I’ve agonized over which forum to put this in. It is about commercials, but only insofar as to what their purpose is, so that’s why I chose this forum instead of Cafe Society.
Anyhoo, I’ve been seeing 3 commercials lately, 1 for Boeing, 1 for Union Pacific railroad, & 1 for plastic (Plastics Council). Am I missing something? I mean, it’s not as if I’m going to see the Boeing commercial & say to myself, “Well, that decides it. Next time I need a 747, I’m going with them over Lockheed.” Similarly, I don’t think I’m going to have occasion to transport hundreds of tons of coal or grain or whatever, necessitating the choice of a railroad. And as far as plastic goes, they’re preaching to the choir. Who among us doesn’t love plastic? Plastic phones, plastic bags of blood in hospitals, plastic computer housings, plastic toothbrushes, plastic car components, the list is endless. Life as we know it would cease to exist without plastic. And the vast majority of it is recyclable. What’s not to like?
Does anybody know why these companies are advertising on “regular” tv? A CEO of a company that would utilize any of these products would be well aware of his choice of suppliers, so I just can’t imagine what the purpose of these commercials is.
WAG: To help prop up falling stock prices by encouraging investors.
Clearly, the average person isn’t going to buy a jet. However, investors may feel better about investing in a company they feel is strong and reputable with a potential for growth.
Sort-of-example: With major airlines filing for bankruptcy protection, Bombardier (a plane manufacturer) felt a bit of a sting. It’s good PR for Bombardier to advertise their wares, to remind the public that they are still in business, still going strong fulfilling orders for planes and hey, they make subway cars, trains, and snowmobiles too!
The ads serve as a “please, please, please don’t dump your stock! We’re doing just fine! Really!” purpose. Some companies just need to publicly flex their muscles in wobbly economic times.
Oh flowers, I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who’s noticed this trend lately. It seems more and more that commercials are no longer being directed at the general public, but at corporate buyers, or some other miniscule portion of the public. There was a commercial a couple of years ago that I still have no idea what they were advertising. It was a woman and they were describing her various technologies that she carried about her person. They said something about IT and that was it. There’s also those commercials for servers, something I don’t ever plan purchasing.
The last part of the Washington Post’s A section usually has at least one ad from Lockheed Martin for fighter jets and such.
There were a couple of threads in GQ lately explaining just this. I’m too lazy to find them for you, but if you search, you should come up with some good answers.