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> The goal and main purpose of ads is to go beyond the narrow limits of real needs and create new ones that did not exist before. Citation very much needed. Ad

> The goal and main purpose of ads is to go beyond the narrow limits of real needs and create new ones that did not exist before. Citation very much needed. Advertising is everything. If you own a small business, your sign is an ad. If you were a traveling cobbler in colonial America, your wagon was an ad.

readthenotes1 4y ago
Advertising only became perfidious and ubiquitous after the Soviet Union and it's glorious jihad against class exploitation ended of course, or so implies the author.
voisin 4y ago
You aren’t wrong but the majority (certainly by dollars spent) of ads you see are not simply letting people know your business is in the shop or wagon associated with them - they are to manufacture desire to drive sales. You can have a directory like the Yellowpages for simply finding the contact information of someone to fulfill a need you already have, but no one looks at a directory to get ideas of things they may want.
- rpmisms 4y ago
  Sure, but that doesn't define advertising. I really like useful ads, and I've gotten some very nice products that I simply hasn't heard about before through advertising. I also dislike the modern "you already know about this beer, but drinking it will surround you with swedish bikini models" type of ad, but something like YNAB's simple "Hey, you need a budget" is awesome, because you do, indeed, need a budget.
  - jonathankoren 4y ago
    There needs to be a special category for ads that are literally targeted to like 12 people. For example, Northup Grumman taking out a Super Bowl ad in for the B-21 stealth bomber. They might as well started it with, "This is a very special message to Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James." https://www.military.com/video/aircraft/military-aircraft/northrop-grummans-2015-super-bowl-ad/4023069094001 https://www.military.com/video/aircraft/military-aircraft/no...
jehb 4y ago
We have a lot of words to describe advertising based on what channel it uses, or what stage in an imaginary funnel the marketing might serve, but a pretty poor selection of words to differentiate marketing based on why a person might need a product being advertised. Everyone is trying so hard to convince everyone else that what they sell isn't a commodity, that navigating almost any purchase decision has become a nightmare, even for sophisticated consumers. Do I want fair trade coffee, or organic coffee, or locally roasted coffee, or cheap coffee, or coffee where the beans were previously shit out by monkeys? We're no longer trying to sell the coffee; we're trying to sell the idea that the differentiator is the most important thing. No longer is the first cobbler you see the one you choose to fix your shoes.

readthenotes1 4y ago

Advertising only became perfidious and ubiquitous after the Soviet Union and it's glorious jihad against class exploitation ended of course, or so implies the author.

voisin 4y ago

You aren’t wrong but the majority (certainly by dollars spent) of ads you see are not simply letting people know your business is in the shop or wagon associated with them - they are to manufacture desire to drive sales. You can have a directory like the Yellowpages for simply finding the contact information of someone to fulfill a need you already have, but no one looks at a directory to get ideas of things they may want.

rpmisms 4y ago
Sure, but that doesn't define advertising. I really like useful ads, and I've gotten some very nice products that I simply hasn't heard about before through advertising. I also dislike the modern "you already know about this beer, but drinking it will surround you with swedish bikini models" type of ad, but something like YNAB's simple "Hey, you need a budget" is awesome, because you do, indeed, need a budget.
- jonathankoren 4y ago
  There needs to be a special category for ads that are literally targeted to like 12 people. For example, Northup Grumman taking out a Super Bowl ad in for the B-21 stealth bomber. They might as well started it with, "This is a very special message to Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James." https://www.military.com/video/aircraft/military-aircraft/northrop-grummans-2015-super-bowl-ad/4023069094001 https://www.military.com/video/aircraft/military-aircraft/no...

jehb 4y ago

We have a lot of words to describe advertising based on what channel it uses, or what stage in an imaginary funnel the marketing might serve, but a pretty poor selection of words to differentiate marketing based on why a person might need a product being advertised. Everyone is trying so hard to convince everyone else that what they sell isn't a commodity, that navigating almost any purchase decision has become a nightmare, even for sophisticated consumers. Do I want fair trade coffee, or organic coffee, or locally roasted coffee, or cheap coffee, or coffee where the beans were previously shit out by monkeys? We're no longer trying to sell the coffee; we're trying to sell the idea that the differentiator is the most important thing. No longer is the first cobbler you see the one you choose to fix your shoes.