To get you to purchase a product, some advertisers utilize a pseudo-instructional format. They show you how wonderful the product is, persuade you that the product is something you want or need. Some use subliminal influence, showing their product in the hands of people we admire, or in situations we'd like to experience. The subconscious mind then associates that product with desirable personal qualities or situations, so that we are more likely to purchase it. Other advertisers go for the blitzkrieg approach. To achieve their effect they force awareness of the product into your brain through constant repetition.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with advertising It serves a purpose. As long as it is not deceptive, offensive, or too loud, we shouldn't have any objection. But never forget: The advertiser is not there to inform you... not there to enlighten you... not there to make your life better. The goal of the advertiser is to get you to do something for the betterment of his situation, or that of the people who are paying him.
Now that we understand that, what is the most challenging part of the advertiser's job? Is it to describe the product? No. Is it to be entertaining? No. Is it to inform you? No. The most difficult part of the task, for the advertiser, is to grab your attention. The advertiser is competing for your attention - not only with every other advertiser (for every product), but also with all the ordinary matters of daily life that occupy your mind. It is tough to overcome not only that other glitzy ad you just saw, but also the fact that your kids are tugging on your sleeve, the dog is barking, and you have new responsibilities at work to think about. The advertiser has to be really creative to get past all that... and they usually are. There are more ways to grab your attention than you might think. Some advertisers manage to do this while maintaining their integrity, remaining honest, considerate, accurate, and inoffensive while still accomplishing the objective. Many more do not.
Personally, I am most irritated - even offended - by advertising that insults my intelligence. Automated insertion of personal information into ads isn't really fooling anyone. Even if your pop-up calls me by name ("Gryphem, singles in your town are waiting to meet you!"), I know it isn't true. Besides, all the singles around here know I am happily married. I do not believe that anyone really lost 800 pounds using your diet product. The president did not really tell people to go back to college. I don't think you have the secret to winning the lottery.
Most of all I am not fooled by mirroring. Mirroring is an automated function in which whatever words an internet user types into a search engine are automatically reflected back at him in the results. Mirroring is a moronic attempt at deception. The automated function has no idea what the words mean, and the guy who created the mirroring function doesn't care what you are looking for. He just wants to get you to his website in any way he can.
Those who use mirroring tactics come in two varieties. Some are simply ignorant or desperate business people. They believe, like the stereotypical bad used car salesman, that if they can just get you onto the lot (their website), then they can sell you a car (or something). Others who use mirroring are more nefarious. They use mirroring to trick you into visiting a site where there is a danger of identity theft or virus infection. Either way, their purposes are not honorable.
I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask the mirror-crooks. (1) Do you really think that every time I enter a word into a search engine that I am trying to buy something? Apparently you do, since you always offer to sell me whatever word I just put into the search engine. (2) Do you know how foolish that makes you look? I guess you don't care... It only takes one person in a thousand being foolish enough to fall for your little deceit to achieve your objective.
We'll wrap up this talk with a real-world example. A few months ago I was attempting to locate the source of a quotation for an essay I was writing. The quote I was attempting to find, which turned out to be an adaptation of something Nietzsche said, was, "You become what you hate." Take a look at what the search returned. The highlighting is mine.
Imagine my dismay when I discovered that I could have done that for free! If only I had know before I PAID to become what I hate!
Gryphem
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