Identifying Common Advertising Ploys

1. Identifying CommonAdvertising Ploys This tutorial provides practice in identifying seven common advertising ploys: puffery, humor, catchy slogans and jingles, image ads, emotive language, feel-good ads, and anxiety ads. Chapter 14

2. A magazine ad for Morgan Stanley Financial Services shows three attractive teenaged sisters sitting on a couch. The copy reads: "Three car payments. Three private colleges. Three weddings. I think I am having chest pains. How are we going to pay for all this?" Based on what you learned in this chapter, which advertising ploy does this ad use?

3. A magazine ad for Morgan Stanley Financial Services shows three attractive teenaged sisters sitting on a couch. The copy reads: "Three car payments. Three private colleges. Three weddings. I think I am having chest pains. How are we going to pay for all this?" This is an anxiety ad. It plays on the audience's fears and anxieties and offers a solution, in this case, investing with Morgan Stanley.

4. A Levi's commercial shows a teenaged boy entering a drugstore to buy condoms. Later, when he picks up his date at her home, he discovers it was her father who sold him the condoms. What advertising ploy does this ad use?

5. A Levi's commercial shows a teenaged boy entering a drugstore to buy condoms. Later, when he picks up his date at her home, he discovers it was her father who sold him the condoms. The ad uses the ploy of humor. Humor can be very effective in grabbing our attention and at the same time closing down our critical defenses.

6. We've spent the last six months thinking about your love life. Because we know you haven't had the time. But now, it's time for you. Time for holding hands, stealing kisses, and sharing secrets. How about this weekend? A beautiful room and fabulous breakfasts are just the start of our romantic weekend packages. (Ad for Marriott Hotels) What advertising ploy does this ad use?

7. We've spent the last six months thinking about your love life. Because we know you haven't had the time. But now, it's time for you. Time for holding hands, stealing kisses, and sharing secrets. How about this weekend? A beautiful room and fabulous breakfasts are just the start of our romantic weekend packages. (Ad for Marriott Hotels) This is a sex-appeal ad. There is hardly a brand of soap, car, cigarette, or, in this case, hotel that hasn’t used the promise of sex in its ads.

8. "The hot new business everyone is talking about!" (Ad for Dickson City, Pa. bakery)"Life depends on Lysol. That's a fact." (Lysol ad)"Springtime every time you do dishes." (Ad for Palmolive Dishwasher Detergent) What advertising ploy is used in these three ads?

9. This ad uses the ploy of puffery. Puffery is the use of exaggeration that stretches or skirts the literal truth but usually does so in a way that does not deceive most audiences and is often entertaining. "The hot new business everyone is talking about!" (Ad for Dickson City, Pa. bakery)"Life depends on Lysol. That's a fact." (Lysol ad)"Springtime every time you do dishes." (Ad for Palmolive Dishwasher Detergent)

10. What advertising ploy is used in these five ads? "Sony, the one and only""Good to the last drop""Drivers wanted.""We never stop working for you.""Tastes great, less filling"

11. These ads use catchy slogans and jingles. Even though they give little or no information about a product, such slogans and jingles, through sheer repetition, are often effective in giving a product a competitive advantage. "Sony, the one and only""Good to the last drop""Drivers wanted.""We never stop working for you.""Tastes great, less filling"

12. Based on your reading of this chapter, what ploy is used in this ad? A magazine ad for Lincoln Financial Group shows a retirement-age couple snorkeling in clear blue waters. The copy reads: "When I wanted to start my own firm, she was there. When I wanted to buy out my partners, she was there. And when I finally wanted to retire, she was there. She's always been there for me. I want to make sure I'm always there for her."

13. This is an image ad. It is targeted at older, affluent men and plays on the image they may have of themselves as caring, responsible, and successful. A magazine ad for Lincoln Financial Group shows a retirement-age couple snorkeling in clear blue waters. The copy reads: "When I wanted to start my own firm, she was there. When I wanted to buy out my partners, she was there. And when I finally wanted to retire, she was there. She's always been there for me. I want to make sure I'm always there for her."

14. [This is the end of the tutorial] A magazine ad for Lincoln Financial Group shows a retirement-age couple snorkeling in clear blue waters. The copy reads: "When I wanted to start my own firm, she was there. When I wanted to buy out my partners, she was there. And when I finally wanted to retire, she was there. She's always been there for me. I want to make sure I'm always there for her." The ad also utilizes the feel-good ploy (wouldn't you like to be snorkeling in clear-blue waters?) and emotive language ("always there for her"). It is common, in fact, for ads to employ more than one advertising gimmick. It's the old shotgun approach: if the first shot doesn't get 'em, maybe the second will. Be on the lookout for these multi-barreled ads! X