CHAPTER REVIEW

COMMON THREADS

One of the Common Threads discussed in Chapter 1 is the commercial nature of mass media. The U.S. media system, due to policy choices made in the early and mid-twentieth century, was built largely on a system of commercial sponsorship. Consumers’ acceptance of this arrangement was based on a sense that media content and sponsors should remain independent of each other. In other words, sponsors and product companies should not control and create media content. Today, is that line between media content and advertising shifting—or even completely disappearing?

Although media consumers have not always been comfortable with advertising, they developed a resigned acceptance of it because it “pays the bills” of the media system. Yet media consumers have their limits. Moments in which sponsors stepped over the usual borders of advertising into the realm of media content—including the TV quiz-show and radio payola scandals, complimentary newspaper reports about advertisers’ businesses, product placement in TV shows and movies, and now “sponsored stories” on Facebook—have generated the greatest legal and ethical debates about advertising.

Still, as advertising has become more pervasive and consumers have become more discriminating, ad practitioners have searched for ways to weave their work more seamlessly into the cultural fabric. Products now blend in as props or even as “characters” in TV shows and movies. Search engines deliver paid placements along with regular search results. Product placements are woven into video games. Advertising messages can also be the subject of viral videos—and consumers do the work of distributing the message.

Among the more intriguing efforts to become enmeshed in the culture are the ads that exploit, distort, or transform the political and cultural meanings of popular music. When Nike used the Beatles’ song “Revolution” (1968) to promote Nike shoes in 1987 (“Nike Air is not a shoe . . . it’s a revolution,” the ad said), many music fans were outraged to hear the Beatles’ music being used for the first time to sell products.

That was more than twenty-five years ago. These days, having a popular song used in a TV commercial is considered a good career move for musicians—even better than radio airplay. Similarly, while product placement in TV shows and movies was hotly debated in the 1980s and 1990s, the explosive growth of paid placements in video games hardly raises an eyebrow today. Even the lessons of the quiz-show scandals, which forced advertisers out of TV program production in the late 1950s, are forgotten or ignored today as advertisers have been warmly invited to help develop TV programs.

Are we as a society giving up on trying to set limits on the never-ending onslaught of advertising? Are we weary of trying to keep advertising out of media production? How do we feel about the growing encroachment of ads into social networks like Facebook and Twitter? Why do we now seem less concerned about the integration of advertising into the core of media culture?

KEY TERMS

The definitions for the terms listed below can be found in the glossary at the end of the book. The page numbers listed with the terms indicate where the term is highlighted in the chapter.

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REVIEW QUESTIONS

Early Developments in American Advertising

  1. Question 11.1

    Whom did the first ad agents serve?
    Whom did the first ad agents serve?

  2. Question 11.2

    How did packaging and trademarks influence advertising?
    How did packaging and trademarks influence advertising?

  3. Question 11.3

    Explain why patent medicines and department stores figured so prominently in advertising in the late nineteenth century.
    Explain why patent medicines and department stores figured so prominently in advertising in the late nineteenth century.

  4. Question 11.4

    What role did advertising play in transforming America into a consumer society?
    What role did advertising play in transforming America into a consumer society?

The Shape of U.S. Advertising Today

  1. Question 11.5

    What influences did visual culture exert on advertising?
    What influences did visual culture exert on advertising?

  2. Question 11.6

    What are the differences between boutique agencies and mega-agencies?
    What are the differences between boutique agencies and mega-agencies?

  3. Question 11.7

    What are the major divisions at most ad agencies? What is the function of each department?
    What are the major divisions at most ad agencies? What is the function of each department?

  4. Question 11.8

    What are the advantages of Internet and mobile advertising over traditional media, like newspapers and television?
    What are the advantages of Internet and mobile advertising over traditional media, like newspapers and television?

Persuasive Techniques in Contemporary Advertising

  1. Question 11.9

    How do the common persuasive techniques used in advertising work?
    How do the common persuasive techniques used in advertising work?

  2. Question 11.10

    How does the association principle work, and why is it an effective way to analyze advertising?
    How does the association principle work, and why is it an effective way to analyze advertising?

  3. Question 11.11

    What is the disassociation corollary?
    What is the disassociation corollary?

  4. Question 11.12

    What is product placement? Cite examples.
    What is product placement? Cite examples.

Commercial Speech and Regulating Advertising

  1. Question 11.13

    What is commercial speech?
    What is commercial speech?

  2. Question 11.14

    What are four serious contemporary issues regarding health and advertising? Why is each issue controversial?
    What are four serious contemporary issues regarding health and advertising? Why is each issue controversial?

  3. Question 11.15

    What is the difference between puffery and deception in advertising? How can the FTC regulate deceptive ads?
    What is the difference between puffery and deception in advertising? How can the FTC regulate deceptive ads?

Advertising, Politics, and Democracy

  1. Question 11.16

    What are some of the major issues involving political advertising?
    What are some of the major issues involving political advertising?

  2. Question 11.17

    What role does advertising play in a democratic society?
    What role does advertising play in a democratic society?

QUESTIONING THE MEDIA

  1. Question 11.18

    What is your earliest recollection of watching a television commercial? Do you think the ad had a significant influence on you?
    What is your earliest recollection of watching a television commercial? Do you think the ad had a significant influence on you?

  2. Question 11.19

    Why are so many people critical of advertising?
    Why are so many people critical of advertising?

  3. Question 11.20

    If you were (or are) a parent, what strategies would you use to explain an objectionable ad to your child or teenager? Use an example.
    If you were (or are) a parent, what strategies would you use to explain an objectionable ad to your child or teenager? Use an example.

  4. Question 11.21

    Should advertising aimed at children be regulated? Support your response.
    Should advertising aimed at children be regulated? Support your response.

  5. Question 11.22

    Should tobacco or alcohol advertising be prohibited? Why or why not? How would you deal with First Amendment issues regarding controversial ads?
    Should tobacco or alcohol advertising be prohibited? Why or why not? How would you deal with First Amendment issues regarding controversial ads?

  6. Question 11.23

    Would you be in favor of regular advertising on public television and radio as a means of financial support for these media? Explain your answer.
    Would you be in favor of regular advertising on public television and radio as a means of financial support for these media? Explain your answer.

  7. Question 11.24

    Is advertising at odds with the ideals of democracy? Why or why not?
    Is advertising at odds with the ideals of democracy? Why or why not?

LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE