Joey Tung's Blog

What was the last thing you saw? Was it an advertisement? Chances are, it most likely was. Chances also are, you probably can’t recall what that particular advertisement was promoting.

Why is that so?

In the world we live in today, it’s hard not to come across advertising in one form or another. Be it on our mobile phones to signage on the street, advertisements surround us like the air we breathe.

Companies around the world spend hundreds of millions of dollars investing in marketing. This is so that they can have a constant stream of advertising that keeps their product and their company relevant. But in all honesty, are they harming themselves by shelling out so many of these advertisements?

But have we reached a saturation point where we’ve become so numb to the constant buzz of advertisement that it’s simply become white noise? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines white noise as “meaningless or distracting commotion, hubbub, or chatter”.

I certainly believe, to an extent, that the constant attack of advertisements we come in contact with every day has allowed us to become better at avoiding them. Now, when I sign up for any memberships or promotions, I make sure I un-tick the mailing list newsletter to avoid the email “ad-a-thon”. Also, with technology nowadays, there are so many applications that help block ads from showing up.

It seems like a never-ending cycle where the more innovative and harder to avoid the advertisements are, the harder we, consumers, try to avoid them and block them out, letting it fade into the background.