SARAH
Creativity is what comes to mind when I was watching this documentary. The way these creative and successful people manipulate mass audiences and their feelings and thoughts is nothing short of amazing. It is like magic. I also find that advertising is challenging as we have to break through other people’s perceptions and thoughts to make something beautiful and different from their mainstream thoughts and daily situations. It is a challenge to make something dull and boring come to life and interesting enough to make an impression on other people so they would be affected wholly; their life changes. From what I have watched; it is amazing how the field of advertising has evolved into a much bigger and complex industry. It started out simple and small as most people in this industry are struggling at that time; struggling for a name to be recognized in the world and for revenues to make sure their business thrives into succession.
One of the advertisements that had caught my attention is the German Volkswagen car advertisement with a simple sign that says “Think Small.” I find it mind blowing how such a short and simple phrase could make the car become a big and successful hit internationally. Even though the car is German made, it is known worldwide due to advertisements. Apparently sometimes, simplicity is the way to go. The phrase “You got power in you to do more than what you are doing,” as said by George Lois is very inspiring as he as a person does not believe in failure and he believes that he can do anything. His confidence inspires me to be confident in myself and in my ideas; as no idea is ridiculous or stupid. This message also implies that if we think positively and have confidence in ourselves, we would be successful in what we do.
This documentary has definitely enlightened me on so many aspects of the advertising industry. It has also taught me that this field is not as easy as it looks. Some people take advertising lightly by saying “Just put a fancy photo shopped picture and a catchy caption and it will be done.” But it really is not that simple and not all the pictures are photo shopped into the advertisement. The pictures are taken by professional photographers and the entire production and editorial crew would work hours on end to create and advertisement for the product. Those who think the advertising field is easy; I highly advise you to think again as every word, picture and detail in an advertisement has a deep meaning behind it. It is purposely made that way to generate an emotion or thought in a consumer’s mind; whether to persuade the consumer or to inform them.
When I was introduced to advertising, I find it really interesting and creative. This field has definitely piqued my interest and I look forward to learning more about this field and maybe one day get to be in it. I am unsure if I am qualified to even be in this field; but if given the opportunity, I would like try to make an advertisement that would influence a person’s emotions and mindset in a powerful and impactful way. Through this documentary, it has shown me a glimpse of how the industry would be in the future, and as it evolves the industry will become more challenging as more people are aware of their surroundings and situations. People are getting more aware of the lies and manipulation the advertisement world holds and that may influence their mindset by thinking, “Hey, it’s an advertisement. Advertisements are always full of lies.” Which will be a burden to the future generation of advertisers. However, this will create more powerful and creative minds to emerge from the advertising world to handle such situations.
It is hard to imagine a world without advertising as advertising is a common thing and has become a cultural norm for society. There is literally an advertisement for anything and anywhere. From cars to toilets and from the rural areas to the fast paced cities; advertisements are everywhere. In a world without advertisement, people would be less informed on the latest products and inventions of the world. Besides that, the world’s economy would probably drop as people are not informed on any new products or even any products at all. In a way, society would still remain as it was and not evolve into something better without advertisements as they are not exposed to anything new or stimulating. The world would be a dull place without much conversation and thoughts on anything at all. On the flip side though, stereotypes such as body stereotypes and gender stereotypes would occur less as the society is not influenced by super skinny models on advertisement boards and girls having to be petite and fashionable all the time.
All in all, advertising affects everyone for decades and will continue to influence our future generations. I hope that the advertising field could blossom into a better industry for our future generation and at the same time create more creative minds to color up this black and white world with new ideas and thoughts.