Chapter 11 Media & Culture

Media & Culture 6e Update, Chapter 11 Quiz 1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 Early Developments in American Advertising Please read carefully the summary of the section of Chapter 11 titled ?Early Developments in American Advertising? and answer the multiple-choice questions that follow. When you are finished, click ?submit? to view your score.                      Advertising has existed since 3000 B.C., when ancient Babylonian shop owners hung outdoor signs carved in stone and wood so customers could spot their stores. By A.D. 900, many European cities featured town criers who called out the news of the day and directed customers to various stores. Early ads were in the form of handbills, posters, and broadsides (long newsprint-quality posters). As early as the 1470s, English booksellers were printing brochures and bills announcing new books, and in 1622 print ads began appearing in the first English newspapers. The first newspaper advertisements in colonial America appeared in the Boston News-Letter in 1704. Most early magazines refused to carry advertisements, but by the mid-1800s they changed their policies, and most magazines began to contain ads. Eighty percent of early advertisements dealt with three topics: land sales, transportation announcements, and runaway slaves. The First Advertising Agencies Until the Industrial Revolution, little need existed for elaborate advertising. Few goods and products were available for sale, and demand for products was low because 90 percent of Americans lived in rural areas and produced most of their own tools, clothes, and food. National advertising, which initially focused on patent medicines, didn?t really begin until the 1850s. The first advertising agencies were newspaper space brokers, individuals who purchased space in newspapers and sold it to various merchants. These brokers, who paid up front for ad space, were welcomed by newspapers, which were accustomed to a 25 percent nonpayment rate from merchants. The first ad agency was opened in Boston in 1841 by Volney Palmer?he sold newspaper space to advertisers for a 25 percent commission. Advertising in the 1800s N. W. Ayer, the first so-called modern ad agency, opened in Philadelphia in 1875. The agency worked primarily for advertisers and product companies instead of newspapers, and it helped create, write, produce, and place ads in selected newspapers and magazines. The payment structure of nineteenth-century ad agencies is still in use today?the typical agency collects a fee from its advertising client, keeps 15 percent of this fee, and passes on the rest to the appropriate media.                      While some historians claim that the Industrial Revolution generated so many products that national advertising became necessary to sell these goods, others believe that advertising developed on a national scale in order to control the prices manufacturers charged for goods. Manufacturers came to realize that if their products became associated with quality, customers would ask for them by name, and manufacturers could then dictate prices without worrying about being undersold by generic products or bulk items. Nineteenth-century ads for patent medicines and cereal created the impression of difference among products when very few differences actually existed, and because ads created brand-name recognition, stores had to stock the desired brand. Some of the earliest brand names include Smith Brothers (cough drops since the early 1850s), Quaker Oats (1877), Ivory Soap (1879), and Eastman Kodak film (1888). Many of these companies packaged their products in small quantities, distinguishing them from generic bulk products sold in bins. This packaging also enabled manufacturers to add preservatives and to claim more freshness than could be found in loose food barrels. Product differentiation associated with brand-name packaged goods represents the single biggest triumph of advertising. Today, the high price of many products (such as designer jeans) results from advertising costs.                     Patent medicines and department stores dominated advertising by the end of the 1800s. During this period, one-sixth of all print ads came from patent-medicine and drug companies. Patent medicines were often made with water and concentrations of ethyl alcohol. One even included morphine. The alcohol and drugs in these medicines explained why people felt ?better? after taking them, but they also triggered addiction problems for many customers. Some contemporary products originated as medicines, such as Coca-Cola, which was initially sold as a medicinal tonic and contained traces of cocaine before the drug was replaced by caffeine in 1903. Patent medicines made outrageous claims, leading to increased public cynicism, and as a result advertisers began to develop industry codes to restore customer confidence. In part to monitor patent-medicine claims, the Food and Drug Act was passed in 1906. In addition to patent medicines, department-store ads were becoming prominent; by the early 1890s, more than 20 percent of ad space was devoted to these stores and their product lines. Department stores, which purchased items in large quantities, could sell the same products as smaller stores for less money. Also, increased volume and less money spent on individualized service allowed large department stores to put more of their profits into advertising. The companies that produced the first inexpensive packaged consumer goods during the Industrial Revolution were also some of the first to advertise, and they remain major advertisers today. These companies include Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Heinz, Borden, Pillsbury, Eastman Kodak, Carnation, and American Tobacco. Some firms, such as Hershey?s Chocolate, did not advertise initially yet rose to national prominence through word-of-mouth reputation. Because such companies clamored for advertising space in newspapers, the ratio of copy to advertisements was drastically changed. By the early 1900s, more than half of the space in daily papers was devoted to advertising?a trend that continues today, with about 60 percent of the space in large dailies consumed by ads. Promoting Social Change and Dictating Values American advertising contributed to major social changes in the twentieth century. First, it significantly influenced the transition from a producer-directed to a consumer-driven culture. Second, advertising promoted technological advances by showing how new machines like vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and cars could improve daily life. Third, advertising encouraged economic growth by increasing sales. By the early 1900s, advertisers believed that women controlled most household purchasing decisions. This is still the fundamental principle of advertising today. However, more than 99 percent of the copywriters and ad executives at the time were men, primarily from Chicago and New York. They emphasized stereotypes they believed would appeal to women, and early ad copy featured tales of ?heroic? cleaning products and household appliances. Though ad revenues fell during the 1930s, the advertising business received a boost during World War II when, for the first time, the federal government bought large quantities of advertising space to promote America?s involvement in the war. Also during the 1940s, the advertising industry established the War Advertising Council to promote a more positive image of itself. The council was a voluntary group of agencies and advertisers that organized war-bond sales, blood-donor drives, and the rationing of scarce goods. The Ad Council, as it became known when it continued its efforts after the war, has been praised over the years for the Smokey the Bear campaign, fund-raising for the United Negro College Fund, and the ?crash dummy? spots for the Department of Transportation. Television dramatically altered advertising, and with the new medium, ads increasingly intruded on daily life. As the industry appeared to be dictating American values as well as driving the economy, criticism of advertising grew. Critics discovered that some agencies used subliminal advertising?hidden or disguised print and visual messages that allegedly register on the subconscious and fool people into buying products?though research suggests that such ads are no more effective than regular ads. Early Ad Regulation In the early 1900s, revelations of fraudulent advertising practices and the emerging clout of ad agencies led to the formation of several watchdog organizations. The Better Business Bureau was created in 1913; by the early 2000s, it had more than one hundred offices in the United States, Canada, and Israel. The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) was created in 1914 and tracked newspaper readership, guaranteeing that papers would not overcharge agencies and their clients. In 1917, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) was established. It tried to minimize government oversight by imploring ad agencies to refrain from making misleading product claims. 1 of 5 1. Until the Industrial Revolution, there was little need for advertising because _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. few goods and products were available for sale HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. newspapers refused to sell ad space HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. the printing technology was not available to produce ads HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. all of the above 2 of 5 2. Eighty percent of early advertisements dealt with _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. department stores, transportation announcements, and patent medicines HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. transportation announcements, land sales, and runaway slaves HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. runaway slaves, department stores, and land sales HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. none of the above 3 of 5 3. Which of the following is not an example of an early brand name? HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. Ivory Soap HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. Eastman Kodak HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. Nike HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. Quaker Oats 4 of 5 4. How did American advertising contribute to major social changes in the twentieth century? HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. It influenced the transition from a producer-directed to a consumer-driven culture. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. It promoted technological advances. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. It encouraged economic growth by increasing sales. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. All of the above 5 of 5 5. In the 1940s, the War Advertising Council was created to _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. promote a more positive image for the advertising industry HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. handle advertising space purchased by the federal government HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. abolish subliminal advertising HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. promote the troops serving in war Media & Culture 6e Update, Chapter 11 Quiz 2 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 The Shape of U.S. Advertising Today Please read carefully the summary of the section of Chapter 11 titled ?The Shape of U.S. Advertising Today? and answer the multiple-choice questions that follow. When you are finished, click ?submit? to view your score.                      Up until the 1960s, most ad campaigns focused on a slogan, a phrase attempting to sell a product by capturing its essence in words. One example of a slogan is ?Does she or doesn?t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure? (which Clairol introduced in 1956). However, through the influence of movies, television, and European design, images and visual style began to dominate American print advertising beginning in the 1960s. The Influence of Visual Design During the 1960s and 1970s, the postmodern design phase developing in art and architecture also began to influence advertising. Part of this visual revolution was imported from European schools of design, and some ad-rich magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair hired European designers who were less tied to word-driven advertising as art directors. By the early 1970s, images and words were granted equal status in the creative process. In the mid-1980s, the visual aesthetic promoted by MTV?s rapid edits, creative camera angles, compressed narratives, and staged performances began to heavily influence advertising. The popularity of the music channel also started a trend in licensing hit songs for commercial tie-ins?a trend that is very much in evidence today. By the 2000s, a wide range of short, polished musical performances and familiar songs?including the work of Fergie (Verizon), Iggy Pop (Cadillac), the Brazilian Girls (Axe), John Mellencamp (Chevrolet), and Classic Afrika Bambaataa (Visa)?were routinely used in television ads. The Mega-Agency Large, full-service advertising agencies emerged during the twentieth century. Most recently, the trend has been toward mega-agencies,large ad firms formed by merging several individual agencies that maintain worldwide regional offices. Many of these agencies operate in-house radio and television production studios in addition to providing advertising and public relations services. One of the largest mega-agencies and the leading communication service group in the world is the London-based WPP Group. In 1987, WPP purchased both J. Walter Thompson, the largest U.S. ad firm at the time, and Hill & Knowlton, a large public relations agency. It added Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide in 1989, Young & Rubicam in 2000, and Grey Global in 2004?all major U.S. ad firms. The mega-agency trend has stirred debate among consumer and media watchdog groups. One concern is that large agencies are a threat to smaller, independent firms; another is that a few firms now control the distribution of ad dollars globally and that the cultural values represented by American and European ads may undermine the values and products of developing countries. The Boutique Agency The visual revolution of the 1960s elevated the status of those designers and graphic artists who became closely identified with particular ads. Many of these creative people formed small boutique agenciesand began to work with a handful of select clients. The boutiques prospered as they offered more personal services and innovative ad campaigns. One example of a successful boutique agency is Peterson Milla Hooks, which made its name with a boldly graphic national branding ad campaign for Target stores. The series of ads integrates the red and white Target bull?s-eye, recognizable by 96 percent of U.S. consumers. The Structure of Ad Agencies Ad agencies, regardless of size, are generally divided into four departments: market research, creative development, media selection, and account services. A separate administrative unit pays employee salaries, pays each media outlet that runs ads, and collects the agency?s fees.                     The market research department assesses the behaviors and attitudes of consumers toward particular products before any ads are created. It studies everything from possible names for a new product to the size of the copy for a print ad. Researchers test new ideas and products on groups of consumers to get feedback, and some researchers contract with outside polling firms. The earliest type of market research, demographics, documented audience members? age, gender, occupation, ethnicity, education, and income. Today, demographics are much more specific, making it possible for advertisers to locate consumers by zip code. In the 1960s and 1970s, as television greatly increased ad revenue, advertisers expanded research to include psychographics. This approach attempts to categorize consumers according to attitudes, beliefs, interests, and motivations, often using focus groups, or small-group interviews in which a moderator leads a discussion about a product or an issue. In 1978, the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) instituted its Values and Lifestyles, or VALS strategy, which divided consumers into clusters based on how they think and feel about products. Over the years, the VALS psychological consumer segmentation system has been updated to reflect changes in consumer orientations. The most recent system classifies consumers by the ways they achieve their desired lifestyles. Agencies and clients have relied heavily on VALS to determine the best placement for television and magazine ads, and even though VALS researchers do not claim that most people fit neatly into one category, many agencies believe that VALS research can give them an edge.                     The creative development department of an advertising agency is made up of teams of writers and artists. For print and online ads, the creative department develops words and graphics, and outlines rough sketches for newspaper, magazine, direct-mail, and Web ads. For radio, this department prepares the working script and generates ideas for everything from narration to sound effects. For television, the creative department develops a storyboard, or a blueprint for the potential ad. The cost of advertising grows higher all the time. The Super Bowl broadcast remains the most expensive program for which to purchase television advertising, with thirty seconds of time costing up to $2.6 million in 2007. Despite the high cost, both creative and research departments know that ads work best by slowly creating brand-name identities, associating certain products over time with quality and reliability in the minds of consumers.                     The media selection department in an ad agency is staffed by media buyers?people who choose and purchase the types of media that are best suited to carry a client?s ad. For example, media buyers who are trying to place ads for household products might buy television spots during television shows viewed primarily by women, whereas they might encourage a company advertising beer to spend its money on cable and network sports programming, sports magazines, or evening talk radio. Advertisers often add incentive clauses to contracts with agencies, raising the fee if sales goals are met and lowering it if goals are missed. These types of clauses often encourage agencies to conduct saturation advertising, where a variety of media are inundated with ads aimed at target audiences. The Miller Lite beer campaign (?Tastes great, less filling?) was one of the most successful saturation campaigns in history, running from 1973 to 1991 on television and radio, in magazine and newspaper ads, and on billboards and point-of-purchase store displays.                     The account services department of an agency is composed of account executives, or individuals responsible for bringing in new business and managing the accounts of established clients. Account executives also work as liaisons between the advertiser and the creative team, and they coordinate activities between their agency and a client?s in-house personnel. This department oversees new ad campaigns in which several agencies bid for business. Clients often evaluate an existing ad agency?s campaign in an account review. They also occasionally invite new agencies to submit new campaign strategies, which may result in the product company switching agencies. 1 of 5 1. In the 1960s and 1970s, ad-rich magazines such as ______ and ______ hired European designers as art directors. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. Vogue / Vanity Fair HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. Adweek / Vogue HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. Sports Illustrated / Cosmopolitan HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. the New Yorker / Vanity Fair 2 of 5 2. Large ad firms formed by merging several individual agencies are also known as _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. boutique agencies HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. creative development departments HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. mega-agencies HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. none of the above 3 of 5 3. Which of the following is not a typical department in an ad agency? HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. Market research HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. Media selection HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. Account services HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. Editorial content 4 of 5 4. The VALS strategy was developed by _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. the WPP HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. the Stanford Research Institute HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. focus groups HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. Weiden & Kennedy 5 of 5 5. The Miller Lite beer campaign ("Tastes great, less filling") is a good example of _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. account review HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. psychographics HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. incentive clauses HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. saturation advertising Media & Culture 6e Update, Chapter 11 Quiz 3 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 Persuasive Techniques in Contemporary Advertising Please read carefully the summary of the section of Chapter 11 titled ?Persuasive Techniques in Contemporary Advertising? and answer the multiple-choice questions that follow. When you are finished, click ?submit? to view your score.                     While ad agencies and product companies maintain that the main purpose of advertising is to inform consumers about available products, most consumer ads merely tell stories about products without revealing much information about how a product was made, how it compares with similar brands, or what the price is. Conventional Persuasive Strategies There are several persuasive techniques that advertising agencies use to sway consumer opinion. One is the famous-person testimonial, where a product is endorsed by a well-known person. One example of this is athlete Payton Manning touting Sprint mobile phone service. Another technique, the plain-folks pitch, associates a product with simplicity, as in the case of General Electric?s ?We bring good things to life? campaign. The opposite of plain-folks, the snob-appeal approach attempts to persuade consumers that using a product will maintain or elevate their social station. The bandwagon effect points out in exaggerated claims that everyone is using a particular product and that consumers will be left behind if they ignore these products. The hidden-fear appeal plays on consumers? insecurities. Deodorant, mouthwash, and shampoo ads point out that only a specific product could relieve embarrassing personal hygiene problems. Irritation advertising is used more often in local television and radio campaigns. This technique creates product-name recognition with ads that are annoying or obnoxious, such as local car dealers who yell at the camera or dress in outrageous costumes. The Association Principle The association principle is a persuasive technique used in many consumer ads. It associates a product with some cultural value or image that has a positive connotation but may have little connection to the actual product. For example, many ads displayed visual symbols of American patriotism in the wake of the September 11th tragedies of 2001 in an attempt to associate products and companies with national pride. Over the years, the most controversial use of the association principle has been the linkage of products to stereotyped caricatures of women. Women have been portrayed as sex objects or as clueless housewives. In our technology-dependent world, modern societies have come to value products that claim affiliation with real and natural, though these terms are almost always used in advertising to describe processed goods. For example, Coke sells itself as ?the real thing.?  Marlboro often links its cigarettes to nature, using the image of the rugged cowboy, the Marlboro Man, to convince consumers to associate smoking with images of roping calves, building fences, or riding through pristine landscapes. In response to corporate mergers and public skepticism toward large impersonal companies, the disassociation corollary has emerged as a recent trend in advertising. As an advertising strategy, disassociation links new brands in a product line to eccentric or simple regional places rather than to the image conjured up by giant conglomerates. This concept was pioneered by the wine company Gallo, which established a dummy corporation, Bartles & Jaymes, to sell jug wine and wine coolers. Using two low-key, grandfatherly spokesmen to represent ?co-owners? and ad spokesmen for the new company, Gallo was able to avoid the corporate image in ads and on its bottles. General Motors has successfully used the disassociation corollary to launch Saturn cars. Advertising as Myth Another way to understand ads is to use myth analysis, which provides insights into how ads work at a general cultural level. According to myth analysis, most ads are narratives with stories to tell and social conflicts to resolve. These ?myths? help us define people, organizations, and social norms. They are the stories a society constructs to bring order to the conflicts and contradictions of everyday life. Three common mythical elements are found in many types of ads: (1) Ads are a ministory, featuring characters, settings, and plots; (2) most stories involve conflict, pitting characters against one another; and (3) conflicts are resolved by using or purchasing the product and the heroes of the story are those who use the product. Most advertisers do not expect consumers to accept without question the stories or associations in their ads. However, the fictional world of advertisements encourages us to suspend our disbelief, and we often get caught up in their stories and myths. Ads are most effective when they offer comfort about our deepest desires and conflicts or reinforce our values. 1 of 5 1. Which persuasive technique involves a product being endorsed by a well-known person? HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. Plain-folks pitch HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. Famous-person testimonial HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. Snob-appeal HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. Hidden-fear appeal 2 of 5 2. Which persuasive technique is often used in deodorant, soap, and mouthwash ads? HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. Hidden-fear appeal HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. Bandwagon effect HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. Plain-folks pitch HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. Famous-person testimonial 3 of 5 3. According to myth analysis, ads are most effective when they _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. show comparative pricing HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. use top-of-the-line graphics HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. show real people in an everyday situation HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. reinforce our values 4. Large companies use _____ to link new product lines to simple regional places or reassuring, close-to-home values rather than to the image of a giant conglomerate. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. myth analysis HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. the association principle HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. snob-appeal HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. the disassociation corollary 5 of 5 5. Modern societies have come to value products that claim to be _____ and _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. technologically advanced / modern HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. real / natural HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. mythical / imaginary HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. none of the above Media & Culture 6e Update, Chapter 11 Quiz 4 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Hidden.1 Commercial Speech and Regulating Advertising/Advertising, Politics, and Democracy Please read carefully the summary of the sections of Chapter 11 titled ?Commercial Speech and Regulating Advertising? and ?Advertising, Politics, and Democracy? and answer the multiple-choice questions that follow. When you are finished, click ?submit? to view your score.                      Whereas freedom of speech refers to the right to express thoughts, beliefs, and opinions, commercial speech?any print or broadcast expression for which a fee is charged?refers to the right to circulate goods, services, and images in the marketplace of products. The many new forms of commercial speech that have appeared of late include cable television home-shopping networks, late-night television long-form commercials, and infomercials. Although the mass media have embraced these new forms of commercial speech, they have also refused certain controversial, issue-based advertising that might upset traditional advertisers. One example of this is the Media Foundation, which has had difficulty getting airtime for its ?uncommercials,? such as a spot promoting the Friday after Thanksgiving as ?Buy Nothing Day.? Critical Issues in Advertising While consumers have historically been regarded as dupes, research reveals that the consumer mind is not as easy to predict as some advertisers once thought. For example, in the 1960s the Scott Paper Company thought its disposable clothing line would challenge traditional apparel, but despite heavy advertising, this never happened. Similar stories from other companies abound. Between 75 and 90 percent of new consumer products fail because they are not embraced by the buying public. Despite public resistance to many new products, advertising has made contributions to our society, including raising the standard of living and supporting most media industries. However, serious concerns over the impact of advertising remain.                      Because children and teenagers influence up to $500 billion a year in family spending, they are increasingly targeted by advertisers. For years, groups like the Action for Children?s Television (ACT) worked to limit advertising aimed at children, in particular thirty-minute cartoon programs such as G.I. Joe, My Little Pony and Friends, and Pokémon, developed for television syndication to promote a line of toys. Also, parent groups have worried about the promotion of products like sugar-coated cereals during children?s programs. Congress, faced with the protection that the First Amendment offers commercial speech, has responded weakly.                     One of the most controversial developments in advertising in recent years was the introduction of Channel One into thousands of schools during the 1989?1990 school year. Channel One offered ?free? video and satellite equipment in exchange for a ten-minute package of current events programming that included two minutes of commercials. In 1994, PRIMEDIA acquired Channel One, and in 2007 sold it to Alloy Media + Marketing, a New York-based marketing company that targets young audiences. By 2007, Channel One reached a captive audience of approximately 30 percent of U.S. teenagers in 12,000 junior high and high schools each day. While over the years organizations like the National Dairy Council have also used schools to promote products by offering free filmstrips, posters, magazines, and folders, Channel One is viewed as more intrusive because it crosses the line between an entertainment situation (commercial television) and a learning situation (school). Some school districts have banned Channel One, as has the state of New York.                      Historically, many companies have capitalized on consumers? unhappiness and insecurity by promising relief or by promising the kind of body that is currently in fashion, and advertising has a powerful impact on the standards of beauty in our culture. The long-standing trend in advertising is the association of some products with ultrathin female models. In addition to receiving criticism for promoting skeleton-like beauty, the advertising industry has been blamed for the tripling of obesity rates in the United States since the 1980s, with a record 64 percent of Americans overweight or obese. The food and restaurant industry, however, has denied any connection between its advertising and the rise of U.S. obesity rates; they have blamed individuals who make bad choices.                      Advertisers have also been taken to task for promoting alcohol and tobacco consumption. Despite the fact that each year an estimated 438,000 Americans die from diseases related to nicotine addiction and an additional 105,000 die from alcohol-related diseases, staggering amounts of money are spent each year on advertising to promote tobacco and alcohol. Many ad campaigns over the years have appealed to teenagers, such as the Joe Camel cartoons to promote Camel cigarettes. Cigarette companies have also targeted groups such as young women (Virginia Slims cigarettes) and African Americans (Uptown cigarettes). In 1998, after it was revealed that some tobacco companies knew that nicotine was addictive as early as the 1950s and withheld that information from the public, the tobacco industry agreed to an unprecedented settlement. The settlement included a ban on cartoon characters in advertising and ended outdoor billboard and transit advertising. It also banned tobacco-company sponsorship of concerts and athletic events, and limited other types of tobacco-company sponsorship.                      Many of the complaints regarding tobacco advertising are also being directed at alcohol ads. One example is the criticism of the cartoonish Budweiser frogs, which appear to appeal to younger viewers. Alcohol ads have also targeted minorities and college students. In 2006, Hennessey targeted African American and Hispanic male populations in ad campaigns featuring Marvin Gaye and John Leguizamo. Both Coors and Miller still employ student representatives to notify brewers of special events that might be sponsored by the beer labels.                     Another area of concern in health and advertising is the recent surge in prescription drug advertising. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, spending on direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs increased ninefold, from $266 million in 1994 to $4.7 billion in 2005, largely due to growth in television advertising, which accounts for about two-thirds of such ads. With the tremendous growth of prescription drug ads there is the potential for false and misleading claims. In addition, a House Government Reform Committee report in 2004 found that responses by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to false and misleading advertisements were not timely, and that pharmaceutical companies who were repeat violators did not face tougher enforcement actions. Watching over Advertising Since 1998, Gary Ruskin and his small staff at Commercial Alert have been working to ?keep commercial culture within its proper sphere.? Founded in part with longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader, Commercial Alert is a Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit organization, and a lonely voice in checking the commercialization of U.S. culture. One of the watchdog group?s main goals is to prevent commercial culture from exploiting children. Commercial Alert?along with other nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organizations like the Better Business Bureau and the National Consumers League?in many ways compensates for some of the shortcomings of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other government agencies in monitoring false and deceptive ads, and the excesses of commercialism.                      For years it was considered taboo for an advertiser to mention a competitor by name in its ads?industry guidelines discouraged the practice and television networks prohibited it, believing that comparative ads would result in name-calling. In 1971, however, the FTC began encouraging comparative advertising because the agency thought this practice could help consumers by providing more product information. Since then, comparative advertising has been common, particularly in the food industry, with battles such as Burger King versus McDonald?s and Pepsi versus Coke.                      In most advertisements, a certain amount of exaggeration and hyperbole is expected and has been permitted, though when a product claims to be ?the best,? ?the greatest,? or ?preferred by four out of five doctors,? the FTC often asks for supportive evidence. Also, when the FTC discovers deceptive ads, it usually requires advertisers to change their ads or remove them from circulation. One example of deceptive ads were the Campbell Soup spots that used marbles in the bottom of a soup bowl to push more bulky ingredients to the surface. Product Placement As consumers become increasingly sophisticated about visual ad techniques and cynical about the ubiquity of advertising, product companies and ad agencies have become adept in recent years at product placement: strategically placing ads in movies, television shows, comic books, and video games so they appear as part of a story?s set environment. In 2005, Consumer Watch asked both the FTC and FCC to mandate that consumers be warned about product placement on television. Although the FTC rejected the petition, the FCC was considering a response in 2006. For many critics, product placement techniques have gotten out of hand in the quest to win consumers? hearts and minds. Advertising?s Threat to Journalism Advertising wields power that is often subtle and difficult to monitor. The interaction between advertising and journalism can be particularly troublesome. One problem is that, as many dailies faced financial difficulties in the 1990s, some editors looking to keep advertisers happy did not run controversial business stories. In 1990, for example, car dealers in Hartford, Connecticut, withdrew advertising from the Hartford Courant over an article that urged consumers to be wary of shady dealers. The paper apologized, the dealers ended their boycott, and, two years later, dealers reported they had not seen any negative articles about dealers since. Newspapers do not always bow to such pressure. The Seattle Times refused to back down from a story criticizing Nordstrom?s labor difficulties, even after the large department store reduced its advertising in the paper. Local news outlets are also subject to advertiser pressure. A 2004 survey by the nonprofit Project for Excellence in Journalism found that one-third of local journalists had been pressured by advertisers or corporate owners about what to write or broadcast. Advertising and the Internet The earliest form of Web advertising in the mid-1990s was the banner ad, the print-like display ads that load across the top or side of a Web page. Since that time, other formats have emerged, including pop-up, pop-under, Flash multimedia ads, and interstitials, which pop up in new screen windows when a user accesses a new Web page. Other forms of Internet advertising include classified ads and unsolicited e-mail ads?known as spam?which accounted for more than 80 percent of e-mail by 2006. More recently, paid search advertising has become the dominant format of Web advertising. Even though their original mission was to provide impartial search results, search sites such as Yahoo! and Google have quietly morphed into advertising companies, selling sponsored links associated with search terms and, in some cases, selling advertising links within the search results themselves. By 2007, the threat of online companies to traditional advertising agencies was real. Internet ads accounted for at least 7 percent of all advertising spending in the United States, and that share was anticipated to rise to more than 10 percent by 2010. In 2007, the leading Internet companies aggressively expanded into advertising by acquiring smaller Internet advertising agencies. With their deep pockets and broad reach, the Internet oligopoly also began to become ad brokers for other mass media, such as radio. Alternative Voices One of the most innovative ad campaigns in recent history was created by the American Legacy Foundation as one of the provisions of the government?s multibillion-dollar settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998. The nonprofit foundation worked with a coalition of ad agencies, a group of teenage consultants, and a $300 million budget to create a series of stylish, gritty print and television ads using teen voices and actors to deconstruct the images that have long been associated with cigarette ads. The commercials show teens dragging, piling, or heaving body bags across the beach or onto a horse, and holding up signs saying, ?What if cigarette ads told the truth?? The ads reference the foundation?s Web site, thetruth.com, which offers statistics, discussion forums, and outlets for teen creativity. By 2007, ?The Truth? antitobacco campaign was recognized by 80 percent of teens. Advertising, Politics, and Democracy As advertising has become more pervasive and consumers more discriminating, advertisers have searched for new ways to work ads into our social and cultural fabric. Products now act as props or even ?characters? in television shows and movies, and almost every national consumer product has its own Web site. Ad images also appear in places where they don?t really exist?superimposed advertisements appear behind a batter during nationally televised baseball games but the live audience at the game can?t see the ads. Some advertisers try to transform the political and cultural message of popular music to sell their products. Some examples of this are the use of the Beatles? ?Revolution? to promote Nike shoes and the use of David Bowie?s ?Heroes? to promote Microsoft software. Political advertising is a more straightforward form of cultural blending, using ad techniques to promote a candidate?s image and persuade the public to adopt a particular viewpoint. Politicians often use powerful visual images and attack other candidates in their ads, which distract viewers from the real campaign issues. In the late 1980s, a research team at the University of Pennsylvania?s Annenberg School of Communication developed a method to critique political advertisements, which the major networks picked up on in the early 1990s in a news segment called Ad Watch. As a result of Ad Watch, media consultants began paying more attention to the veracity of their ads. Because political advertising is big business for television stations, broadcasters have long opposed free time for political campaigns. This raises serious questions about political ads. Can serious information on political issues be conveyed in thirty-second spots? Do repeated attacks on a rival?s character undermine citizens? confidence in the electoral process? How will alternative political voices, which are not so well financed, be heard? Though as individuals and as a society we may sometimes be uneasy with advertising, a number of factors have allowed for the industry?s largely unchecked growth. Americans tolerate advertising as a necessary evil for maintaining the economy, and many dismiss advertising as trivial. Because we are willing to downplay its centrality to global culture, many citizens do not think advertising is significant enough to monitor or reform. 1 of 5 1. Commercial speech can be defined as _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. the right to express thoughts, beliefs, and opinions HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. any print or broadcast expression for which a fee is charged HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. promoting a candidate and persuading the public's viewpoint HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. strategically placing a product in a movie or television show 2 of 5 2. The Action for Children's Television group works to _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. limit advertising aimed at children HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. increase advertising aimed at children HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. create new children's shows based on existing action figures HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. none of the above 3 of 5 3. In 2007, Channel One reached a captive audience of _____ percent of U.S. teenagers in twelve thousand junior high and high schools each day. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. 75 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. 25 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. 30 HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. 62 4 of 5 4. Over the years, cigarette ads have targeted groups such as _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. teenagers HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. young women HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. African Americans HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. all of the above 5 of 5 5. The dominant form of Web advertising is now  _____. HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 a. paid search advertising HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 b. spam HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 c. the classified ad HTMLCONTROL Forms.HTML:Option.1 d. the banner ad