dialtone wrote: ↑15 Apr 2022, 20:41
wesley123 wrote: ↑15 Apr 2022, 20:34
dialtone wrote: ↑14 Apr 2022, 19:32
It's totally ridiculous to say it's manipulation
Except it isn't. It's literally the whole point of advertising. Because why would you spend huge sums of money on marketing if it doesn't do anything?
In my opinion this is a very moralistic and simplistic point of view. The, extremely high level, point of advertising is to let the general public know that your brand exists. If you think this is manipulation... boy what are you doing here? The mere talking with other people may change their opinion thus is manipulation according to your definition.
No point in letting someone know you exist if you don't gain something from it.
If there is one thing on this world that is based on manipulation, it has to be advertising. Or have you forgotten about Jared Fogle, I hope you have. Anyways the tl;dr is that he was obese, but due to dieting and eating Subway sandwiches, he lost a significant amount of weight.
If I can draw one conclusion from this story is that it heavily implies that Subway sandwiches were a contributor to his loss in weight, and thus, Subway sandwiches are healthy.
We then also have tobacco companies, who have for decades manipulated the population and lobbied to governments when it was already known that cigarettes were a significant health risk, it took around 3 decades before regulatory bodies actually began (strongly) regulating tobacco.
And there are also many campaigns against alcohol. A common one is "don't drink and drive". And luckily, alocohol companies have got you on that one with slogans that mimmick regulatory requirements. Heineken's slogan that you also see plastered on the tracks is eerily similar to a "don't drink and drive". This is manipulation 101; by making something relatable, the initial project becomes relatable to the product a company is trying to sell. And with this Heineken has subconsciously connected itself to "don't drink and drive".
Advertising is manipulation and manipulation alone. All those billboards with images, colors, etc. are all designed to invoke an emotion and/or strongly imply a desired consequence from consuming their product(s) in the targeted demographic(s).
If advertising was just "getting your name out there" placing your company name in Arial Black would have been more than sufficient.