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These ads certainly had better aesthetics than most, but something dies inside me when an advertisement is considered art. I also don't understand why you would

by MrRage 16y ago

These ads certainly had better aesthetics than most, but something dies inside me when an advertisement is considered art. I also don't understand why you would view buying Old Spice as a charitable donation.

sorbus 16y ago
The whole thing with "support companies you like, provide positive feedback to business models and ideas you support." If you, as a consumer, support a method of advertising and want more companies to do it in the future, there are two main ways of encouraging it: writing a letter, or buying the product. Writing a letter and not buying the product encourages them, but doesn't factor into cost analyses; buying the product factors into cost analyses, and both writing a letter and buying the product (and mentioning that you bought it because of the advertisement in the letter) provides ammunition for anyone at the company who supports the advertising method. It's like the people who spent upwards of $500 on the Humble Indie Bundle: providing positive feedback to encourage things like it to happen in the future. Treating it as a donation doesn't make sense, of course, and I have to agree that advertisements shouldn't be considered art, except in the most dramatic examples. Perhaps the meaning of art is a bit narrow, though; advertisements can certainly be artistic.
- MrRage 16y ago
  If you think Old Spice makes excellent deodorant, body washes or whatever then by all means support them with your wallet. But why buy a product just because you liked the commercial? I just see that as being suggestible. People didn't spend $500 on the Humble Indie Bundle so they would put out more ads did they? They wanted to support indie games, no?
  - jasonlotito 16y ago
    I don't think anyone purchased their product just because of the commercial. Rather, these are individuals who possibly did in the past purchase Old Spice products, or Gillette products, or other well known brand name products they trusted. Now, when they go to buy these products again, they make a choice for Old Spice. A product they already like, but never made a real choice to buy. The commercials and publicity put Old Spice in their mind when they went to buy that type of product. Old Spice isn't trying to prove it has a good product. We know that. Rather, it's reminding us to make that choice Old Spice.
RodgerTheGreat 16y ago
On a good day, advertisements are as legitimate an artform as anything subsidized. How is a major corporation funding an ad really that different from commissioning a sculpture or a painting? Take, for example the Philips "Carousel" Ad[1], which was for all intents and purposes a high-budget short film that happened to be paid for by Philips as a way to promote their support of the depicted cinematic aspect ratio. They aren't all cinematic genius, but it's tremendously disingenuous to write ads off entirely due to some perceived taint associated with selling a product. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel_(advert) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel_(advert)
- MrRage 16y ago
  I respectfully disagree, but I also acknowledge that this it is a very subjective judgment. Maybe I shouldn't pull a Roger Ebert and try to argue that something isn't art only to get flamed to death. But for me, personally, even if there's a lot of craft in an ad, to me it's still and ad.

by MrRage 16y ago

sorbus 16y ago

The whole thing with "support companies you like, provide positive feedback to business models and ideas you support." If you, as a consumer, support a method of advertising and want more companies to do it in the future, there are two main ways of encouraging it: writing a letter, or buying the product. Writing a letter and not buying the product encourages them, but doesn't factor into cost analyses; buying the product factors into cost analyses, and both writing a letter and buying the product (and mentioning that you bought it because of the advertisement in the letter) provides ammunition for anyone at the company who supports the advertising method. It's like the people who spent upwards of $500 on the Humble Indie Bundle: providing positive feedback to encourage things like it to happen in the future. Treating it as a donation doesn't make sense, of course, and I have to agree that advertisements shouldn't be considered art, except in the most dramatic examples. Perhaps the meaning of art is a bit narrow, though; advertisements can certainly be artistic.

MrRage 16y ago
If you think Old Spice makes excellent deodorant, body washes or whatever then by all means support them with your wallet. But why buy a product just because you liked the commercial? I just see that as being suggestible. People didn't spend $500 on the Humble Indie Bundle so they would put out more ads did they? They wanted to support indie games, no?
- jasonlotito 16y ago
  I don't think anyone purchased their product just because of the commercial. Rather, these are individuals who possibly did in the past purchase Old Spice products, or Gillette products, or other well known brand name products they trusted. Now, when they go to buy these products again, they make a choice for Old Spice. A product they already like, but never made a real choice to buy. The commercials and publicity put Old Spice in their mind when they went to buy that type of product. Old Spice isn't trying to prove it has a good product. We know that. Rather, it's reminding us to make that choice Old Spice.

RodgerTheGreat 16y ago

On a good day, advertisements are as legitimate an artform as anything subsidized. How is a major corporation funding an ad really that different from commissioning a sculpture or a painting? Take, for example the Philips "Carousel" Ad[1], which was for all intents and purposes a high-budget short film that happened to be paid for by Philips as a way to promote their support of the depicted cinematic aspect ratio. They aren't all cinematic genius, but it's tremendously disingenuous to write ads off entirely due to some perceived taint associated with selling a product. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel_(advert) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel_(advert)

MrRage 16y ago
I respectfully disagree, but I also acknowledge that this it is a very subjective judgment. Maybe I shouldn't pull a Roger Ebert and try to argue that something isn't art only to get flamed to death. But for me, personally, even if there's a lot of craft in an ad, to me it's still and ad.