My views on advertisements

Advertisements help businesses to sell their products or services by generating awareness about them. Advertisements can come in different forms, such as in newsprint, flyers, television, radio and internet advertisements.


What makes a good advertisement?

A good advertisement should be one which can capture the attention of the target audience and influence them to buy or use the advertised products or services. It need not necessarily be sophisticated or glitzy. The styles of advertisements have evolved over the years as they need to suit the changing preferences and psyche of the target audience. In the past, telco television commercials would usually contain a commentary on the pricing of the different phone plans, but nowadays some of the telco television commercials do not contain such commentaries. A recent M1 advertisement in Singapore had a short animated clip of a ‘paperclip man’ prancing about the screen with two bikini-clad ladies to convey the company’s catchphrase “Anywhere anytime under the Sun.”

Most people nowadays are busy and are already tired of putting up with constant barrage of advertisements they encounter in their everyday lives. As such, advertisements have to creative and stand out from the rest in order to capture the attention of the target audience. The recent Carlsberg beer television commercial had a group of people ‘humming’ to the tune of a catchy song (Can’t Take My Eyes of You) using beer bottles. The advertisement drew warm response from people because of its catchy song. Using superstars in advertisements can also help to capture the attention of the target audience as in the numerous sports commercials starring sports stars like footballer David Beckham and basketball player Michael Jordan. The clever use of graphics, music and even positioning of texts and layout can have a subliminal effect on the minds of the target audience and influence their purchasing decisions. Condominium advertisements in newspapers are usually uncluttered and contain as little text as possible to project an impression that the condominium is spacious. Some bank advertisements in newsprint take up an entire page but only have a single line of text in the center of the page to catch the eye of the reader.

Do you think the money that companies spend on advertising is worth it?
Some people think that certain companies spend a disproportionate amount of money on advertising which could instead be used to manufacture more products or refine the products or services. However, one must realize that though the product is important, the awareness of the product or service is important as well. Without awareness of the products or services, how would people buy or use the products or services? Thus, it is important for companies to invest equally in their product research and advertising.


Should unsolicited advertisements be banned?

With the advent of the Internet, unsolicited advertisements in form of emails and pop-up window advertisements have become ubiquitous. Some companies send a myriad of emails using random email generators to Internet users, even if they have never released their email addresses to those companies. This is known as ‘spamming’. Spamming has been on the rise and it has become such a big problem that Microsoft, a software giant, has paid attention to it and even suggested introducing email stamping, that is an email user has to pay a fee to send an email. Currently, sending emails is free and that is what makes spamming so attractive to companies. Tracking down the spammers is not an easy task and thus it is difficult to prevent spamming.

Unsolicited advertisements, whether in the form of flyers or spam emails, are a source of nuisance to people. Instead of promoting the companies products or services, unsolicited advertisements may lead to a public backlash and irritated people may even boycott the advertised products or services. Thus, banning unsolicited advertisements is necessary not only to protect the interests of the recipients but also that of the companies.


Should advertisements be restricted in any way?

Some advertisements contain explicit violence and sex content and exposure to such materials may corrupt volatile young minds. In order to prevent this from happening, it is imperative to impose restrictions on advertisements. In Singapore, the Media Development Authority (MDA) regulates media content, including advertisements.

What is one value or belief which you hold on to in life?

I believe that fifty percent of what happens in life is determined by fate and the other fifty percent by our actions. As a Buddhist, I believe in Kharma, that is what you do now will affect you in the future, including your next life. A person who has done numerous bad deeds in his past life will suffer in his next life.

However, not everything is entirely decided by fate alone. We have to make numerous decisions every day, including small and insignificant ones such as whether or not to eat or got to the toilet. In almost every decision that we make, we have a choice. Thus, we can control our lives to a certain extent. One may argue that whatever decisions one make had already been decided by fate and whatever that happens is predestined. But if this true, then there is no purpose in life.

Since everything that we do will eventually affect us, we have to be cautious about what we do and do what is right. We should help others around us and have compassion towards all sentinent beings. If we want to achieve our goals, we have to work hard and not just wait and let fate decide everything.As the saying goes, "You reap what you sow."