I was watching TV last night and saw a plastics commercial, followed by a cotton commercial. These were very generic, in that they didn’t promote any particular company. What’s the purpose of these? I’m not going to buy more generic cotton or plastic just because I was recently reminded of it. A specific product I can understand, but this had me really confused. Any ideas?
General industries are promoting their products. I assume their intent IS to make you want to use plastic or cotton products. Since these materials are used in so many types of products, the manufacturors of these materials don’t need to promote a particular product, just the use of that product. The commercial that shows a dropped plastic soda bottle near a child (suggesting that it’s safer than a glass bottle that would shatter) may influence many people. Another example would be the milk industry. “Got Milk?” doesn’t promote Hood or Garelick Farms or whatever, just milk itself. Who are these “industries”? Probably the manufacturors/farmers, suppliers, and perhaps even the specific companies (like Hood) that would benefit. Maybe it’s the Illuminati.
They are usually ads by an industry or trade association. They get their money from member companies. They promote the industry/trade as a whole, not an individual company.
A cotton association would do general lobbying for things like farm subsidies, etc. They would also fund research into things like pesticides or modified crops to improve crop yield.
The ads are intended to give people good feelings about cotton. Then, next time you buy clothes, you might be more prone to buy some that contain cotton, or are all cotton.
In some instances they also serve a broader PR interest. In particular, I’ve thought this was at least one aim of the plastics ads. Plastics are not the “greenest” of products - petroluem based, hell on landfills, taking about a gazillion years to degrade in the environment, etc. One commercial points out all the things “plastics made possible”, set in an ER. I think the point is to have people say “plastics may have their downside, but…”, and perhaps attract investors to the industry.
Shaky Jake
I’m waiting for the “plastics made your sex toys possible” ads.
Yep, what they said.
FWIW, the plastics ads are sponsored by The American Plastics Council. The company I work for has done some work with them in the past to see just how effective these very ads are. Of course, if I tell you what they found out, I’d be fired. But anyway…
Smeghead
I just had to see if your name was from Red Dwarf. I seemed to have guessed right. Oh Kritin.
a related thread…
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=11897
Sometimes when you see a generic ad you’re watching spin control. 20 years ago a number of dietitians expressed horror at the fat content in avocados. Well, a few dietitians expressed enough horror to get on shows like Donahue. Shortly after that you saw “Would This Body Lie To You?” ads from the Avocado Board. Was that Joan Collins?
I’m still wondering who had the chutzpah to call pork the other white meat.