Are Advertisements Really Worth It?

          "Nationwide is on your side." An ever popular jingle stuck in peoples heads. Everywhere you look you see advertisements. Whether it's by drinking orange juice for breakfast and looking at the carton or seeing some Got Milk? ad watching the annual Super Bowl, we spot them daily during our lives. But do they really affect consumers as a whole? Do silly commercials really make you want to get up from your couch on a lazy day and buy Colgate toothpaste? Or make you remember that brand when buying your next t.v? In my opinion, sometimes yes and sometimes no. It depends on the type of advertisement.

          Printing media such as newspapers and fliers used to be popular and used a lot and is also cheaper, however the Internet is more often used nowadays. Billboards can be seen throughout the city with bright colors and flashy lights trying to catch the consumers eye. Radio advertising using adds such as Sleep Train are aired in between songs or interviews. Celebrity advertisement is also used massively as the audience would be persuaded to buy a product based on other celebrities "choices." Televised commercials are seen all the time between t.v. serials and episodes. Whether for Burger King or that vacuum cleaner no one wants. There are billions of types advertising techniques used from the ones listed above or to even coffee cup advertising.

           I think the least effective means of advertisement are billboards on the freeway. I don't think it's worth the amount of money (tens of thousands of dollars) paid for the add to be there. You may simply dismiss them without a second thought or just don't see them at all. And in the dark, at, night, without light shining on them, they would appear to be useless. But also, the most effective way of getting to an audience would be social media or online advertisement. Social media carries information about some brand or restaurant from friend to friend. Either by Twitter or Instagram social media really takes things far. Just a simple friend, for example, posting a photo of her wearing TOMS could make her friends want a pair too. Or a famous actor declaring his love for, say, Taco Bell, could encourage fans worldwide to eat there. So all together, I think advertisements, for the most part, make a huge difference in what the world wants.