Small Screen Surfin'
Created | Updated Mar 24, 2004
Oh how fun Sunday was. Watched The Toxic Avenger Part II and it was like watching
porn without the sex and less funny. I must say that Murder City was a disappointment. Not
sure whether it was supposed to be serious or not. Still, seeing Red Dwarf's Captain
Hollister- Mac MacDonald, was interesting.
Now, how effective is advertising? We see it everywhere. Some people seem to think that
it's only advertising that makes people see a film and seriously affect its box office gross
(mentioning no names...) while others actually sometimes sit down and write reams on the subject,
publishing it in book form. Usually a Media Studies book. But does advertising affect you? If so,
how much?
Advertising is obviously there to get a product to an audience and get you to buy it. Does this
work? Do you all rush to get 'Scammolot' Mortgages from seeing it advertised? Or do you rush for
Halifax because you've been crooned to death by Howard? Why do I keep asking questions as
answers?
There are many people who buy from adverts in the sense that they see a product and it's on the
shopping list. I myself actually use the adverts as 1/ a means to see what's new to review, and 2/ use
them to know when a dvd/movie is out. Of course movie trailers are there to grab our interest but
it's not as if we're magnetised to the cinema because of it. The trailer depends on many things: what
genre is it? Does it look good? And so on. We do, however also hear about movies and products
through word of mouth. From suggestion or promotion: 'You should see/get', 'Have you seen/got'.
This does not always work however. We sometimes remember the advert over the product and the
fact that an advert is good has no effect on the product. There's also this nasty little habit that
people have... they channel surf once the adverts come on or go toilet or have tea. Preferably not at
the same time. So we aren't just sheep to the shepherd. At least not to the extent that commercials
would like. The only time adverts work is with children being shown products they might like. Even
then the product isn't necessarily bought. Who here has bought a can of coke because brand X was
used in a film/movie. 'James Bond uses the BMW XYT72 in Same Plot Again'. This might get us to
say 'nice car' just as a can of coke can get you thirsty. Doesn't mean you want that one. After all, we
have taste buds.
Keep Surfin'...
