Television watching is a popular pastime for many people of this generation. It is said that more and more people are glued to the television with each passing day. Hours upon hours can be spent mesmerized in front of the set. But later, when one has had enough, he or she leaves the television and wonders what he or she has just done productively for the past few hours. Many times the result will be a few hours doing nothing that beneficial. The person may have enjoyed his or her favorite program but there is something else. Watching TV does not only mean watching one’s favorite program, it also means watching commercials. Commercials are things that people put together to get consumers to purchase a certain product. In our society today, commercials are full of various tricks and techniques that lure in potential buyers in any way possible, even though things are not as they seem in real life.
If one turns on the television at any given time, that person is bound to run into a popular form of advertisement, commercials. What is a commercial exactly? Well, it is a technique, which has proven to be successful, that companies spend time on to reel in potential consumers to buy the product at hand. Commercials are not just random ideas that people make up to try to sell a product. A lot of time and effort is definitely put into it. Advertisers look for eye-catching, new and innovative ideas that will in some way make people luster for an object.
Popular ways in which advertisers try to “buy” the customer is by using ideas such as sex appeal, popular music, and various story lines; essentially, these are all forms of mind tricks that stick to a person especially if it was really a unique commercial. But uniqueness is hardly what people see on commercials today. Usually it all has to do with the same concept. But still, this same concept of “coolness” still gets logged into a person’s mind because of the fact that he or she is exposed to it every time that person turns on the television.
There are many components that help sell a product. Typical elements include some sort of simple story line, beautiful people, popular music and of course the product, which is sometimes only in a commercial for a couple of seconds at a time. An example of a popular television commercial is, the Spicy BBQ Burger from Carl’s Jr. commercial. When a person first thinks of this he or she would probably be thinking to themselves, “Oh it is just another burger. What else is new?” This would be the thought if that person just walked into Carl’s Jr. and saw it on the menu. It may or may not be appealing. But on the television commercial, people’s reactions are somewhat different because of the way that the advertisers portrayed it as.
This Carl’s Jr. commercial created quite a stir when it first came out. This is not because of the burger itself; it is because of the person in it, Paris Hilton. Basically the commercial is all about this celebrity wearing nothing but a small bikini, dancing, washing a car while eating this burger. Obviously sex appeal was a major tactic in getting people to pay attention to the product. Because of this celebrity, people took a lot of notice into it due to its over exposed sex appeal. The message that this company is giving out it basically that if a person eats this burger, they too will have a good time and feel as confident as Paris Hilton. So when people do see this commercial, he or she might want that burger because if
Paris likes it then that person would like it too.
Some other commercials that use various tactics to get people to want a product can be seen in many car commercials. Here, advertisers use the idea of “coolness” and speed to get to people. Usually, the car is shown driving either through empty roads where the driver can drive fast and freely or through crowed streets where everyone stops to stare. By showing these types of things, the companies are basically saying that with this car, people will stop to notice and also that the car drives like a dream. While all this is going on, there is some popular music thrown in to get the tune stuck in peoples’ minds so that the next time that it is heard, that person will think of that car. When this happens, advertisers have essentially done their jobs on trying to get consumers to think about their products. Eventually people will think too much about it and then finally have an impulse to buy the product, like a car. This is essentially the goal of advertisers; to get something stuck in one’s mind, to make connections.
How do advertisers know what to put into their commercials? Basically they put in what is appealing to consumers. It just may be that popular song that is played on the radio or it could just be something that average people can relate to. Research is conducted to see what people of the times enjoy seeing and hearing on television. This is why consumers fall into those advertising tricks. It is essentially human nature that drives people’s desirers; advertisers are just there to help get a person to that point sooner. That is why the idea of sex is present in many commercials. It is like the saying goes, “sex sells”. Sadly this is the truth in society today.
Commercials for products should be made with the focus on the product and not on the other people in it or the music being played in the background. It should be straight to the point and only displaying what is the truth. This is because people could become disappointed with the fact that he or she is not getting what was portrayed in the television commercial. This can cause a person not to purchase the product ever again. Not purchasing the product is failure in a company. This is why commercials are so important. But advertisers should keep in mind the idea that people deserve the right to see a product as is and not be fooled into something that is not what he or she was lead to believe.
When looking at commercials as a whole, one can see the concept of going beyond what the product is about to make sure people would want to buy into it all. This is a popular way of getting children to nag their parents to buy them things. When I was younger I used to watch a lot of television. I do not remember exactly what I used to watch but for some reason I could just remember various commercials. One of my favorite commercials when I was younger was a Mentos commercial. All I can remember was a bunch of pretty people dressed in everyday attire who always had a smile on his or her face while carrying around a pack of Mentos candy. While this person is walking around with the product, catchy music is being played in the background. Even though this was a few years ago, I can still remember the words to the Mentos commercial song and every time I think about that song and commercial, I have the sudden urge to go to the store and buy this candy.
Basically this shows that the advertisers got into my mind permanetly; till this day I still think about that commecial and can remember asking my grandmother to take me to the store to buy this product. Obviously the advertising tricks are all present; therefore, making me want the product. The advertisers that put this together used pretty, happy people who dress in ordinary attire who are walking along with a catchy tune playing and a slogan repeating in the background. In doing this companies get people into the state of mind in which they want a person to be in. That state of mind is the continuous thought of wanting a product. This eventually gets the person to actually go out and purchase what is being advertised on television.
By watching commercials found on television, one can see that there are tricks that advertisers utilize to lure in potential consumers. Sex appeal, popular culture and overall coolness of a product are what drive sales in stores. Many times products are unfortunately not all that they are hyped up to be. Advertisers just make it that way so that companies could make money and become a successful business. Consumers must take it upon themselves to be aware of what exactly is being sold and not all the other things that appear to him or her on television. People must keep in mind that everything a commercial is is basically just trying to get it engraved into his or her mind so that that person would feel inclined to buy the product. So when watching television, one must not get caught up in all the tricks of the business because sometimes it can be misleading.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
I've read about that in my communications class, about how people were passive listeners and forget what they have watched on the news, becuase the events of the day flash on the screen quickly, from one image to the next, while stories are very brief and vague. As for people's favorite t.v. shows, they are really not not learning much, because they are focused on ENTERTAInment, and that relates to how they are about to appeal to people with their expressions in emotions, speech, etc.