Facing 100,000,000,000 dollars online AD?

BOURGEOIS IN FETIZ CONFUSION...:)
Well, I don't know if I have ever bought anything I didn't need, either from an ad or period. Well, maybe when I was 18 I was kinda addicted to buying chic clothing but I realized I can put together chic clothing in a different way original and cheap and recyled...I liike to be comfortable and homey like everyone but I don't find that there is much in the physical world that feeds the actual craving people have when they desire those expensive products. If you talk to impulse shoppers, and god knows a lot of my gal pals have suffered fromt hat and actually guys...suddenly buying a citizen watch because they felt like James Bond, to get home and feel really depressed and down, women buying prada shoes then get home and feeling empty and deranged. Lonely withdrawal etc. ha ha. So its sad really. I find families, and lots of them in blogland that have discovered NOT buying and spending has changed their entire lives, they hang out with each other more often play with the kids they found on so many levels their life changed when they made a pledge to not buy anything for six months aside from food and emergency supplies(aspirin socks) They found they didn't use half the stuff they already owned and landed up having garage sales and organizing their house so they were even more happy with less clutter.

Now, I admit I did see some ads recently that I really liked...lets see I'll try to add them here...warning I am a nerd these aren't as sexy as ads about beer although, I suppose I enjoy beer ads, I'm canadian after all. But I never drink beer that is advertised on tv. Boring! Who drink corporate beer...oh rats I drink heneken and Stella if I'm in a fix, wellsee there ya go.

here...I loved the ad on side for the bag attached to eaves pipes. I thought that was cool. I liked the flip flops too.

Not quite an "ad" but it is packaging, which is sort of an ad
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4313772690011721857&q=ipod+packaging

of course, it is on "google".
I was surprised to go to
http://www.apple.com
recently to have it start with an ad.
Of course, they might no longer be there now but they are still here
http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

I've been traveling a bit so haven't seen these. I have to admit I watched all of them, and a couple of them more than once :-)
Sent them to friends too, most of them are mac owners at this point though . . .

Posted by: ken | May 9, 2006 8:04:04 PM

OH, the one guy, on the viewers left, in the Apple ads looks a little like Bill Gates, which is why I mentioned them. Of course someone will undoubtedly bring up the Apple PC share is somewhere in the same neighborhood as the BMW car share - so where has advertising got them (well, OK, then there is the stock price comparison . . .)
Good brand image and recognition, plus 2.95$ will get you a good cup of coffee. :-)
(Full disclosure - yes I have 4 Apple laptops and 4 ipods in my house of 4 people but really, it wasn't the advertising :-) )

Posted by: ken | May 9, 2006 8:10:53 PM

Ken, your "disclosure" just cracked me up you're a riot. 4 computers, wow. I just got a computer for the first time my boyfriend and I just got it in Feb. And I'm old its like weird I never had one, I've been on bbs and "electronic mail" for twenty years, harvard paleontolgy (ape feuds central) bbs and used puters through universities and military and public all these years. I am like a mennonite when I shop...analyse the whole how many machines do I want in my house etc. I hate vaccuums and dishwashers and microwaves! I'm not a Luddite, just like a minimum of possessions left over from when I was hooked up with the Dalai Lama, that pirate! and like to live thin. More possessions means more housework and slaving for "the man" heh heh but true. But I bet your family is nice and peaceful and gets along like a charm since you're not competeing for 'puter time. Those mac commercials are delightful and yes he does look like Bill Gates. I think you might be onto something Ken with the cup of coffee idea. I wonder how much brand image does matter sometimes...because with something like BMW...what caused it to be the representative of all that is evil in the world?(nazis, corporate whores, yuppies, self serving drivers, ) They became this symbol in the 80's right? It wasn't throguh ads was it and I missed something...? And why on earth would any human drive one and associate themselves with all that evil and lack of imagination? If I was a business executive I would not hire anyone who drove a bmw, sign of YAWN!

Posted by: Candy Minx | May 10, 2006 9:08:53 AM

i like google's ads.

when i'm contemplating a purchase and use google to do research, i often click the ads they steer my way. but not when i'm using google to locate info that has nothing to do with buying anything.

which makes google's ads so very different from ads in a shelter magazine or in vanity fair, where they're so well-executed that i rather enjoy reading them. as a general rule, google's ads interest me only in terms of price and ease of purchase, with an ad from vanity fair, say, being the reason i'm interested in the product/service in the first place.

amazing that grant's musings on advertising and its role in our lives attracts readers who claim not to be big consumers and/or who claim not to be influenced by advertising.

Posted by: auto | May 10, 2006 12:37:28 PM

I'm a bit of a skeptic on most advertising. It's effectiveness is hard to verify, and the few scientific attempts to do so have come up with uncomfortable results. On the other hand, firms don't have many other choices for attracting attention, and for new products or services advertising is an unparalleled way to spread awareness.
Google's lack of expertise in creating ad copy need have no bearing on their ability to provide a technology platform to those who do. What does Google have to do with the content of current Google ads? Basically, nothing, as far as I can tell. Advertisers decide what to put in the space available.
More intrusive, dynamic visual advertising on the internet also may be a pipe dream. Unlike TV, which is a passive medium where we "see what's on," the computer is a controlled window on cyberspace where we search for things of interest. The last thing most people want is to have their intended views obstructed or distracted from by intrusive ads. If I had some kind of multimedia extravaganza going off on the side of this blog (or, even worse, blocking the text for 30 seconds), I would find it an annoyance and would be less likely to come back.

Posted by: steve | May 10, 2006 5:46:02 PM