Advertising is an integral part of todays society. Australian advertising symbolises the way we act, the things we do and the attitudes and values we share. We can tell that advertising symbolises the way we act by the fact that we actually purchase a product to narrow the differences between the model and yourself. It is important that we realise who we want to be and who we want to become. Advertising is run on the basis that it is either to inform people about hazards or changes in law and to try to get them to purchase it. Types of advertising include political, government, retail, financial, classified, manufacturers, recruitment and trade. All of these ads have a target audience. Without the target audience there would be no use for the ad because there would be no customer to purchase the product.
There are many patterns in the type of advertisement we see in Australia. The patterns are changed due to age, sex, location and interests. For example a Garnier ad would be targeted at teenage women and women. Though women are the target audience for shampoos, men still use them however it is stereotypical for women to be told to use shampoos and conditioners keeping their hair in pristine condition.
The models and celebrities used in hair and make-up ads are beautiful and/or famous. An example of this is Sarah Michelle Gellar in Maybelene advertisements. Women see Sarah Michelle Gellars beauty and decide they would like to look like her. Evidentially they end up buying the product.
Although there are models that show off ads, there are also many ads that dont focus on a models or a celebrity. Government and Informative ads dont usually parade Nordic women or socially acceptable people. Instead they cut straight to the chase. Political ads usually show people being happy about voting for their party. This shows that parts of our society take active interests in the nations business.
It is very uncommon for minority groups to be used in advertising in Australia. Ads showing minority groups are only shown when the minority group is the target audience. An example of this is the aboriginal man dressed up as a woman advertising sheds for a company in the Kimberley. Because people laugh at it and aboriginal people can relate to it, they would be the ones taking notice of the ad. Another place you would see aboriginals are in land conservation and environmental ads. This is because the word aboriginal connotates a black man looking after the environment for most people. People trust native aboriginals with the environment and listen to them. An example of this is the new ad by Ernie Dingo. He talks about how land conservation and water management will help the environment for our future descendants. An ad like this is very good because it has checked off all of the theories to successful advertising, Attention, Interests, Desire and Action (AIDA).
Other various minority groups are occasionally shown in ads. They come into the ad either to make the ad comical or to attract attention from the minority group. Some of the minority groups include aboriginals, ugly people, fat people, sad people, injured people and poor people. Injured people are often shown as a deterrent like road safety ads. The other use for minority groups would be to promote something. The word nerd connotates a brainy person that sits near a computer all day. When a nerd is shown advertising a computer with a smile on his face the target audience thinks that the computers must be good because a nerd has chosen that particular brand of computer. This shows our attitude towards people and we are very
Text in print and non-print ads is highly important to the success in the ad. Short, quick and informative text in ads stay in peoples minds much longer and they find themselves reading the text without realising. As do symbols, slogans, jingles, imperative words and neologisms. Symbols make up a very important part in advertising a product. Large companies pay large sums of money to patent a symbol. The LG company slogan is very clever in its simplicity and design. The symbol is a head that is winking but it is comprised on the words L and G. When people see the symbol they know the reputation of LG and know the quality of the brand. This shows that our attitude toward quality is very appreciative. Slogans and jingles also play a large part in manipulating an audience into purchasing a product. An example of this is the Pringle ad once you pop you cant stop. The rhyming words in the ad make it hard from people to get it out of their minds. Because these slogans and jingles stay in peoples minds their own brains will tell them to buy the product. Neologisms and Imperatives add the final touch to text in an advertisement. Neologisms are enough to make peoples mouths water. With words such as crispy and minty it connotates the actual flavour of the particular food or feeling. Imperatives like try now, Limited time only, while it lasts, buy now etc, make people feel that they need to purchase the object while it is still there or they will become a less of a person in society.
The Australian dominant values and attitudes reflect around isolation, family, health and fitness and owning respectable possessions. The ads that most likely reflect all of Australian attitudes and values would have to be the Holden commodore ad a few years ago. The ad showed a family going on a holiday across the Nullarbor in a brand new commodore. This represents isolation. It is a big value to most Australians living in the outback. Australia is a country renowned all around the world for its harsh isolates outback. The people in the commodore then arrive at a respectable house and a family of good looking parents and a cute little girl and boy get out. This symbolises the home ownership and health and fitness aspect of our values. Finally the commodore represents the respectable possessions. This example of a stereotypical family is something all people will aim for when they reach that particular time in their lives.
All things in our unique Australian society can be shown though our advertisements. It is amazing how easily manipulated the human brain can be. All Australians have their uniquely broad ideas of who they want to become. Racist and sexist approaches are seldom shown in ads because it goes against the values of society and would be frowned upon by most people. Human beings are very selfish and always want to be the best individuals we can. To be happy people want the best of everything. Advertisements show the dreams of the majority of people and set standards for people to look the best. The thing people have to realise is to be happy with who they are because advertisements sell dreams and not reality.
