At times, I wish I still possessed the naivety of my per-undergraduate and communications study courses. I don't watch movies, read ads or look at the internet the same as I used to. Now-a-days, I am way to jaded and stubborn to admit defeat with successful marketing. When marketing is done well, and I am sold on a certain product or service, I begin the acceptance process by first succumbing to defeat; by acknowledging that I was successfully targeted and a victim of a creative campaign. Only after I admit this to myself, I begrudgingly am able to accept what I know understand as good marketing.
To give an example of this, I will forever ruin food photography for everyone. If you are aware of this, read on for enjoyment, however if this is something that you have not realized, sorry for ruining it, but I'm pulling back the curtain on Food Photography.
This was a very interesting article to read and visually see the extent advertisers go to in order to get the image they want to display to an audience. Much like you, I now see advertisements in a different way after my courses here at Duquesne. Without even realizing it, I find myself analyzing the copy, the visuals, and the message of commercials on TV. It takes a very good campaign to really grab my attention and convince me to take action since I understand the tactics and tricks advertisers use.
ReplyDeleteMy professor in Media Law introduced a very similar article regarding food photography. This sparked the conversation of whether or not this can be classified as "false advertising." If a company is using photographs of mashed potatoes, instead of ice cream, or using glue as milk, is that manipulating the consumer to thinking their product is different than what it actually is? The same argument might also be made about photoshopping models. Consumers are becoming more knowledgeable about Photoshop abilities, causing backlash to companies who excessively use it. I am interested to see what would happen if more consumers had their eyes opened to these photographing tactics. Would there be a demand for changes?