28-10-2013, 01:48 PM
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The television industry blossomed in the 1950s when affordable TV sets made their way into people's homes. Along with some short commercials, often entire programs were funded by a single sponsor. For example, NBC's The Firestone Hour and Colgate Comedy Hour variety shows were fully funded by a single sponsor. The wildly popular I Love Lucy was sponsored by Phillip Morris. As television grew in popularity and power, the force of TV ads became more respected. Airtime became expensive and ads were reduced to shorter and shorter lengths. By the mid-1950s, TV ads were brief and punchy with catchy phrases and songs. In 1955, NBC sold advertising on the show Queen For A Day at a rate of $4,000 per minute. Millions of television sets were sold each year and TV programming and advertising worked together to sell their products.
In 1965, the TV turned colorful and in the 1970s everyone was singing "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke." In the 1980s with the addition of widespread cable TV and ESPN, CNN and MTV, commercial television boomed. Throughout these three decades, television commercials became less real and more fantasy. When football player Mean Joe Green tosses his dirty t-shirt at an admiring little boy, Coca-Cola created another advertising coup. Coke does it again in 1984 when pop-star Michael Jackson's hair accidentally catches on fire during the filming of a commercial. Apple Computer strikes it big with it's famous "1984" commercial for it's Macintosh computer -- which ushers in the Super Bowl commercial phenomena. Commercials with dancing raisins, cartoon characters and talking candy bars are seen constantly.
All these commercials, with football players, pop stars, songs, cartoons, fast cars, beautiful women and snappy phrases ("I Gotta Make The Donuts" and "Where's The Beef") have nothing to do with the products. People singing a song on a hilltop says nothing about where Coca-Cola is manufactured or the nutritional value of the ingredients. The dancing frog who helps the cheerful little girl eat her Sugar Smacks cereal may actually say that it's "part of a balanced breakfast" -- and notice it says "part of" and does not specify which "part" (most likely, the sugary part). TV advertising is not about the truth -- it's not about the facts. Television advertising is appealing to something else. TV sells a lifestyle -- it sells choices -- even where there are no choices.
"The job of the television commercial is to promote 'special' qualities a product doesn't have, and to cloak its defects in a smokescreen," states Donna Woolfolk Cross in the book MediaSpeak: How Television Makes Up Your Mind. "If there is absolutely no need for a particular product, the adman must invent one. He must convince you that your health and happiness will be in jeopardy if you don't buy his product"
Cross says that some products pushed on television are advertised through completely false premises. "Bad breath was smiting the land, the righteous along with the sinners," she says. "A great panic might have ensued but for the miraculously timed appearance, at that very moment, of a cure: mouthwash." Though an American Dental Association study found no correlation between the use of mouthwash and the reoccurrence of bad breath, the product's advertising had achieved its goal. "People had been taught to believe in mouthwash."
The product Wonder Bread is a perfect example. Wonder Bread is marketed to children as "part of complete childhood." The company says "it's nutritious," yet never answers the question: "How Nutritious?" Wonder Bread is basically refined white flour, which has been stripped of most of its nutrients. Refined white flour is not harmful, but the process to create the bread mills away the vitamin-and-mineral-rich germ and bran. Wonder Bread became one of the most popular brands of bread in the United States through television advertising -- not the truth.
Professor Wonder says: "Neurons in your brain need calcium to transmit signals. Without it they can be, well, a little slow." This TV commercial, aired in 2000, goes on to say that the calcium found in the bread can "improve children's brain function and memory." The U.S. Federal Trade Commission brought charges against Wonder Bread's producer, Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) because of the false claims and the ads were pulled from TV. IBC also produces the brands Home Pride, Beefsteak, Good Hearth, Columbo, Millbrook, Sun Maid, Sunbeam, Hostess, Dolly Madison, Drakes and may others. The company boasts being the largest national wholesale baker and distributor of bread and snack cakes in the United States.
The television industry blossomed in the 1950s when affordable TV sets made their way into people's homes. Along with some short commercials, often entire programs were funded by a single sponsor. For example, NBC's The Firestone Hour and Colgate Comedy Hour variety shows were fully funded by a single sponsor. The wildly popular I Love Lucy was sponsored by Phillip Morris. As television grew in popularity and power, the force of TV ads became more respected. Airtime became expensive and ads were reduced to shorter and shorter lengths. By the mid-1950s, TV ads were brief and punchy with catchy phrases and songs. In 1955, NBC sold advertising on the show Queen For A Day at a rate of $4,000 per minute. Millions of television sets were sold each year and TV programming and advertising worked together to sell their products.
In 1965, the TV turned colorful and in the 1970s everyone was singing "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke." In the 1980s with the addition of widespread cable TV and ESPN, CNN and MTV, commercial television boomed. Throughout these three decades, television commercials became less real and more fantasy. When football player Mean Joe Green tosses his dirty t-shirt at an admiring little boy, Coca-Cola created another advertising coup. Coke does it again in 1984 when pop-star Michael Jackson's hair accidentally catches on fire during the filming of a commercial. Apple Computer strikes it big with it's famous "1984" commercial for it's Macintosh computer -- which ushers in the Super Bowl commercial phenomena. Commercials with dancing raisins, cartoon characters and talking candy bars are seen constantly.
All these commercials, with football players, pop stars, songs, cartoons, fast cars, beautiful women and snappy phrases ("I Gotta Make The Donuts" and "Where's The Beef") have nothing to do with the products. People singing a song on a hilltop says nothing about where Coca-Cola is manufactured or the nutritional value of the ingredients. The dancing frog who helps the cheerful little girl eat her Sugar Smacks cereal may actually say that it's "part of a balanced breakfast" -- and notice it says "part of" and does not specify which "part" (most likely, the sugary part). TV advertising is not about the truth -- it's not about the facts. Television advertising is appealing to something else. TV sells a lifestyle -- it sells choices -- even where there are no choices.
"The job of the television commercial is to promote 'special' qualities a product doesn't have, and to cloak its defects in a smokescreen," states Donna Woolfolk Cross in the book MediaSpeak: How Television Makes Up Your Mind. "If there is absolutely no need for a particular product, the adman must invent one. He must convince you that your health and happiness will be in jeopardy if you don't buy his product"
Cross says that some products pushed on television are advertised through completely false premises. "Bad breath was smiting the land, the righteous along with the sinners," she says. "A great panic might have ensued but for the miraculously timed appearance, at that very moment, of a cure: mouthwash." Though an American Dental Association study found no correlation between the use of mouthwash and the reoccurrence of bad breath, the product's advertising had achieved its goal. "People had been taught to believe in mouthwash."
The product Wonder Bread is a perfect example. Wonder Bread is marketed to children as "part of complete childhood." The company says "it's nutritious," yet never answers the question: "How Nutritious?" Wonder Bread is basically refined white flour, which has been stripped of most of its nutrients. Refined white flour is not harmful, but the process to create the bread mills away the vitamin-and-mineral-rich germ and bran. Wonder Bread became one of the most popular brands of bread in the United States through television advertising -- not the truth.
Professor Wonder says: "Neurons in your brain need calcium to transmit signals. Without it they can be, well, a little slow." This TV commercial, aired in 2000, goes on to say that the calcium found in the bread can "improve children's brain function and memory." The U.S. Federal Trade Commission brought charges against Wonder Bread's producer, Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) because of the false claims and the ads were pulled from TV. IBC also produces the brands Home Pride, Beefsteak, Good Hearth, Columbo, Millbrook, Sun Maid, Sunbeam, Hostess, Dolly Madison, Drakes and may others. The company boasts being the largest national wholesale baker and distributor of bread and snack cakes in the United States.