Chapter 4: The Age of Hyper-Commercialism

The rise of advertisting has in large part paralleled the rise of commercialism that began early last century. As mass production became commonplace, producers worried about how to sell their products, of which there was an excess. Advertising was a key part of the solution. It is ironic that the largest firms in the least competitive markets tend to do the most advertising (p.141).

Along with the rise of corporate mergers, advertising supergroups have emerged (e.g. Omnicom Group).

Characterisitics of advertising:

1) builds brand identity and customer loyalty
2) necessary to launch new products
3) paradox-those products that are the most alike require the most advertising to convince people they are different (p.142)
4) often relies on the premise that something is wrong with the consumer, and buying some product will solve their problem (p.143)
5) as commericialism increases, adveristers find it harder to succeed, thus continually pushing advertisting into new territory, searching for new and innovative (increasingly intrusive) ways to reach potential customers (consumers are like roaches analogy)
6) advertising tends to avoid controversial topics
7) typically targets classes of consumers with disposable incomes, thus accentuating class bias
8) as newspapers came to depend more and more on ad money for their financing, the newspaper market became smaller (more consolidated) and competition decreased as more and more papers were either gobbled up or put out of business
*9) media creates an audience, which is sold to advertisers (explain more...)
10) media and commercialism are merging to the point where they are becoming inseperable in the content they produce

New frontiers in advertising

As most media consumers tend to be turned off by ads, advertisers have turned to new and innovative ways to reach their audience. It seems that the more traditional model, in which advertising is separate from content, is giving way to a new model in which advertising is fused into the content itself, thus giving consumers no real way of avoiding ads other than foregoing the content all together. (Even this is becoming more and more difficult as ads have come to permeate almost every concievable social space in our lives...)

Listed below are some examples of this new model, in which advertisers' influence has encroached more and more into media content (to the point that media have come to depend on ad dollars to be successful)...

1) advertising before films in movie theaters
2) product placement, i.e. placing a product in a tv show, movie or radio program (independent rating guidelines for p.p. have been developed (iTVX))
3) digital insertion (e.g. inserting virtual ads on the field of a televised sports game)
4) branded entertainment, moving beyond simple product placement to the actual integration of a product into a storyline
5) the rise of reality tv shows has been an important vehicle for the use of product placement
6) the rise of 'integrated marketing' wherein advertisers are let in early on the production of a film or tv show so that their products may be better placed into the story

Other specific examples of the entrenchment of advertising into the social spaces in our lives:

7) integrating music and advertising
8) advertising in public broadcasting
9) commerical sponsoring of museums
10) commercialization of higher education (academic research driven by corporate funding) e.g. UC Berkely has been dubbed a "corporaveristy" by some skeptical professors there
11) "cause-related marketing" - linking a social cause to a marketing campaign
12) convergence of public relations and advertising
13) NBC's "Patient Channel" for people in hospitals
14) TV sets in stores, on trains, etc.
15) temporary tatoos for sports players
16) advertising space on police cars
17) imprinting on state beaches (New Jersey)
18) rise of focus groups, psychologists and cultural anthropologists as critical to market research
19) "guerilla marketing"
20) "urban marketing"
21) focus on children (most impressionable of all groups)
22) children's stories in which snack foods are protagonists
23) is there a link between childhood obesity and junk/sugary food advertising?

Does this system provide people what they really want? From this angle, it provides people with choices that are limited to a certain spectrum that is defined by the producers/advertisers. Within that "box", yes we do have choice. Outside of that box, things become more difficult.

Hyper-commercialism has reached the point where our values (democracy, freedom, individuality, equality, education, community, love, etc.) have become commodified. Commercial culture produces cynicism and materialism, both bad for public life. H.C. weaves corporate power and influence deeply into our culture, almost to the point where it is difficult to see in many respects. What implications does this have for the concepts of freedom and democracy?

The power and influence of advertising did not just happen. It has attained its status by fighting against public policy involvement, active lobbying in Washington and the courts (ensuring First Amendment protection and minimal government regulation, business tax-exemption (essentially a subsidy) etc.), and promoting active PR campaigns.

Though each new communications technology is trumpeted for its ability to empower citizens and free them from adv/commericial interests, in each case adv/commercial clout has increased such that new ways of infiltrating public and social space are developed, thus further entrenching their influence and power into our lives, which actually disempowers the citizenry.

However, this analysis reveals that the advertising industry is essentially the Achilles' heel of the commercial media system, for without it, the system could not exist in its current guise (because of economic dependence), and also because adv. in general is unpopular with the public. (c.f. the popularity of YouTube...you can watch what you want when you want with no ads...seems more democratic in principle than the norm)