6 ms·

Super Bowl is sort of a good point, but what do you mean by magazines? Given a choice between a magazine with and without ads, are you saying some people would

Super Bowl is sort of a good point, but what do you mean by magazines? Given a choice between a magazine with and without ads, are you saying some people would choose the one with ads? I don't think anybody seeks out ads, especially when they're paying for something. Super Bowl ads are only popular because they're essentially comedy skits and short films, they're basically free, and they're part of a cultural event that everyone you know watches. Almost nobody likes them because they appreciate quality marketing content or something.

nicky0 10y ago
When I used to buy computer magazines a big reason was the ads from computer parts dealers inside. Nowadays a lot of that is on the internet, but ads are still a way to find out about products and prices.
morgante 10y ago
> Almost nobody likes them because they appreciate quality marketing content or something. Quality marketing is fun to watch. Hence the people (including myself) who only watch the ads. It's hardly isolated to the Superbowl—look at the millions of views which some better ads get on YouTube. Likewise, I definitely think for many people advertising is part of the magazine experience. I certainly don't mind some of the nicer ads in The New Yorker.
- paavokoya 10y ago
  Yeah, but quality marketing is almost always an isolated story/plot that has nothing to do with any products sold and they throw a logo and name on at the end. Most of these "quality" commercials could swap out products and the exposure would be the same. People don't want to be sold something, they just want to absorb interesting content. That's what modern advertisement gets wrong.
  - morgante 10y ago
    > Yeah, but quality marketing is almost always an isolated story/plot that has nothing to do with any products sold and they throw a logo and name on at the end. I think the Get a Mac campaign, for example, is both lots of fun and directly connected to the product being sold.
Terribledactyl 10y ago
This is just my take on "luxury" items, but in magazines seeing new clothes/jewelry/perfume/watch/phone serves both as "news" (hey, this new thing exists) and a sort of fantasy (look how good things could be with this, because those items are almost certainly attached to someone/somewhere attractive)
- Gargoyle 10y ago
  And then there's stuff like Artforum, which has to be over half ads, but the ads are at least as important to the readers as the content. They tell you where the buzz is, or at least where gallery owners want it to be. In a market that's all about signaling, that's important.
cm2187 10y ago
In the 90s I actually liked ads in computer magazines. That was the only way to keep an eye on prices and new products, before the internet. Now with the internet I do not even read magazines anymore...
Canada 10y ago
I really enjoy the ads in print magazines. Especially tech magazines. I want to see the cool stuff that's available. Online ads I block. The ads in the magazine can't spy on me or serve me malware.
alphonsegaston 10y ago
In Japan, there are lifestyle magazines that are almost nothing but advertisements and are wildly popular, beautifully designed, and remarkably informative ("Popeye" is a good example). One can argue about the social merits of consumerism, but I think the quality of advertisements is directly proportional to how much their culture of origin values "taste" (again, debatably for good or ill).

nicky0 10y ago

When I used to buy computer magazines a big reason was the ads from computer parts dealers inside. Nowadays a lot of that is on the internet, but ads are still a way to find out about products and prices.

morgante 10y ago

> Almost nobody likes them because they appreciate quality marketing content or something. Quality marketing is fun to watch. Hence the people (including myself) who only watch the ads. It's hardly isolated to the Superbowl—look at the millions of views which some better ads get on YouTube. Likewise, I definitely think for many people advertising is part of the magazine experience. I certainly don't mind some of the nicer ads in The New Yorker.

paavokoya 10y ago
Yeah, but quality marketing is almost always an isolated story/plot that has nothing to do with any products sold and they throw a logo and name on at the end. Most of these "quality" commercials could swap out products and the exposure would be the same. People don't want to be sold something, they just want to absorb interesting content. That's what modern advertisement gets wrong.
- morgante 10y ago
  > Yeah, but quality marketing is almost always an isolated story/plot that has nothing to do with any products sold and they throw a logo and name on at the end. I think the Get a Mac campaign, for example, is both lots of fun and directly connected to the product being sold.

Terribledactyl 10y ago

This is just my take on "luxury" items, but in magazines seeing new clothes/jewelry/perfume/watch/phone serves both as "news" (hey, this new thing exists) and a sort of fantasy (look how good things could be with this, because those items are almost certainly attached to someone/somewhere attractive)

Gargoyle 10y ago
And then there's stuff like Artforum, which has to be over half ads, but the ads are at least as important to the readers as the content. They tell you where the buzz is, or at least where gallery owners want it to be. In a market that's all about signaling, that's important.

cm2187 10y ago

In the 90s I actually liked ads in computer magazines. That was the only way to keep an eye on prices and new products, before the internet. Now with the internet I do not even read magazines anymore...

Canada 10y ago

I really enjoy the ads in print magazines. Especially tech magazines. I want to see the cool stuff that's available. Online ads I block. The ads in the magazine can't spy on me or serve me malware.

alphonsegaston 10y ago

In Japan, there are lifestyle magazines that are almost nothing but advertisements and are wildly popular, beautifully designed, and remarkably informative ("Popeye" is a good example). One can argue about the social merits of consumerism, but I think the quality of advertisements is directly proportional to how much their culture of origin values "taste" (again, debatably for good or ill).