If advertising worked the way many people seem to think it works, then why can’t we advertise our way out of this recession? Over the years, advertising has been given such a bad name for being manipulative and highly persuasive. If there is any basis for such claims, then surely it has the power to manipulate and persuade people to consume, even under these present circumstances. But instead of going after us consumers, according to a March 11 article in The Wall Street Journal, advertisers are going after each other. The article refers to a style of advertising called “comparative advertising” in which one advertiser utilizes some piece of data in order to claim superiority for their product or brand. The Pepsi Challenge is a good example of comparative advertising. The article refers to the ways in which advertisers utilize misleading or incomplete information to make a claim, like when Campbells attacks Progresso or when Dominos attacks Subway or Pepsi attacks Coke. I guess you could call this attack advertising as one marketer attempts to claim a superior position for the product by directly diminishing an attribute of another. Well, it’s not atypical to attack a competitor’s product, but in many cases it’s done implicitly. In this latest round of comparative advertising, marketers explicitly depict the competitive product along with their own in order to make their point. This type of advertising began around 1978 when the FTC actually began to encourage use of such comparative data. The FTC thought that comparing one product to another would actually clarify differences between products with the net result being that consumers could make more informed decisions. It’s a shame it never turned out that way. I guess when the going gets tough….well, you know the rest. But is this kind of backbiting going to help us out of this recession? Seems to me like a waste of resources based on the serious economic situation at hand. A comparative advertisement may sell one more hamburger, one more bottle of soda and one more can of soup, but brand advertising is usually atmospheric in nature, and as such I think there is greater opportunity to provide an upbeat atmosphere for consumers to encourage them to buy more. I like the ads, for example, from that insurance company that sponsors the “aha moment.” Those commercials feature average individuals who have had an epiphany that changed their lives. Very uplifting. I hope others join this bandwagon. Because if advertising works the way many people think it works, it could be of great public assistance to brighten our lives and affect our attitudes toward a more positive outlook. Do I think it works this way? Not a chance. But under the circumstances, even I think it’s worth a try.
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On Friday afternoon, I had to run over to Towson Mall. When I entered the parking garage I was shocked as to how many people were at the mall. I could not find one parking spot. Circling around the garage for at least 20-25 minutes I kept thinking to myself…Aren’t we in a recession? What are all of these people doing at the mall? Every person that I saw walking out of the mall had a bag in their hand. I couldn’t believe it. I started thinking… What are advertisers doing to get people to buy products? They must be doing something right.
This idea of “comparative advertising” is an interesting one. It makes sense that advertisers would want to attack their competitors in order to draw attention towards their products, but is that really the right approach? During a time when our economy is really suffering, I don’t think that this is the best way to go about handling it. I strongly agree that there is a greater opportunity to provide upbeat messages throughout advertising. Why get down on everyone and everything. Times our tough and people are already sadden by this. I believe that something such as advertising can bring a smile to someone, and that is exactly what we as a society need today. Advertisers don’t need to sit her and criticize other brands to make themselves look better. They should focus on their audience’s needs and wants. They would be thinking about what will make them happy. I feel that if you are successful at making one happy through your ads then you are one step further at encouraging them to buy the product. I think ads should strive to be uplifting during this time. I agree, if advertising works the way people think it works, encouraging individuals to purchase products, then why not brighten people’s lives and make them happy. Enough with saying, this product is better than that product or the fight to be number one. Advertisers should draw people in by making them happy. Make them smile and remember what life is all about. I strongly believe that advertisers should try this approach and see what happens. You never know it could be very successful. You never know until you try!
Comparative advertising has always been the “go to” method used by individual companies, products, etc. when faced with heavy competition. Personally, I’ve always felt slightly, and unexplainably, uncomfortable when watching comparative ads on television. For some reason I always question if it was really the right move for the company, if they could have gone in another direction. I usually question the validity of the comparison as well – can you honestly tell me a product like Lysol is that much different than any other nice-smelling germ-killer?
A week or so ago my promotions management professor was lecturing about messages in advertising and how messages must be consistent across the board…consistent and true. She gave us the example of the recent Domino’s commercials. These commercials have been claiming that the public has enjoyed the pizza distributor’s new line of baked sandwiches 2 to 1 over competing sandwich shop Subway. Apparently Jeff Moody, CEO of the Subway Franchisee Advertising Trust, didn’t believe a word of it. He was so convinced the taste tests were unreliable, that he sent a letter to Domino’s president David Brandon asking for the commercials to “cease and desist”. Brandon proceeded to burn the letter from Subway in a nationally aired commercial insisting that all tests performed were accurate and approved by lawyers as well as the networks.
So which sandwich-maker do we believe? The Subway franchise that claims the tests are unreliable due to wrongful comparisons and poor representation of its product, or the Domino’s franchise that claims the tests are 100% truth? This is what makes me uncomfortable. How are we supposed to know?! I don’t know if happy, smiley advertising will have an effect on turning the tide of the recession, but I do know that this type of backstabbing, nasty advertising isn’t winning me over.
After reading these posts about comparative advertising, especially Mallory’s description of the Domino’s-Subway conflict, it seems to me as though advertisers have forgotten the most important goal of advertising—to reach us, the audience! It almost seems absurd, the whole point of advertising it to attempt to influence and persuade consumers to purchase a particular product, and advertisers are too busy competing with each other to notice us. It’s like when you’re hanging out with a couple, and they start having a blow out fight right in front of your face.
Like Mallory said, it’s really uncomfortable to witness, and most detrimental to all advertisers is that consumers will become even more suspect of advertising’s motives than they already are. Consumers like to feel like they are the most important aspect to an advertising campaign, and suddenly we find ourselves second to the competitor? I think these well-known brands need to reconsider their strategy and priorities when it comes to advertising, especially in times of an economic recession.
Whether we like it or not, advertising is a major part of our culture and helps us to make sense of the world around us, whether that entails direct purchase of a product or not. Advertisers need to recognize this important role they play in culture, and keep this in mind when creating campaigns. If our country is in a severe economic crisis, perhaps showing commercials that depict the harsh and bitter rivalry between competing companies is not the best way to boost morale. Are we supposed to feel better when we watch Domino’s burn a letter from Subway on a commercial? It makes me question the values advertising promotes to our culture. Successful business owners are resolving conflict by burning things to make an ad? These are supposed to be mature, smart people.
What our culture needs right now is something to make people feel better, not worse. And, as discussed in previous posts, advertising has the power to make people feel better. So why aren’t more advertisers stepping up to the plate? When an institution is as powerful as advertising is in a culture, I think it is the social responsibility of that institution to do what they can to make a positive impact on society.
I have to say that I agree with this post in that I have been seeing more and more advertisements in which the competitor is belittled or run into the ground. However, I think that when we consider this we must also acknowledge that this form of advertising is a very lucrative and effective when done tastefully. For example, the Mac vs. PC campaign worked well in that it captured the essential difference between both the products. The ads made no specific claims regarding a MAC being a better computer than PC's but the intent and message was obvious. However, I will concede that hitting the competition as a form of marketing is less effective for products like soup manufacturers in which product differentiation is not very diversified. In many ways, this seems like a cop out to me because how can a company believe that expounding on a product difference that is non existent or unimportant would be a good way of separating a product from the proverbial pack. All in all I believe that that this advertising tactic is very risky and there are only a few instances where such methods would be appropriate.
I'm not a communications major so I have very little background on the terms discussed in class. I also don't think to in depth about commercials, billboards, or advertisements when I see them. I don't have that type of thought process I guess not having been educated and studying those types of things. Ultimately, I do understand the point of advertising and see how it is effective. I have definitely been persuaded to buy products over others because of this "comparative advertising". Whether I actaully followed though with my feeligns is not as certain. For example, I am looking into buying a new laptop. I know when watching the commercails of Macs vs PCS, I always end up leaning towards the one that is meant to look better. When the two men portray the two different computers, I always end up wanting to go out and get a new Mac laptop. But, when I see the new PC commericals ("I am a PC" or the one when someone is sent in to a store) I always want to go out and get a new PC laptop. I wouldn't let commericals influence which one I finally end up getting but I can definitely understand that feeling of persuasion the comparative advertisements are showing.
In fact, just the other day I was in Boulder buying a pack of gum. I went to unwrap the Extra gum packet and on the wrapper it said, "I last longer than Stride". I immediately thought back to this class and the discussion we had about comparative advertising. It didn't ultimately lead to purchase the gum but it definitely caught my attention.
After reading this post, one advertiser comes to mind and that is Target. I agree entirely that comparative advertising isn't very uplifting, might be persuasive, but at the end of the day is entirely unoriginal.Target is unique int he sense that t is a major retailer hailed by both the wealthy and the middle class for its chic bargains. Instead of running commercials like KMart, with discount messages flashing across the screen, Target has made art out of promoting their products. The commercials have always had a happy-go-lucky element to them and the products are not compared to one another but are all shown in unison. They make entertainment out of selling products and that is why they are so hugely successful. Especially in a recession, their products are affordable and they are selling them in an uplifting way. It is a form of advertising that other major companies should catch onto.
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