Advertising: Ideas, Not Products

Advertising executive and author William Bernbach once said, "Advertising isn't a science. It's persuasion. And persuasion is an art" (Creative). Advertising is used to attract public attention to a product or business and hopefully increase sales. Today's ad campaigns will stop at almost nothing to do this. Their powers of persuasion are almost limitless and they vary according to the medium of the ad. Often, advertisements sell consumers on an image, lifestyle or feeling and …

…goal is always the same. These advertisements try to make viewers believe that if they buy this particular product then they will get something else that will bring you great happiness, drive this car they'll get the girl, or if she wears this perfume will attract the man and have the storybook life, but really have minimal correlation at best. Ultimately, consumers are buying into the idea of the product, not necessarily the product itself.