Toe in the Water

Advertise That!

Advertise That!

I have said before that I watch very little television, a slave to the computer as I am. But it's one of those inescapable facts of life these days and I have not been able to avoid it completely. Inevitably, I have noticed a few things about television in America and perhaps the most surprising is the difference in the advertising.

Apart from the sheer overwhelming quantity of commercial breaks in the States (at times it seems that the program being shown is grudgingly inserted in tiny pieces in between important and informative collections of commercials), the style of the advertising is different. It is far more direct than British advertising; the message is "This product is great, it will change your life, it beats brand X every time, buy it NOW!" That might be effective (who am I to say it isn't?) but such straightforward hype hasn't been seen in Britain for years.

British adverts are subtle, so much so that at times it's impossible to work out exactly what is being pushed at the viewer. I think this started way back in the early seventies, when overt cigarette advertising was outlawed. For a brief moment there was consternation amongst the tobacco companies - how were they to get across the delights of their product now? But they were saved by Benson & Hedges.

B&H brought out a series of ads that relied upon their highly recognizable brand color only. It became a game to notice the B&H gold hidden within the ad. They didn't make the game too hard, so everyone could play. It was a very clever exercise in subverting the rules: they were not mentioning the product nor any of its undoubted charms; the campaign relied entirely upon the market's already-established brand recognition.

The ploy must have been effective for all the other tobacco companies followed suit with their own variants of the idea. In fact, it was not long before products other than cigarettes were being advertised in the same way. And again legislation has contributed to this. It became unacceptable to talk about the speed and power of a car in its advertisement; apparently, we had to be protected from our lust to drive fast cars. So now car ads concentrate on the look of the machine. There is competition amongst the manufacturers to have the ad with the most unlikely angle of shot or the most removed from saying anything meaningful about the car.

I can't help but wonder whether these oblique advertisements actually sell more cars. Without access to actual statistics, it's impossible to say. But I do suspect that they do little more than make the customer feel good about the company itself. A polished, clever and attractive ad is bound to produce good customer relations, at least initially, just as a harsh and poorly produced one reflects badly on the manufacturer.

In America it seems that the obvious attributes of a vehicle can still be referred to. Truck ads especially will concentrate on matters of power and strength. Handling and speed can be portrayed, if not detailed in actual performance figures. And, most surprisingly to the British viewer, it is quite acceptable to trash the competition.

This runs throughout American ads - if your product has to go up against a well known brand, you should mention it and then give some figures that demonstrate how much better your version is. Of course, the cynical Brit thinks immediately, "Hang on a minute, I've just watched an ad for your competitor and it said exactly the opposite..." But the game continues regardless. Everyone can demonstrate just how far superior their product is than the competition by picking on one aspect where it happens to come out on top. The fact that names are named is pure horror to us Brits; our advertisers would not dream of doing such a thing. You may hint that your product beats "brand X" but to actually name it? Oh, no, that will never do.

Another major element of British ads is humor. This has developed to the point where some of the advertisements are much funnier than the comedy shows (okay, I know British comedy shows aren't very funny - the point is, their ads are!). Competition is very fierce in this area and it may be that the best comedy writers are snapped up by advertising long before the TV programs have a go at them. I can see humor beginning to creep into American advertising but it isn't the same. In the States, the viewer is left in no doubt as to what is being advertised; in Britain, the funniest ads are often the hardest in which to identify the product being advertised.

But it doesn't seem to matter. Produce a funny ad and the Brits will love it. They will repeat it amongst themselves, develop it and transform it into a catchphrase. And what greater success can an ad agency have than that the public accept an ad into folklore? Who cares that it doesn't shift any products? It makes people laugh and that's what really counts.

On both sides of the Atlantic the richest industries are the ones that advertise on television. In Britain that means insurance, loan companies, banks, car manufacturers and (strangely) charities. America does the same but adds an industry that would shock the Brits - the pharmaceuticals. Medicines are not advertised in Britain. I presume that this is because it is regarded as "unethical" to tout the amazing properties of your drug over the competitor's version (probably exactly the same thing but with a different name). And, of course, the real reason is that the public is deemed too stupid to decide between medicines and this is a decision for the trained professionals, the doctors, to make.

But in the States the drug companies advertise constantly and trash each other's products mercilessly. We are bombarded with pictures of happy, shining people whose lives have been transformed by some miracle cure or other. "Take just one Gubbledizer and be totally free of itching teeth for 24 hours! Finklebod only works for 6 hours so you have to take four to get the same effect!"

Then the medical ads have small print and this is what really catches my attention. They are bound by law to mention any possible side effects so, while we continue to watch the amazingly-cured patient frolic through meadows and sparkling streams, a rapid-fire machinegun voice rattles out the warnings. "Do not take Tubbydoodle if you suffer from heart problems, liver disease, recurrent headaches, ingrown toenails, double vision, extreme angst, violent hiccups or flatulence. Tubbydoodle has been known to cause skin problems, palpitations, hair loss, flat feet, facial tics and loss of manners in some patients. It has not been tested on patients with arthritis and bad tempers."

Listening to the lists they come out with makes me think that I'll take my chances with the original problem, thank you. But it turns out that it doesn't matter anyhow. You have to ask your doctor about the medicine because only he can prescribe it. So the whole thing is intended to put pressure on doctors to prescribe the advertiser's cure rather than the competitor's. It all seems a bit unnecessary to me. And a bit scary, too.

Finally, I should mention the differing attitudes of the two nations when it comes to sex. Many Americans are horrified when they see how British advertisers will happily use sex to push a product. Half naked people are a regular occurrence in British ads. Innuendo is applied liberally. And, if a few bare butts come into the shot, hey, it all adds to the fun.

But not so in the States. Naked flesh is definitely a no-no here. It seems that it is okay to talk about it, however. The pharmaceutical companies are the major offenders here and I defy any Brit to listen to an ad for viagra without blushing at least a little. Suggestion? Who needs suggestion when you can just lay the facts before your audience? And I'm not even going near the advertisements for "feminine products"...

Winston Churchill once said that we were two peoples separated by a common language. Of course, he was right. But he failed to mention that we also approach the matter of advertising in totally different ways. In the States the word is, "BUY THIS!" And in Britain it's, "Hah, that made you laugh did it? And what about this, ain't that a beauty? Pardon? Oh, you wanted to buy something..."


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