The average American sees about 5,000 ads every day–some which persuade people to purchase a product or consider a service, and some which fall very, very short in their attempts to do so. Great ads utilize techniques that draw in viewers with captivating graphics, catchwords, valuable offers, and inclusive dilemmas–whereas less enticing ads try to incorporate these tactics into their messages, but ultimately fail.
Watch this ad to see what I mean when I talk about bad ads.
This ad, simply put, makes no sense. In it, Tina Fey makes up yoga poses that are a disgrace to the sport of yoga and all those who use yoga as a calming and meditative practice. Then a voice-over talks about American Express–confusing to the average viewer? Yes. Very much so. This ad is certainly not one that would stand out among the 5,000 that we see every day and discredits American Express as a company through its inarticulate and less-than-meaningful advertisement. If you were, however, intrigued by this ad, you might look it up–watch it again–and upon searching, you might find this other American Express ad:
“Ohhhhhhh,” you might think, “that first ad was supposed to be an offshoot of the longer video”–but who does that help? The first ad (which we’ll call Ad 1 from now on) only makes sense in the context of the second ad (which will now be referred to as Ad 2). By creating these two ads separately, American Express ostracizes the viewer of Ad 1 if they’ve never seen Ad 2. And honestly, who is going to take the time to look up a bad ad that they saw and do some research into its meaning? Not the average American; that’s for sure. Not only does Ad 1 cause immediate confusion, but Ad 2 is poorly scripted and paints a negative picture of women in the workout industry while promoting impulse buys as a healthy way of life to some of the most in-debt Americans ever.
Fey’s almost idiotic shopping spree in some unnamed fitness store makes women, in general, seem to be unknowledgeable when it comes to athletics and fitness, and simply discounts the merits of genuinely purchasing items to better a person’s health. Not only is exercise and fitness mocked by Fey and American Express, but the underlying tone of ‘buy, buy, buy’ speaks to a deeper and sadder truth of Americans today: we are obsessed with buying things without thinking through their usefulness. We want the newest, most popular, trendy thing that we have no genuine care for; we shop impulsively, and American Express is exploiting that trait, urging more Americans to shop until they literally drop.
Over and Out.
-Courtney