advertising

Introduction

People advertise the things they sell to make us want to buy them.

Advertisements are all around us: on the television and radio, in magazines and newspapers, on posters and carrier bags, at sports grounds, on car stickers and badges and on the side of buses and vans.

Everywhere you look you can see them. Advertising can be very expensive.

An advert shown on TV can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Yet most TV adverts last for only thirty seconds so they can't give out much information.

Instead they often rely on humour or a strong image that will stay in our minds.

If the seller wants to say a lot about the product then magazines or newspapers are probably better because we have time to study the message.

Because of this, advertisers usually plan campaigns using a lot of different types of adverts. They have to decide:

• What message has to be put across.
• How to say it - in words and pictures.
• Where to say it - on radio, TV magazines etc. or a combination of all these.
• Who to say it to - the people most likely to buy the product;
• Sometimes they carry out market research to find out what people want and what sort of magazines or newspapers they read.

Many adverts try to say something by using beautiful or famous people who wear stylish clothes, live in fabulous houses and drive fast, expensive cars.

The advertisers are trying to suggest that if we buy their product, we will become rich, famous and successful too.

Adverts can be fun - but sometimes you need to look at them closely to find out what they are saying.

Top

The 'Koola' Example

"Koola" - a tantalisingly different drink. That great taste of sunshine simply sparkles on your tongue. Nothing is more refreshing. Let "Koola" take the heat out of your day. Eight out of ten prefer "Koola".

What does it tell you about the product? Can you describe Koola's flavour?

Look at the words "Nothing is more refreshing." Do they mean that you'd be more refreshed by drinking nothing?

"Eight out of ten." Eight out of ten what? Parrots, Gerbils? Prefer it to what? Cough medicine? Cold porridge?

The advertiser doesn't really expect us to take it seriously, but is hoping that we'll be interested enough to find out more by buying some.

Top

Advertising and The Law

The law says that advertisers must not tell lies about what they are selling.

For example, if a mechanical toy is described on the box as being "30 cm high" and that it comes "complete with four batteries," then those things have to be true.

If it is advertised as costing £19.99 you must not be asked to pay more than that price.

Top

Reporting Bad Advertising

If you think that an advertisement is untrue you can complain to us on 686520 or mail us and we can investigate complaints and take traders to court and prosecute them if they break the law.

They have a code which says that all adverts should be legal, decent, honest and truthful. If they think your complaint is right, they will ask the advertiser to correct the advert or stop using it.

With adverts you see on television, if you think they are wrong in some way you should complain to:

There is also a separate organisation which deals with complaints about adverts on independent radio called the:

The codes of practice say that adverts should not mislead a child by showing a toy, for example, to be larger than it really is, or to make it sound like the real thing - such as a racing car or a train.

Cartoon characters and puppets featured in children's TV programmes must not recommend toys or other things that interest children.

Adverts using TV personalities from children's programmes and which promote products of special interest to children must not be shown on TV until after 9 pm.

Top

DisabledGo Information

Terms & Conditions

©2008 Isle of Man Government