4 ms·

Advertising is just companies saying "This is what you can purchase from me - it's awesome - please consider purchasing it". I have managed hundreds of millions

by cm2012 8mo ago

Advertising is just companies saying "This is what you can purchase from me - it's awesome - please consider purchasing it". I have managed hundreds of millions in ad spend for major brands. None of them rely on weird ad magic to persuade people secretly - just showing off different aspects of the product or service.

anonymars 8mo ago
Um, off the top of my head: "You'll be happier if you purchase this thing" "You're not good enough as you are now, but you will be if you purchase this thing" "Other people you admire or respect have purchased this thing, and if you do too you'll be more like them" "Other people will like you more if you purchase this thing" "You'll be more attractive if you purchase this thing" "This thing will be worth more in the future so if you purchase this thing it will make you money" "This is your only chance to purchase this thing, so if you don't it now you'll miss out on this price" I don't think any of them has to do with how awesome "the thing" itself is. Obviously there's more to, say, an expensive watch, than its ability to tell time
- cm2012 8mo ago
  The only products that sell this in advertising actually provide those brand features. Essentially people pay money to increase their perceived status. Like, if you sell a luxury handbag. When people buy it, they know 70% of the value comes from the advertising saying "this is a high value product" as a status signal. I think that's really dumb, but that's what people want. It also existed a long time before ads itself did.
  - Dylan16807 8mo ago
    So you've never seen like, a beer ad that promises status and attractiveness?
    - cm2012 8mo ago
      Beer/liquor is in the same category of status good. People pay a lot to show the brand.
      - Dylan16807 8mo ago
        Some liquor brands are like that. 95% or more of beer ads that imply status are just lying to you.
    - anonymars 8mo ago
      Similarly, something must have been missing from the AXE body spray instructions
  - tremon 8mo ago
    > they know 70% of the value comes from the advertising So, you are aware that advertising is in large part responsible for shaping what is perceived as high-value status signals in society. You're also aware that for certain products the only distinction between those and their alternatives is that specific high-value association. How come you started out from the position that advertising is "just showing off different aspects of the product" then?
- SR2Z 8mo ago
  If anonymous billboards or banner ads can convince you you aren't good enough, your life is probably not great with or without ads. If an ad convinces you to, say, get a gym membership or go on Ozempic, who's to say what happens next? Maybe you do start feeling better about yourself.
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
  - somenameforme 8mo ago
    They don't consciously convince you directly anymore than a slot machine convinces you to give it one more spin - it's done on a subconscious level. For instance one of the most famous, and effective, ads in history is Apple's 1984 ad. [1] A 59 second ad where the only mention of what's being sold at all happens in about 1 second with a reference to a brand name and then a logo. See: ELM model and peripheral processing. [2] And this is all day one advertising stuff. Advertising is a horrific industry. It probably always was, but at the modern scales, it's outright dystopic. I think there's simply a large amount of cognitive dissonance around this issue because advertising drives the paychecks of a whole lot of people, and it's rather difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaboration_likelihood_model#Peripheral_route https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaboration_likelihood_model#P...
    - vladvasiliu 8mo ago
      While I agree with your point about understanding, I think there's also an issue of self-image. "What? Me? Influenced by some ad? Get outta here! I make my own decisions!"
autoexec 8mo ago
> Advertising is just companies saying "This is what you can purchase from me - it's awesome - please consider purchasing it". This is such a naive view of advertising that if you're really this unaware of how manipulative ads are, you can't possibly have defenses against them. You should seriously spend some time looking into the secret magic of dark psychology they use to manipulate people because while knowing about their tactics won't make you immune to them, it really can help to be aware of how they work and to train yourself to recognize when they're being used against you.
- bryan_w 8mo ago
  I don't know, I just went to find an ad in my feed and the first one was for a house plant that was easy to take care of. I'm not saying I'm the smartest cookie in the shed, but I didn't detect any manipulation. Seems like it was a person who just wanted me to know about their product. Let me know what I'm missing.
  - autoexec 8mo ago
    I haven't seen the plant ad, but it sounds like once you start learning about how the ad industry works your mind will be blown. Insane amounts of money have been poured into research by the industry (including some highly questionable research being done on children and infants) and some of the results are fascinating. The manipulation goes beyond even the content of the ads themselves. For example, one of the reasons companies are spending so much money collecting/buying/storing/securing every scrap of data they can get about you and your life is so that they can target ads at you at specific times when they know you'll be more vulnerable such as times when they know you'd normally be tired, or when they think your medication may be wearing off, or during periods where you're under high stress, or when you might be entering a manic phase, or when you're intoxicated, etc. Like I said, understanding the many many ways that you are vulnerable to their tricks can help but it won't stop them from working on you. It's kind of like how you can't not see certain optical illusions even though you know you're interpreting them incorrectly. The conclusion I've come to is that it's best to do everything you can to avoid exposure to advertising where possible and to keep an eye out for when those tricks are being used against you elsewhere.
wat10000 8mo ago
I can't remember ever seeing an ad that was just showing off different aspects of the product or service, outside of things like Craigslist.
freejazz 8mo ago
>Advertising is just companies saying "This is what you can purchase from me - it's awesome - please consider purchasing it". I have managed hundreds of millions in ad spend for major brands Oh, okay. Well if you say so.

by cm2012 8mo ago

anonymars 8mo ago

Um, off the top of my head: "You'll be happier if you purchase this thing" "You're not good enough as you are now, but you will be if you purchase this thing" "Other people you admire or respect have purchased this thing, and if you do too you'll be more like them" "Other people will like you more if you purchase this thing" "You'll be more attractive if you purchase this thing" "This thing will be worth more in the future so if you purchase this thing it will make you money" "This is your only chance to purchase this thing, so if you don't it now you'll miss out on this price" I don't think any of them has to do with how awesome "the thing" itself is. Obviously there's more to, say, an expensive watch, than its ability to tell time

cm2012 8mo ago
The only products that sell this in advertising actually provide those brand features. Essentially people pay money to increase their perceived status. Like, if you sell a luxury handbag. When people buy it, they know 70% of the value comes from the advertising saying "this is a high value product" as a status signal. I think that's really dumb, but that's what people want. It also existed a long time before ads itself did.
- Dylan16807 8mo ago
  So you've never seen like, a beer ad that promises status and attractiveness?
  - cm2012 8mo ago
    Beer/liquor is in the same category of status good. People pay a lot to show the brand.
    - Dylan16807 8mo ago
      Some liquor brands are like that. 95% or more of beer ads that imply status are just lying to you.
  - anonymars 8mo ago
    Similarly, something must have been missing from the AXE body spray instructions
- tremon 8mo ago
  > they know 70% of the value comes from the advertising So, you are aware that advertising is in large part responsible for shaping what is perceived as high-value status signals in society. You're also aware that for certain products the only distinction between those and their alternatives is that specific high-value association. How come you started out from the position that advertising is "just showing off different aspects of the product" then?
SR2Z 8mo ago
If anonymous billboards or banner ads can convince you you aren't good enough, your life is probably not great with or without ads. If an ad convinces you to, say, get a gym membership or go on Ozempic, who's to say what happens next? Maybe you do start feeling better about yourself.
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
- somenameforme 8mo ago
  They don't consciously convince you directly anymore than a slot machine convinces you to give it one more spin - it's done on a subconscious level. For instance one of the most famous, and effective, ads in history is Apple's 1984 ad. [1] A 59 second ad where the only mention of what's being sold at all happens in about 1 second with a reference to a brand name and then a logo. See: ELM model and peripheral processing. [2] And this is all day one advertising stuff. Advertising is a horrific industry. It probably always was, but at the modern scales, it's outright dystopic. I think there's simply a large amount of cognitive dissonance around this issue because advertising drives the paychecks of a whole lot of people, and it's rather difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaboration_likelihood_model#Peripheral_route https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaboration_likelihood_model#P...
  - vladvasiliu 8mo ago
    While I agree with your point about understanding, I think there's also an issue of self-image. "What? Me? Influenced by some ad? Get outta here! I make my own decisions!"

autoexec 8mo ago

> Advertising is just companies saying "This is what you can purchase from me - it's awesome - please consider purchasing it". This is such a naive view of advertising that if you're really this unaware of how manipulative ads are, you can't possibly have defenses against them. You should seriously spend some time looking into the secret magic of dark psychology they use to manipulate people because while knowing about their tactics won't make you immune to them, it really can help to be aware of how they work and to train yourself to recognize when they're being used against you.

bryan_w 8mo ago
I don't know, I just went to find an ad in my feed and the first one was for a house plant that was easy to take care of. I'm not saying I'm the smartest cookie in the shed, but I didn't detect any manipulation. Seems like it was a person who just wanted me to know about their product. Let me know what I'm missing.
- autoexec 8mo ago
  I haven't seen the plant ad, but it sounds like once you start learning about how the ad industry works your mind will be blown. Insane amounts of money have been poured into research by the industry (including some highly questionable research being done on children and infants) and some of the results are fascinating. The manipulation goes beyond even the content of the ads themselves. For example, one of the reasons companies are spending so much money collecting/buying/storing/securing every scrap of data they can get about you and your life is so that they can target ads at you at specific times when they know you'll be more vulnerable such as times when they know you'd normally be tired, or when they think your medication may be wearing off, or during periods where you're under high stress, or when you might be entering a manic phase, or when you're intoxicated, etc. Like I said, understanding the many many ways that you are vulnerable to their tricks can help but it won't stop them from working on you. It's kind of like how you can't not see certain optical illusions even though you know you're interpreting them incorrectly. The conclusion I've come to is that it's best to do everything you can to avoid exposure to advertising where possible and to keep an eye out for when those tricks are being used against you elsewhere.

wat10000 8mo ago

I can't remember ever seeing an ad that was just showing off different aspects of the product or service, outside of things like Craigslist.

freejazz 8mo ago

>Advertising is just companies saying "This is what you can purchase from me - it's awesome - please consider purchasing it". I have managed hundreds of millions in ad spend for major brands Oh, okay. Well if you say so.