This Is Your Brain on Ads

Well, readers, I've probably mentioned before that I'm a huge nerd, and this post is about to bring it home. Because today, my lovelies, we will be talking about consumer manipulation through brain function.

Remember that commercial for the topical headache product that featured one woman who appeared to be really happy to be rubbing her child's glue stick on her forehead for 30 seconds? Remember how annoying it was?

  

Just in case.

Well, I was convinced for the longest time that this was the most ineffective advertising strategy in the history of consumerism. However, some recent research and consideration about the function of the human brain has encouraged me to rethink this opinion. Turns out I was wrong! Repetitive slogans, images, jingles and even repeated commercials are effective because the part of the brain that is responsible for repetitive tasks and behaviors and the part of the brain that controls analytical decision making can't seem to operate very well at the same time. One of these faculties will take over while the other pants pathetically in the background. Theories exist stating that this is why professional athletes "choke" when shooting free throws and kicking field goals during big games. The anxiety throws the analytical part of their brain into high gear and even though they've been kicking a ball for years, the simple, repetitive task becomes almost impossible. This is the same reason why it's difficult to give someone detailed directions to a place that you drive to every single day, and why I can operate a cash register just fine unless my boss is watching me. The same is true for the reverse, when you are being barraged with the same repeated phrase over and over, it's difficult for your brain to receive that information while analyzing it and making a decision. So when advertisers use this strategy, they are effectively temporarily blocking the brain function that analyzes information, while stimulating the part of your brain that urges you to apply HeadOn directly to your forehead...and not just because the commercial gives you a headache.

Abstract Ads-tract: Are creative commercials still persuasive?

This is a question that's been at the back of my mind for a few years now, and it has just recently come to the forefront. With the increase in control that consumers have over their media exposure, advertisers have been looking for ways to make their campaigns more intriguing and entertaining in an effort to reach their target audience without being skipped over by the DVR or the TiVo.

Some ads have opted to produce campaigns that are funny, clever, entertaining and feature the product they're selling. But I often wonder in this case, when watching television with friends and someone says "I love that commercial!" Have funny ads gone too far? Are they turning themselves into miniature sitcoms, selling their ads and not their product? My favorite example of this is the Miller Lite campaign. While a little annoying sometimes, I usually find them pretty amusing. I'm not a fan of Miller Lite, but I'll sit through one of their commercials to the punchline for the sake of entertainment. I feel that these types of campaigns are missing something. Yes, they are accomplishing one goal, convincing the consumer to view the entirety of the advertisement. But are they neglecting the promotion of their product, in order to focus on the promotion of their promotion?

On a related note, there are ads out there right now that are trying something a little unorthodox. Their images are abstract, sometimes seemingly unrelated to their product or service, but are meant to intrigue the viewer to the point that they stick around just to see what all the insanity is about. Like the Las Vegas Cosmopolitan.

Their slogan "Just the right amount of wrong." Is very interesting, especially to the target audience. In a way, I think that these ads in which there are odd things happening are more effective persuasions than the creative or clever punchline of a joke.