7/7-7/15: Subversive Advertising -- Is Everyday Life for Sale?

Hennessy's advertising agency hired models to sit in trendy New York clubs and order Hennessy martinis. Elizabeth Taylor made cameos on multiple sitcoms, always looking for a string of "black pearls" (also the name of her new perfume). Does this anger you, or is it more entertaining than traditional advertising? What limits would you set on advertising? What should not be up for sale/sponsorship?

LukasBradley: Whenever this argument begins, people take sides on what they deem to be appropriate. What those people fail to realize is while this advertising or marketing ploy may not appeal to them, or most of the market, it appeals to some of the market. And that is what counts. Recently, a debate similar to this has been fought over daytime television shows. Shows like "Teenage Axe Murdering Canabalistic Cheerleader Makeovers" are deemed socially unacceptable. But, they are still on the air. Why? People watch them. The end line is this : if it didn't work, it wouldn't be repeatively done. If you are offended about the advertising, don't buy it, turn the channel, become a patron of another provider and tell the first about it. In this society, if it doesn't make money, it probably won't be done.

GolfGizmo: well the trouble with advertising is simple - most of it is just untrue, false, and overstated sensationalism. Look at it this way, if the advertiser is pushing it so hard, there must be money to be made. A good thing needs little or no advertising. Love. Friendship. Trust. Quality. These attributes are the things that advertisers try and use to sell products, but you can't buy the attributes. What do you think of when you hear "Things go better with ...." or "Over a trillion sold"; then ask yourself, are these good things? Advertising works, but that doesn't always mean it's good. What is the 'slogan' for hungry children? there's no money for the greedy in it, so the ad's are less inventive, less prodigous, and the same question arises; is there good in it? I remember the old saying "believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you read" when I think of advertising; and government statements. Salutations...

rosemary1: If the advertising is brief and unobtrusive,I prefer the subtle vs the loud intrusion of the traditional method of advertising.

DanGunter: After watching 15-20 minutes of half-baked tomfoolery in an hour of TV, I find it hard to summon up "anger" over yet another trick by the advertising agencies. Advertising is, after all, any truth or lie lit under our feet that will make our subconscious fears percolate to our wallet. We excuse the buggers because they preface their pap with a caveat emptor "Paid advertisement". The only limits I would set would be that, outside the umbrella of that preface, advertisers should be held to the same standards of truth that the rest of the media holds like a dirty diaper. Obviously, the examples above avoid the issue by making no statement which could be called a lie. That leaves us only one form of protest: don't buy the product, fool.

CrystaLight2: Advertising should be free. There will be no limits.

utterback: This is the same issue as having ads on MTV - the videos are essentially ads for albums, so it's already advertising for advertising. You can also go to the other extream - Are Andy Warhol's Brillo boxes and soup cans adds for Brillo and Campbell's soup? So, I'd say I don't think that your question, "What should not be up for sale/sponsorship?" applies to Liz Taylor or a lot of things that we call art. Advertising is already masked as entertainment and most of our entertainment is already advertising.

legmal: No Limits

earthcrone: Anything for sale on the open market is fair game for advertising. I'm not swayed by celebrity endorsements, although if it is a person whose views I oppose, I find myself avoiding the product he is endorsing. What is subversive about that? It probably would not be good policy to have Elizabeth Taylor be a spokesperson for Henessy's or for Motrin. Skinny models probably would not endorse Nutrament, but probably should start using it. What is subversive, anyway? Few, if any, limits should be set on advertising. I can understand the mood that wants to control tobacco advertising possibly aimed at children, but I really don't approve of censorship. The honest thing to do about tobacco would be to make it a controlled substance, controlled by the FDA, and available only by prescription. (Maybe then I'd stop smoking!)

SpaceBanger: Well I think its part of the ad system. A woman will always play an important role. She's attractive and softens (in a way) and you are more free to accept things that are said. Maybe its just a gimmick but women are effective because they distract your mind on their bodies. they do this both on males and females. On males its reasonable that they are attracted from the opposite sex. When it comes to the females they are attracted by the way her body is 'perfect'. Limits are to be se up in order to keep youngsters away from possible 'harsh'.

MeekoTheFunkyFerret: IMHO, I think that I like it. It's better than commercials, could you imagine another perfume or alcohol commercial with absolutely no point to it? I think that the Elizabeth Taylor looking for "black pearls" is a wonderfully hilarious form of dramatic irony. Sitcoms are supposed to be funny, right? There's always going to be advertising in some form or another, so why not let it be the least annoying way?

bjs: Most advertising here in the states tends to be less product and more 'glitter and tune' glitter and with only those remembered. The product can't be remembered or re-called easily because of these (remember "WHERE'S THE BEEF? Quick... which fast food place was it?...).

matthewd: Make it so that you are advertising the true image of the product, by showing what it is really for and not, deceiving the customers about the price of the product or service being offered.

formicacid: traditional advertising? this is the stuff that the debeers have been doing since the turn of the century! how do you think we got the term "diamonds are forever", "diamonds are a girl's best friend" and others? the debeers created it. even gave actresses and directors diamonds to wear in movies, and got one or two movies to change their titles to include the word diamond. this IS traditional advertising. the public just needs to be aware.

LowKeyCat: Advertising must exist in order for our economy to function. We have to live with it. Traditional advertising required me to take a moment out of my day, or a television show, or even a web page. Frankly, any sort of advertising that can be subtily inserted into my life, without me having to stop and watch the advertisement, I welcome. I'd take models in NYC clubs ordering Hennessy martinis anyday over anything that begins with "And now a word from our sponsor...". Then I know that the next two to four minutes will be wasted. At least entertain me! I detest traditional advertising. If it can be presented to me subtily, or in an entertaining fashion, DO IT! PLEASE!

andrus: Advertising is information. How else would we know about Liz T's new product? If it's not a sitcom, it's a break within a sitcom. If it's not a magazine, it's a break between the pages of one. The difference is slim. Like all information, the source and the motivation of the source need to be considered. Then it's up to us to believe the message or not. People always have information they need to share; human nature requires interaction. Advertising is a sharing of commercial information. So what if the sharing takes place in ways normally reserved for sharing personal information (entertainment, sex drive, emotions). If we're smart enough to figure it out then we'll recognize the information as commercial and treat it as such. If we're not, then we're treated to an entertaining, sexy, or emotionally moving moment.

Mur: Worried a bit that I go off-topic: Why do advertisers assume that only men drink beer and therefore ALL beer advertising is geared towards men? Subversive advertising? It's amusing, and if it works on someone who doesn't recognise it then they should have been paying attention.

supergrill: Actually, I am amused by it. The ideas some people will come up with to get the gullible average population to purchase anything!

scoob: I apprecite more creative uses of advertising, and hell, if advertisers want to pay people to sit in a bar and drink, then that's their money. It would just be spent on another insipid magazine ad, anyway.