Big business thinks your stupid.
 

Well I was watching TV and about 3 comericals in a row didn't make sense to me. I found myself thinking why the hell would they put something like that on the air. I mean the things they were saying sounded right but anyone that would take the 3 seconds to think about would see the logical fallacy behind it. This lead me to the conclusion they must think the American public is a bunch of morons. So what do you think; are they right? If so then do you think anything can be done or are we doomed to this fate? Personally I think the idiocy we constantly receive from the television may be having a negative effect on society.

Well damn. My IQ should have sky-rocketted by now considering I've only watched a cumulative 15 minutes of station TV over the past two years. But, if you want really annoying and nonsensical commercials, check out some Japanese commericals. Like this one. And this one. And all those "Life" cereal commericals don't make sense, either.

I really think what commercial are aiming for is to be funny, or appealing. That's the way they've always been. Look at alcohol ads. Namely, the infamous Budwiser frogs. What the hell does a frog have to do with beer? Nothing. Or some stupid stuffed animal with its face on a box of fabric softeners and a porcupine? What the hell is that about? But, since I haven't watched network TV for so long, I can't think of many more stupid examples.

BTW, Sithdarth, I think your theory about absorbing idocy from commercials is correct.-coughtitleofthreadcoughwronghack-

Well, I was going to post a smart ass remark to this hread, but then I put some thought into it. Yes, I believe that big businesses believe that we are Idiots. They Say one thing, but usually mean another totally different thing when It comes to Advertising. And I hate, oh how I hate, when they keep out certain details about a product, or put said info in small print so you cant read it. It really makes me mad. But maybe thats just cause I hate commercials. I will oneday find a way to outlaw them, just as soon as I get that law degree.....heh

I know Big Business thinks we're stupid. I saw a commercial for Buzz Lightyear cereal where the flying saucer marshmallow bits 'flew' into the bowl. In big letters on the bottom of the screen it read "Marshmallow saucers DO NOT fly"

Also, Otaku, you're IQ would have stayed the same if you hadn't watched any TV, not skyrocketed. Unless you spent those two years re-reading the encyclopedia or something, in place of say, manga and anime.

Actually, those are to keep stupid people from sueing.

Seriously. Remember back in the '90s how everyone sued everything? Well, this is a by-product of that. Now businesses have to cover themselves to avoid stupid lawsuits. Hence, you get "dolls do not move on their own", "Guess Who is not a talking toy", and "dramaization" on all the stupid car commericals when Jeep outruns a helicopter.

Generally, big business treats us as stupid to protect themselves from those who are stupid.

While that is true, I agree with SithDarth in that there are many ads which only work as promoting their product if you don't think about them overmuch. Unfortunately, you will probably find that most people do think in the way that ad agencies are assuming. Many people do not recognise logical fallacies, and so may well be convinced by these ads. Perhaps if people began watching for these fallacies the ad agencies would stop committing them.

On the other hand, if the media treated its audience as if it had a little more intelligence, perhaps the audience would be encouraged to live up to this. An analogy might be children's books. Often children's authors talk down to their audience, but it had been suggested (I forget by whom; it was a well-known author) that the best is to talk up to children, that is, to use complex language. This encourages the children to learn.

Maybe they don't think we're so much stupid as they want to make us to be stupid. Stupidity can influence others. And talking to ppl like they are idiots can make them believe they are idiots and get them to buy products. If you're around a person who speaks with horrible grammer for a long time then eventually you might pick some of that up yourself. If they can stupify the audience enough they can get them to do anything. I don't know if I really believe this or not but it could be true. I haven't watched tv for a long time probably a year. If I do it's usually a movie channel so not much in the way of commercials.

Why are adverts so damn stupid?

Have you EVER met a marketing major? I'm not a genius or anything, but most of those guys make my brain hurt.

I was going to post a smart ass remark concerning the grammar in the title, but I decided against it. Another thing an ad agency will do is make a commercial, or a campaign of them, that is so annoying that people have to talk about it (like AT&T using Carrot-Top in their ads and Dell with the Dell dude). Besides, how do you make a commercial for something like a tongue scrapper interesting?

I'm surprised no one put it together, or maybe you did but didn't want to mention it. Either way the title was on purpose. It was supposed to be a joke but I guess no one gets my sense of humor.

The last commericial I saw before I posted this was for a herbal smoking remedy. In which they attacked the use of nicotine to help people quit smoking. I thought now that is just stupid there attacking a proven method of quiting when they have no real proof of their system. Then it occured to me they must have thought that they could fool the public into thinking the actually had a well suported argument. Then of course there are the comercials that just don't make any sense at all.