Imported from Detroit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHozLw6f5rI
I know this is a little late since the super bowl passed so long ago, but I just wanted to congratualte Chrysler's creative team for their "Imported from Detroit" Superbowl ad. I have never been so moved to patriotism by an ad in my life. There are so many deep American values infused into that 2 minute commercial.
The commercial is not just another shiny, perfect depiction of the American dream, but it focuses on the grimy home town of American cars, the hard work put in on the assembly lines, and the understanding that luxury is about more than appearance or price tag.
Bringing in Eminem  further infused the spirit of the Motor City with a real American success story. Just as the streets of the Motor City brought a low-income young man to fame, those same streets have also brought luxurious American cars to the world. It takes hard work to understand the true meaning of luxury.

Congrats Chrysler team. You did a phenomenal job. People will talk about this ad for years to come.

E-Retailing Advertising and the Reciprocity Principle of Social Influence

As many of you may already know, the reciprocity principle is the common practice of doing one "favor", in order to get another "favor" in return. In e-retailing, this is often used to lure customers in. Many stores will offer a reward or a certain sale through e-mail lists, but only if the customer spends a certain amount of money. For example, most of the e-mails I find in my inbox comprise of stores trying to get a sale out of me, with a promise of something, such as free shipping, or a certain amount of money off if I spend x amount of dollars.
EG. Victoria's Secret

This e-mail ad from Victoria's Secret is particularly effective. A "secret reward card" will be given with a purchase as small as ten dollars. The secret reward cards are themselves worth a minimum of 10 dollars, or can go as high as 50, 100, or 500 dollars. Customers are persuaded to buy, and as most Victoria's Secret customers know, there's really not much merchandise for ten dollars or less. In this way, Victoria's Secret gains a profit, and customers are satisfied because they gain a reward card for money off a subsequent purchase.

EG. Macy's

This ad from Macy's promises free shipping, but in the small print below the headline, it states that the free shipping will only be valid with a 99 dollar purchase. Many people, for example, my mother, will hardly buy anything online because of high shipping costs. Offers like this target these types of people in particular. It is more justifiable to spend larger amounts of money online when the 15 dollar shipping charge is taken away. In this way, shoppers are rewarded for buying with free shipping.

EG. Delia's

This ad by Delia's is doubly enticing. Like the Macy's ad above, it promises free shipping over a certain amount of money spent, in this case 75. In addition, like the Victoria's Secret offer above, it also promises 25 "rising star" dollars on top of the free shipping. In this case, customers may be enticed to spend even more than 75 dollars because they are getting reciprocated with two rewards.

All three of these ads use the reciprocity principle to entice customers to buy. This is a very effective method for e-retailers. I fell prey to an ad last week which promised me a free tote bag with the purchase of a certain brand of swimsuit. When my tote bag came in the mail a few days ago, I felt very satisfied with my purchase because in my eyes, I profited from the sale.

Have you ever fallen prey to this device before?

Magazine Advertisements, Objectification, and Cultural Implications

 When we look at the ads to the left, the blatant sexual imagery is immediately recognizable. Sex is often used in advertising because it is a commonly held notion that sex sells. There are instances in which sexual advertisements will not serve their purposes, such as when sex is used in advertisements for food, (reference the Burger King ad for the super seven incher towards the bottome of the blog) but for many products, such as cologne, alcohol, lingerie, and certain clothing brands, sex will sell. The problem with sexual     
advertisements lies in the possibility of offending an audience. I      recently read a journal article titled "Who is gazing at Whom? A look at how sex is used in magazine advertisements" written by authors
Elizabeth Monk-Turner*, Kristy Wren, Leanne McGill, Chris Matthiae, Stephan Brown and Derrick Brooks. In this article, they discussed their study to find out when sex was used in advertising to sell a product, and if, when sex was used, it involved objectification of female or male actors. They predicted that, in magazines aimed at either males or females, there would be sex and objectification in certain advertisements, whereas in gender neutral magazines, advertisements would not involve sex. The authors then gathered nine magazines, four each of which were

 either geared toward males or females, and two which were gender neutral. They further predicted that advertisements in male geared magazines would be slightly more likely to portray female objectification, whereas female geared magazines would still portray female objectification, but to a lesser extent. Their overall findings discovered that sexual advertisements were portrayed more often in male and female geared magazines, but included objectification

 much more often in male geared magazines, rather than female geared. This did not fit their research. According to their predictions, the researchers expected to find that objectifying ads would be found in both demographics because in order to instill the cultural norm of objectification, they though that females would be equally exposed to their own objectification, which would "teach" females to objectify themselves. In line with the researchers' predictions, men, with the constant exposure to female objectification in ads are psychologically

 accustomed to the objectification of women in society. On the other hand, contrary to the researchers' predictions, women are not accustomed to objectification by advertising aimed at them, but rather by exposure to the advertising aimed at the men.
This brings up a question for advertisers. How far is too far? When do advertisements cross the line. The key to any advertisement is to correctly utilize a strategy, rather it be humor, or sex in advertising, with the least amount of offense possible. Advertisers should keep in mind that advertisements placed in certain media spots may garner exposure to people outside of the targeted demographic. When this happens, the best option is to have an advertisement that will not offend people outside of the
demographic range because unfortunately, risque ads can stir up a lot of hype, but when that hype is negative, the money spent, long hours, and creativity put into an ad will all be for nothing.

o   Elizabeth Monk Turner, Kristy Wren, Leanne McGill, Chris Matthiae, Stephen Brown and Derrick Brooks. (2008), “Who is gazing at Whom? A look at how sex is used in magazine advertisements,” Journal of Gender Studies, Vol 17, No. 3, 201-209.

 On a last personal side note, from a consumer's point of view, I was slightly offended by this <<UlstreTrader.com ad. I am a woman who happens to love cars and when I look for a car, I do not look for "nice headlamps," like the ones the ad is referring to. If anything, I will never consider UlsterTrader.com when I shop for cars because I do not relate to their advertisement in the slightest.

Itunes and The Beatles

http://www.apple.com/the-beatles/#videos

Above is a recent advertisement released by Apple, used to inform people that the Beatles are now available on Itunes. While it contains a very direct message; the Beatles are now on Itunes, it also strategically places Itunes and the apple brand at the same level as the Beatles. When the Beatles came to America, they changed many aspects of the music industry. At the same time, when apple became popular in the electronics industry, it also took over a large portion of the market share, became extremely popular, and changed many people's perspectives on the Mac vs. PC debate.

The words that appear in the ad display "In 1964 they came to America, now they're coming to Itunes." This is followed by an apple symbol. By way of association using image, apple is associating themselves with The Beatles. Since the Beatles are a well loved band, association with them is bound to inspire positive thoughts with both non-apple and apple consumers.

The screaming crowds, the announcer, and generally excited people also inspire the image of chain reaction by bandwagon in a person's mind. Everyone loves the Beatles, the Beatles are now on Itunes, Itunes is part of apple, therefore, people should love apple.

Apple is generally known for its colorful, "creative" sort of advertising and product line. This ad expands its reach to a further audience: Beatles' fans. In doing so, they reach not only nationally, but internationally, to people of all different demographics, and psycho-graphics as well.