Television hardly needs introduction. Though it is different now than in its introduction, the basics were there at the beginning: the ability to put images to sound, and importantly, the ability to broadcast to people’s homes was a tremendous change in the mediascape of 20th century life. Advertising is a big part of this story, and here we’ll focus on both TV and advertising as a way to think about the impact of this medium.
But what precisely was the nature of that impact? It’s actually very hard to pin down and define, and theorists spent lots of time debating the effects of television. One of the most prominent voices in this debate was the scholar Marshal McCluhan, whom Marshall Poe mentions in his introduction. He wrote very prolifically, but here, we’ll focus on his ideas about TV and advertising in particular.
What’s his basic argument? How does he think advertising works on brains? Can you think of a counter-argument?
Advertising underpinned the dominance of the commercial broadcasting model over the public broadcasting model, at least in the United States, during the early years of television in the 1940s. (In Europe, the public broadcasting model prevailed until the 1980s; in Canada, until the 1960s.) Huge profits from advertisements allow television stations such as NBC, CBS, and ABC to develop the business of television independent from the state. Television, on the other hand, “seems almost tailor-made for” mass advertising. The cultural historian Jackson Lears writes:
“Its speed, its shallow but alluring slickness, and its combination of the visual and aural make it the perfect medium for serving up 30-second segments of idealized life.
Television also makes it possible for the advertiser to use the most powerful device of suggestion – repetition. Thanks to endless, hypnotic repetitions, even the most sophisticated consumers find themselves in the thrall of the jingle of the hour, whether they are reaching out… to touch someone, or receiving… the precious freedom of choice. Whether it convinces all of the people some of the time or just some of the people some of the time, TV advertising does sell goods” (p. 168).
Here is the first television ad:
For this 20-second spot, the Bulova Watch Company paid $9 dollars. Compare that to the price tag of a 30-second sport in this year’s Super Bowl: a staggering $5 million dollars!
Here is the full article of Jackson Lears, with a brief account of the North American advertising industry and the strategies for persuasion:
Jackson Lears”The Rise of American Advertising” The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 7 no. 5
Questions:
a.) What are the different stages of advertising, as told by Jackson Lears?
b.) Name three important shifts in the ways advertisers thought about what they needed to do to sell products.
c.) What is the role of magic? Why does Lears think it’s important to the history of advertising?
Of course, advertising has a global history. One way to think about that is by looking across the world at ads made by Coca Cola. Take a look at all of these and pick your favorite one to discuss in class:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f61KBKVLE-k (Ecuador)
https://adsoftheworld.com/media/dm/cocacola_native_names (Peru)
22 responses to “#6 Watch Out!”