Essay, Research Paper: Advertisement Manipulation

Advertising Manipulation
Advertisements are located everywhere. No one can go anywhere without seeing at least one advertisement. These ads, as they are called, are an essential part of every type of media. They are placed in television, radio, magazines, and can even be seen on billboards by the roadside. Advertisements allow media to be sold at a cheaper price, and sometimes even free, to the consumer. Advertisers pay media companies to place their ads into the media. Therefore, the media companies make their money off of ads, and the consumer can view this material for a significantly less price than the material would be without the ads. Advertisers main purpose is to influence the consumer to purchase their product. This particular ad, located in Sport magazine, attracts the outer-directed emulators. The people that typically fit into this category of consumers are people that buy items to fit in or to impress people. Sometimes ads can be misleading in ways that confuse the consumer to purchase the product for reasons other than the actual product was designed for. Advertisers influence consumers by alluding the consumer into buying this product over a generic product that could perform the same task, directing the advertisement towards a certain audience, and developing the ad where it is visually attractive.
First, a Multi Tap consists of an L-shaped design with four ports to allow for four Playstation controllers instead of the normal two. The Multi Tap is helpful for some Playstation games that allow for more than two people to play. The layout of the Multi Tap advertisement attracts attention when compared to other similar advertisements. The simple, black and white display of the ad stands out when compared to other ads, which are usually bright and colorful. This manner of presenting the information brings about a simplistic alternative to an otherwise complex world. The Multi Tap is then displayed in the center of the ad to draw attention to its unmistakable design. The advertisement makes the readers think that this device is so easy to use; all one has to do is simply plug the Multi Tap into the PlayStation console and start playing. The ad also tells the readers that with less hookup time, the Multi Tap leaves more time to play. The words KNOCKOFF MULTI TAPS. NOW YOUR FRIENDS CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY KNOW WHAT A CHEAP BASTARD YOU ARE. are placed on a black background and emphasized with big, white, bold, capital letters. This phrase is placed at the top of the ad to attract the most attention. The words of the ad target loose friendship and competition.
Second, the simple tactics of the advertisement focus on teenagers and young adults who love to play video games. The ad is directed towards people who have a desire to fit in, or to do what everyone else is doing. This advertisement makes the readers feel that if they do not have the Multi Tap then they should feel like they need one. In fact, this ad can make some readers feel that they need this device to fit in, Which means you can put your closest friendships to the test with no-holds-barred group racing or a golf foursome. This statement can be interpreted into the fact that if you don t have your friends over playing on the Playstation with the Multi Tap, then you don t have a close friendship. Also the ad states you ll never run the risk of damaging your console. Or trashing your reputation. By saying this, the ad directly states that the readers reputations are at stake unless they purchase the Multi Tap. In general this ad is implying to the readers that in order to impress their friends, or to even have friends, the readers must own a Multi Tap.
Finally, many Americans today debate over whether to buy a name brand item or a generic item. The truth stands that many generic items can perform the same tasks as the leading name brand items. A great number of Americans purchase name brand items simply due to the way advertisement portrays these products. Advertisers lure consumers to think that their product will produce better results than any generic product. This advertisement states that you ll never run the risk of damaging your console , indicating that if the readers do not purchase a PlayStation brand Multi Tap, then they risk damaging their PlayStation console. The creators of this advertisement placed that phrase at the end of the ad using the principle of recency, which means that the readers remember what they read last. Also the phrase Look for official PlayStation branded accessories. adds to the principle of recency. If the advertisers were to place the truth into the advertisement, generic brand accessories produce the same quality results for a fraction of the price, then this would definitely take away from the purpose of the ad.
Today s advertisements can mislead consumers to believe that any given product can make them popular, beautiful beyond physical characteristics, or a totally different person. The truth stands that a set of workout equipment cannot change your personality, or a PlayStation Multi Tap cannot gain someone a closer friendship. When reading advertisements, the consumers should weigh the facts. Does anyone truly need this product? Will this product actually give the results that are portrayed by the advertisement? Many advertisers can manipulate consumers in to purchasing a product. Advertisers do this manipulation by developing a visual attraction of the advertisement, associating certain audiences within the wording of the ad, and also wording the advertisement to a way that alludes the consumers to think that this product is superior to any generic product.