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Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

tpdsaa.tumblr.com

11–20 of 63 posts

Re: Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

#11
Interesting. But I disagree with a number of them.

> I love the copy, but it feels off brand ...

I remember the first time I saw a McPizza ad. It talked about how if you didn't like one kind, then you could get a different one. And it felt really strange.

Later I figured it out. Until then, McDonald's ads had always maintained the premise that everyone likes everything they sell.

> If only this solution was more scalable...

I am constantly annoyed at the idea that "scalable" is a meaningless word. Nonsense, it is a precise, well-defined, and useful term. True, it does get misused by marketing people. But the fact is that anyone who is purchasing a large system of any sort, if they know what they're doing, will have some concern for scalability.

> Finally, a place for me to share MY story!

Isn't this a huge reason for people going to blogging platforms?

On the other hand:

> This website's music is great - turn it up!

Definitely. No one has ever said that, ever, in the history of the web.

Re: Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

#12

Interesting. But I disagree with a number of them. > I love the copy, but it feels off brand ... I remember the first time I saw a McPizza ad. It talked about how if you didn't like one kind, then you could get a different one. And it felt really strange. Later I figured it out. Until then, McDonald's ads had always maintained the premise that everyone likes everything they sell. > If only this solution was more scal…

> Definitely. No one has ever said that, ever, in the history of the web.

Unless the site was specifically about that music.

Re: Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

#15
post #3

The best ones work because they use great stock photography where the shots convey a clear message: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lexcpscLrw1qziezc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6BSYe.jpg ;)

Even better: http://tpdsaa.tumblr.com/post/2731266235/submitted-by-adamle...

That silly call center woman that's on millions of websites.

Re: Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

#16
This is a mix of half-amusing misconceptions -- "Of course I'll spend eight minutes of my life watching your branded content" -- and details that advertisers should care about -- "I love the copy, but it feels off brand". Most of the pictures fall into the latter, and are very "inside baseball". Why would you expect "real people" to talk like that, or chastise advertisers for doing so? People who buy from Amazon don't care how many servers Amazon has allocated to recommend products to them, but Amazon engineers certainly care. People searching Google don't care about the inner workings of how MapReduce distributes the work over multiple servers.

This website feels like a bunch of immature complaints and useless mockery.

Re: Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

#19
post #7

If anyone wants to see an incredible look into how Sigmund Freud's research was turned around to manipulate people into consuming more, then Adam Curtis' excellent The Century of The Self is available to watch here: http://thoughtmaybe.com/video/the-century-of-the-self If you've never seen an Adam Curtis documentary before, this is a good one to start with. His style and delivery is unique among documentary filmmaker…

You can also buy Edward Bernays books Propaganda and Crystallizing Public Opinion for a very fair price on Amazon, though Propaganda at least isn't so great.

Re: Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

#20
post #14

I don't think that advertisers want consumers to consciously think these things. Relevant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYEf8XZKlUU

I agree with OP, here. This site had the guys at my agency rolling, but it's so funny because it's true. No one in my office thinks real people talk like this.

We know that when my aunt Kay visits a website and thinks it feels cheap or just doesn't hang together or seems like it's not safe to give my credit card to; it's because they used tired stock photography and their web copy is in three different voices, or that their copy leading and margins are inconsistent, or that they have no design language or brand focus.

Real people don't pick it apart like that because they don't care, don't have the talent to do so, won't acquire the skill to do so or a mix of all three. However, WE do think like this. And the fact that most people don't think like this is why all six of us still have jobs after five years.

Also relevant: http://wademeredith.com/2010/12/your-customers-care-about-de...

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