React and critique “The Persuaders” video

The video "The Persuaders" put the world of advertisements and PR in a different perspective for me. Advertisements have become such a norm in our lives that we can grow numb to them. On Liberty's campus there are advertisements everywhere, but I barley even see the posters and signs that are on the buses and in the Vines Center because I have become so used to them. 

One of the major points that "The Persuaders" discussed was the use of emotions in advertising. Instead of just advertising what a product does, advertisements now play at the emotions of the consumers. This can be seen in the following ad.

 

Instead of explaining the process of giving blood or just showing statistics, this ad plays with the viewer's emotions by showing faces to go along with the statistics. The viewer is connected and drawn to the commercial through the faces and words of the people on screen.

This technique discussed in "The Persuaders" is seen in just about every commercial these days. One such commercial focuses on not texting while driving. The commercial is an interview with a girl who says her sister died in a car accident while reading a text message. This commercial wants the viewer to have an emotional connection in order to receive the message. 

"The Persuaders" showed the process of advertising for Song Airlines. It opened my eyes to just how much thought goes into making commercials and getting a new idea or product out to society. I found it very interesting that Andy Spade made a commercial that had no airplane or airline shown at all. In his interview with PBS, he explained that he wanted to advertise for the product without actually advertising for it. It made me wonder how often advertisers play strictly on the emotions of the viewers to persuade.

Another concept that I found interesting was the concept of words used by Frank Luntz. Simply by changing words, Luntz changed the emotions of people reading and hearing those words. Luntz changed words and phrases such as

• "Estate tax" to "death tax"
• "Tax cuts" to "tax relief"
• "War in Iraq" to "war on terror"
• "Global warming" to "climate change"

The simple changing of these words brought about different attitudes and emotions from the public. I agree that, like Luntz explained in his interview  with Kate Sheppard, the words that one uses will have an effect on listeners.

"The Persuaders" was an eye opening experience that taught me how much thought and work needs to get done in order to break through all the clutter that has arisen as a result of the advertisements that surround us throughout our everyday lives.