Advertisements reflect the age and culture far more than any other industry. Its sole survival is based on the tracks along which the fast-developing world moves. It is a mirror to the present. Its purpose is to persuade the viewer, especially the consumers to buy a certain product. The paper analyzes the change of advertising through four major brands: Barbie, Axe, Adidas, and Nike, which had been on the billboards for decades. The advertisements for the same company but two centuries are taken for comparison. The change of thought that many brands uphold has changed drastically over time. These advertisements reflect the way people thought and lived. It directly brings out the various prejudices and preferences that dominated the age in which they were produced. While some addressed relevant issues others had their primary focus on entertainment and promotion. Advertisement can and should act without racism, gender differences, and discrimination. They have a powerful hand in manipulating the audience of all genders and age groups and are often seem to directly influence their thoughts and decisions. Advertising, being a promotional activity, takes the age of appeals keeping in mind the need of the target audience. The influence created by the advertisements undergo changes with their altering behaviors of the general public. The replaceable element, creative language, also plays a vital role in bringing out an impact in the minds of consumers. The appeals looked into in the paper are emotional appeal, fear appeal, humour appeal, music a pill, rational appeal, sexual appeal and scarcity appeal.
Key words: Advertisements, Consumers, Persuasion, Appeals.
|
