let me know what you think. Humour me!

Even if the ad's main intention is to make you laugh, I still believe that there's something special and different—effective, in other words—about an ad that just merely has a less serious, less corporate—silly, if you will—tone to it. It weakens that barrier between company and consumer, and creates a more comfortable and personal connection.

This connection could be the reason a consumer chooses one company over another. If a company's sense of humour is similar to that of the consumer, the company is instantly easier to relate to. It can instantly become more personable and attractive. This works in the exact same way that the human connection would work.

Of course, there are some humorous advertisements out there that may have been offensive to at least one person in the world. In some cases, maybe the ad was offensive to many. I find this really unfortunate. I feel like our society can be so judgemental, negative, and sensitive, that even those who feel targeted by said judgement, negativity, and hurtful statements, don't even realize they do the same by attacking back.

It's unfortunate if someone feels offended by another's advertisement, or another's piece of work (artwork). I'm sure that wasn't the company or artist's intention. However, it isn't right for that same someone to feel the need to attack said company or artist in return.

"That's offensive." "You're being hurtful." "Those words are insensitive."

I agree that some things, some people, and some statements can be offensive. However, I also think that sometimes everyone just needs to lighten up a bit (or a lot?). Don't take everything so seriously. Let loose. Let your hair down. Let laughter consume you!

When was the last time you had a really, really good laugh about something?

Being serious all the time—about everything—must not lend for a very positive life.

The world is negative enough as it is; I think we can all benefit from a little bit more positivity, laughter, and fun. Life is too d*mn short to be serious all the time.

Advertising Causes Obesity?

Obesity is on the rise.

According to the Worldometers website, there are 1 billion people in the world who are overweight. At least 300 million of them are considered clinically obese. That's 30%. When you say it as a percentage, it's not too bad, but 300 million people is a lot of people.

I believe advertising has played a factor in the rise of obesity, but I do not think it should be to blame. Advertising is simply that, advertising. Whether consumers believe it, buy into it, are affected by it, merely indicates that the advertisement accomplished its goal.

The job of an advertisement is to sell, to engage, to tell a story, to capture an audience. They make food look delicious, they make you crave these foods. If the foods being advertised are unhealthy, it's irrelevant. It doesn't matter if that burger is unhealthy for you, advertisements are made to convince you to buy it and eat it anyway.

Advertisements do their job. Why can't people do their jobs? If you want to be healthy, why don't you eat healthy foods? Why do you give in to these temptations? Instead of blaming advertisements, the only people to blame are those who are feeding themselves (and their children, or whoever else they feed) these enticing, mouth-watering unhealthy foods.

It all looks good, doesn't it? I think they look delicious! But everyone knows MacDonald's has a bad reputation for unhealthy food. Everyone knows fast food restaurants aren't the healthiest of options. However, these businesses are still flourishing. Everyone knows fast food isn't good for you, but they're still buying it.

If people are still buying fast food and are still eating unhealthy foods, even with the knowledge of fast food restaurants and of certain unhealthy foods, advertising is irrelevant of these food choices. If advertising is irrelevant, advertising shouldn't be the blame for obesity levels rising.

Further, advertisements can't be to blame for childhood obesity either. Children's eating habits are influenced, if not controlled, by their parents and caregivers. If anyone is to be blamed for childhood obesity, it is those in charge of their food intake, which is most likely their parents.

Advertising gets a lot of criticism. It's really unfortunate because there are some really great and clever advertisements out in the world. A lot goes in to a well designed advertisement, but it isn't appreciated.

Instead of criticizing the works of others, everyone should look to themselves first before blaming others. The final decision comes down to the individual. They make the final decision, they execute the final action, they're in charge of their own lives.

Photoshopping Ads: Should or Shouldn't?

We live in a time where it is most likely safe to assume that the image you are looking at, has undergone some sort of alteration. It may have been a tiny alteration to fix lighting, or something a bit more drastic, such as altering the background colour.

It's widely known that photos and images are altered in Photoshop. It has given Photoshop and image retouching a bad name. Some say it's unnatural to change an image. For example, changing a woman's waist in a photo to appear slimmer than it is in real life. To change the way the clothing wraps around a person's body. To elongate the legs of a model. To contour the face. The list goes on and on.

Some of the changes made are unnatural, but in the eyes of the image retoucher, the advertisement company, and the brand, they're just doing their jobs. Their job is to sell. Their goal is promote a benefit, and to promote it in the most appealing way possible.

I agree that some image retouching is a little extreme and unnecessary. Most models are thin enough as it is—and audiences know this—so why is it necessary to cinch her waist in further? Why create an unrealistic advertisement that could potentially drive away consumers?

Sometimes retouching is necessary. Lighting for a photo-shoot can be tricky to set perfectly. If the lighting wasn't perfected in the photo-shoot stage, some enhancing might be necessary in the editing stage. Maybe the eyes need a little bit of help to make them pop. Brightening the eyes instead of letting them blend in with the rest of the face and image, could make the difference between capturing and holding the attention of the audience, and being just another advertisement they filter out.

What if the image's lighting was way off? Maybe the resulting image is more unnatural than what is seen in real life. In which case, the image would need retouching to make it look more real and natural.

What if it distorted the colours? An advertisement needs to be able to portray the exact colours of their products and brands. If the hand bag being advertised looks green in the image, but in fact, is actually more blue than green, it can be confusing for the audience and consumers. They'd be going into the store trying to find a green hand bag. They might not find the bag, and if they do find the 'blue' handbag, they might feel deceived and lied to. They might think the company as unreliable.

I believe retouching an image can be necessary, but I believe there is and should be a limit.

Banvertising: Offensive or Clever?

ban·ver·tis·ing

/ˈbanvərˌtīziNG/
noun

1. the combination of the words ban and advertising.
2. banned or banned-worthy advertising.

I believe banvertising can be both offensive and clever. Some may be more offensive than clever, some may be the opposite.

If the advertisement grabs the attention of the viewer and keeps that attention, they've done a good job. However, if the advertisement grabs the attention of the viewer, retains their attention, and makes them feel a positive emotion or inspires them to do/buy something, then they've done an amazing job.

I believe that ads deemed as offensive should not be banned. However, if the ad is considered offensive by a large majority of viewers, perhaps it isn't doing its job effectively.

Who deems ads as offensive or appropriate should vary on the medium of the advertisement. Depending on where or how the ads are being displayed, different parties should be in charge of considering if the ad is offensive. For example, if it's a commercial advertisement, its offensive factor could be determined by the government, the station, or even the show being played might need a say in the matter. A radio station should consider the appropriateness of advertisements based on their target audience.

Because of the overwhelming amount of advertisements the average person witnesses throughout the day, I feel it is important to shock the viewers into getting their attention. This shock doesn't necessarily need to be negative; a positive shock can be just as attention-grabbing, if not more.

I think agencies/brands should be aware of the ever-growing diverse public, but I do not think it is necessary to be more sensitive. If the message is not targeted towards those who are offended, I don't think it matters. Their target audience is what matters.

Agencies and brands must be deliberately strategizing to shock with their advertisements, however they probably didn't think their messages would get banned, nor would they want them to get banned. If their messages are still doing their jobs even after being banned, I feel that they have succeeded.

Just because an advertisement gets banned, doesn't completely mean everyone deems it offensive. If they're still effective and are getting the job done, it shouldn't hinder the agency's or brand's reputation or story. If it conveys the message and is successful, it should boost the brand's reputation.

Advertisements shouldn't be banned. Creativity shouldn't be banned.