patronising presumptuous adverts?

[EeveeElectro]

All women have to be on diets and eat fat free yoghurt. Men don't eat yoghurt you silly people!
Women still apparently don't do anything other than cook and clean, and god forbid they have to use technology.

 

[shootthebandit]

All women have to be on diets and eat fat free yoghurt. Men don't eat yoghurt you silly people!
Women still apparently don't do anything other than cook and clean, and god forbid they have to use technology.

I was under the impression that women just sat by swimming pools all day with a probiotic yoghurt packed with bifidus actiregularis (registered trademark of danone) while objectifying men whilst you are on bingo sites

mmm...danone!

 

[Vausch]

here is an exaggerated example from about 5 years ago...yes this was a genuine advert in the UK to warn people about piracy (youve probably seen it before and i suggest watching the IT crowd spoof in the related videos)
edit: Ironically this advert was shown in cinemas and on legal DVDs so only people who legitimately purchased a product would see it. If you downloaded a film illegally chances are its ad free and you wouldnt actually see this

you wouldnt make an advert for your product if you knew its was going to be patronising....would you?

Well, most people wouldn't steal a car or a DVD.

Y'know, when people say that they seem to be running on the idea that you're taking the car itself.

But if I had the ability to just walk up to a car, right click, copy, paste, and drive off, hell yeah I'd "steal" it. That guy gets to keep his car and I get a new one!

Captcha: Brand lift. HA.

 

[viranimus]

Its marketing 101

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Honestly, you should not be patronizing ANY marketing, regardless of what tricks are used.

But Meh, moot point cause I am sure someone is more than happy to defend why marketing should even exist at all.

 

[Easton Dark]

Honestly, you should not be patronizing ANY marketing, regardless of what tricks are used.

I still remember Dr. Pepper's "It's not for women" campaign as the worst idea for advertising I've ever seen. Literally telling people not to buy the product.

 

[shootthebandit]

here is an exaggerated example from about 5 years ago...yes this was a genuine advert in the UK to warn people about piracy (youve probably seen it before and i suggest watching the IT crowd spoof in the related videos)
edit: Ironically this advert was shown in cinemas and on legal DVDs so only people who legitimately purchased a product would see it. If you downloaded a film illegally chances are its ad free and you wouldnt actually see this

you wouldnt make an advert for your product if you knew its was going to be patronising....would you?

Well, most people wouldn't steal a car or a DVD.

Y'know, when people say that they seem to be running on the idea that you're taking the car itself.

But if I had the ability to just walk up to a car, right click, copy, paste, and drive off, hell yeah I'd "steal" it. That guy gets to keep his car and I get a new one!

Captcha: Brand lift. HA.

I agree 100% the reason people dont steal cars that often is because its really difficult. Not only would you have to hotwire it and get past the immobiliser but you'd then have to grind the VIN number off and forge the documentation. However if you could download a car then it would simply be a case of...what colour will your Lamborghini be?

I personally dont have an issue with anti-piracy campaigns, piracy is illegal and it raises awareness for those who may not be aware that its illegal its just the tone of the advert. Instead of saying "if you download a film, you might as well have stolen your neighbour's car" they could be positive and say "thankyou for legally purchasing this DVD and supporting the film industry".

Perhaps if movies legally went to download at the same time as the cinema then people would be more than willing to purchase them however the cinema will overcharge you for entry and for snacks. Id much rather pay £10 to download a film that i can watch in the comfort of my own home than being ripped off and surrounded by noisy popcorn eating fuckwits

 

[TallanKhan]

I find most government/trade body sponsored adverts (stop smoking campaigns, anti-piracy adverts, TV licencing etc) all tend to strike a very patronising, and white and often quite extreme tone - "you either behave as we tell you to or else you might as well be hitler" kind of thing. That always turns me right off.

The other adverts that grind my gears are charity appeals. Many of these adverts request a monthly sum of money and using terms like "as little as..." try to make it seem like a small ammount of money when for many people the sums of money in question are not inconsequential. Furthermore it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth that a charity can run an advert telling you that £5 can feed a family of refugees for a week, as part of a £12,000,000 advertising campaign. How many people could they have helped if they had just used that money for the purpose it was donated for?

 

[Nadia Castle]

I don't know if it's true of all US adverts, but here in the UK adverts that are designed for the American market stick out like a sore thumb because they seem a billion times more patronizing. I remember one for Subway that consisted of some prick with a New York accent standing in front of a table of Sandwiches saying 'Wouldn't you like a delicious, freshly cooked sandwich made right in front of you?' and I just wanted to reach through the screen and deck him.

Like I said I don't know if it's true of all ads over there but here the only adverts that do something like that are bottom of the barrel tat like drain cleaner or car sponges. I know there are at least some good American adverts because that Detroit car one with Eminem in was a great bit of marketing spin.

 

[Lieju]

Well, most people wouldn't steal a car or a DVD.

Y'know, when people say that they seem to be running on the idea that you're taking the car itself.

But if I had the ability to just walk up to a car, right click, copy, paste, and drive off, hell yeah I'd "steal" it. That guy gets to keep his car and I get a new one!

Yes, but the job of that advert is not to participate in an honest discussion about piracy, it's to equate the two things to make piracy less appealing and to scare the kids so they wouldn't do it.

 

[Spambot 3000]

It's not overly presumptuous but hooooooly shit if it isn't the most patronising piece of shit to ever defile my eyes:

Spoiler

For some reason this video only had 3 views when I looked it up ... strange.

I don't know who on the Apple marketing team thought that was a good idea because that was nothing but treating the viewer like a chimp. Even if someone doesn't know the specific details of making a device smaller yet more powerful, that doesn't mean they are totally unaware that's been happening ever since the first fucking computer was made. The sheer fucking NERVE of the ad to claim they actually did something so literally absurd as break the laws of physics by doing something millions have done before is bad enough, the fact that they think the viewer is stupid enough to believe it is the equivalent of them walking up to you and going, 'Hey, what's that behind your ear? Oh look, it's a coin! How did that get there huh? Breaking the laws of physics Magic, that's how! Buy our product!'
I don't hate Apple but that ad was so enraging, so fucking downright patronising that I'd like to tie down the team behind writing it and jingle car-keys in their face while mockingly asking them if they're entertained, just to see how they like being treated like a complete moron.

 

[Vegosiux]

Ah, this brings me back. Eons ago, I actually made a post here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.375739-Them-infomercials#14599213] on the topic. My opinion remains rather unchanged since then, and all. In the interest of not necromancing an ancient thread, here's how it went:

Hello, I'm Vegosiux! Welcome to the show "Bringing you a better life".

Is your life all monochrome? Do you find yourself having trouble with mundane tasks like making a sadnwich, brushing your teeth or cleaning your glasses? Do those troubles make you rage, breaking knives, toothbrushes and shattering glasses, followed up by losing your will to live?

Look no further! The new Taskatron? will change your life forever. Just listen to these few cherry-picked individuals gush on and on about how it changed theirs from monochrome to color, from constantly botching their sandwiches to sandwiches literally making themselves!

*Insert a few clips here. Make sure at least one involves a single mother with little kids.*

Still not convinced? Ah, maybe you should hear this fellow dressed up as a doctor (that may or may not actually be one) telling you that Taskatron? is exactly what you need! He will even perform a demonstrations of the product, showing you its power at something you're never going to use it for anyway!

Taskatron? can be yours for just three easy payments of $59.99...and one slightly more complicated payment of $37.437. Stop torturing yourself. Embrace a better life with the new Taskatron?!

But wait, there's more! If you call now, we will throw in and additional add-on for the Taskatron? which will also let you make your bed without destroying your mattress! So what are you waiting for? Call now. Give us your money, and change your life forever...with the new Taskatron?!

*cue rainbows and ponies*

 

[Qage]

I remember seeing this advert on TV a few years ago for some oven cleaning product called Oven Pride. If you don't read the article below, the advert basically features a lazy looking man sitting around in the kitchen making child-like facial expressions whilst his pregnant wife stands nearby, holding the oven cleaner and looking very cross. She shoves the oven cleaner upon him and the advert shows him looking rather easily amused at just how easy it is to clean the oven. At the end, the woman giving the voiceover on the advert says in a rather obnoxious tone, "Oven Pride; so easy, even a man could do it!" and then gives a cheerful little giggle.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/may/20/asa-oven-pride-cleared-of-sexism

I would embed the video from YouTube but I'm relatively new here and just have no idea how.

The advert had a seriously dubious definition of humour, and a lot of people defend the advert as, "Learn how to be a man, it's just light hearted humour!" Now, I can appreciate humour, but what I reeaallyy don't appreciate is double standards. If the advert had been along the lines of, "A spanner, so simple even a woman can use it" I very much doubt it would have lasted long, even if it managed to get clearance for TV.

 

[Vausch]

Well, most people wouldn't steal a car or a DVD.

Y'know, when people say that they seem to be running on the idea that you're taking the car itself.

But if I had the ability to just walk up to a car, right click, copy, paste, and drive off, hell yeah I'd "steal" it. That guy gets to keep his car and I get a new one!

Yes, but the job of that advert is not to participate in an honest discussion about piracy, it's to equate the two things to make piracy less appealing and to scare the kids so they wouldn't do it.

Well the advert failed. And as soon as 3D printers become home units that can do things like that, that is going to become a fairly common thing.

 

[shootthebandit]

I find most government/trade body sponsored adverts (stop smoking campaigns, anti-piracy adverts, TV licencing etc) all tend to strike a very patronising, and white and often quite extreme tone - "you either behave as we tell you to or else you might as well be hitler" kind of thing. That always turns me right off.

This one takes the prize for most patronising government advert


EDIT: speaking of stop smoking, Here's a good one which encourages people to replace cigarettes which LSD patches. Seriously he puts the patch on his arm and suddenly tiny people appear

It's not overly presumptuous but hooooooly shit if it isn't the most patronising piece of shit to ever defile my eyes:

who decided to put captain barbossa at the helm of apple's advertising.

and one slightly more complicated payment of $37.437

This genuinely made me laugh audibly...well done!!

oven shame

As much as I agree with you on the whole double standards thing, the advert is pretty accurate. Im a stereotypical man who is not very domesticated and I can safely say that oven pride is incredibly easy and the results are amazing

if you want to embed a video, type: [ youtube=(the numbers/letters after v=) ] (with no spaces)

 

[Strazdas]

Those ads are quite funny usually because the answer to most for me is "yes, yes i would". they are just getting quite ridiculous really. Thought admitedly only ads i see now are on the internets and on bus stops since everything else is kinda not in my visible scope.

Can we jut agree that this ad is extremely factually incorrect or do i have to expand on that?

 

[Vegosiux]

Can we jut agree that this ad is extremely factually incorrect or do i have to expand on that?

Best one on piracy if you ask me is this one:


Paradox folks do know what they're doing, really.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

The most patronising adverts are those with men being unable to clean a sink or hoover. I cant even remember an advert which shows a woman looking retarded because she cant do a simple task. Guess its only men that are fair game now.

 

[Therumancer]

True Statement: Many advertisements, especially ones which irritate the watcher, have the reverse offect that was intended.

If the above wasn't true, then people would just buy into everything all the time. Some people DO, but not everyone. The thing is that people in advertising and marketing don't know how to relate to people or convey a message that they like on a regular basis. If most advertisements were properly enticing, there would be alot more of them given their due, like in the early days of people who believe everything you see on television. Again, a good number still do, but there's a shit-ton of cynics out there. But instead of the carrot, ad-makers chose the stick, which just goes to show they didn't take a psychology class in all their lives. Basically shooting in the dark is what they do.

Now, to address some things you've said, I have a few thoughts at random:

Dirty dishcloths get that way from the act of cleaning and it's relatively unimportant as to the state of the cloth if you're using...you know...SOAP.

E-Cigs are actually marvelous things and people will ignore stupid adverts and get hooked on them harder than actual cigarettes somehow. It will even attract non-smokers.

You've pretty much also paraphrased Dara O'Briain in regards to the anti-piracy ad.

Well, the thing is advertising is about sociology more than psychology, sociology being a science people find insulting and love to hate (even if they don't realize they are doing it) but happens to be quite effective. The thing is that advertisements are aimed at a target demographic and tend to largely work on that target, and even then it's playing a numbers game. The thing is a lot of these ads work, and it can be measured, which is why people keep making them.

For the most part if you can sit here objectively and think "wow, that's really stupid and patronizing and has the opposite effect on me" chances are you weren't part of the target demographic to begin with. What's more your also likely fairly oblivious to how much advertising that WAS directed at you worked.

Being on "The Escapist" puts you in some weird demographics to begin with. Aiming at the general crowd of a site like this one you tend to see a lot of indirect advertising using shills, word of mouth, viral marketing techniques, or ad campaigns that subvert the tropes from the kinds of ads we're mocking while at the same time very much being ads themselves. Sure, there might be some individuals who are immune to marketing and always know when it's being directed at them, but that's incredibly rare.

In my case I understand it, but at the same time I'm at peace with it more or less. At the end of the day I can live with being suckered every once in a while like everyone else.

For the most part the thing to understand is that psychology is dealing with an individual, sociology is dealing with large groups of people. Overall the more people your dealing with the less individuality matters and the more alike they tend to become. In the case of advertisers they play the numbers as I mentioned, and deal in stereotypes, not in individuals. They make trillions upon trillions of dollars for themselves and clients every year doing it, which is
why it continues.

 

[FalloutJack]

Foible

The Escapist isn't a demographic. It's a microcosmic to-scale model of the general gaming population. A lateral cut across the board instead of a downward column. And before you say "Yeah, but the point is that we're all gamers", the truth is that lots of different kinds of people game. Gamers aren't exactly a true demographic either. I'm an eighties child who's seen gaming history from some of its older days to now. Other people are older, other people are younger. Some spent more time, some spent less. All kinds of people are here.