New heights in niche markets Advertisments create problems for certain demographics
CURTIS DOWHANIUK | cdowhaniuk@cjournal.ca
Photo Illustration: Derek Manage/Calgary Journal
People are often lost in the number of advertisements their subjected to on a daily basis.
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very day we are inundated with hundreds of advertisements. TV, magazines, movies and billboards are all different means for these messages to reach you. Even the clothes we wear function as a sort of moving billboard. But do we always notice when we’re being marketed to? Problems with Ads Bruce Chambers, CBC Radio’s Ad Guy, believes that advertising is usually quite devious in general. People may not realize that marketing that is aimed at marginalized groups like women, people of colour, and the LGBT community is still a common problem today. Chambers began his career as a copywriter at a radio station, but eventually moved on to work for different advertising agencies. “I have been writing advertising for a long time and enjoying it, but always feeling a little bit guilty about what advertising does to people,” Chambers said. The desire to undo some of the harm he has done over his career is what lead him to become CBC Radio’s Ad Guy.” Over the past 10 years, Chambers has been using podcasts and radio to
January 2013 | calgaryjournal.ca
deconstruct ads and reveal their inner workings to the public. Chambers explained that companies “market at the margins” or try to target small groups of people in advertising. “They basically help them feel less good about themselves and once they have them feeling inferior, they introduce a product that makes them feel good about themselves,” Chambers said. They know people don’t like being degraded, Chambers said. So they make it appear as though they are being empowering to these marginalized groups. In actuality, it’s the same old manipulation just being dressed up in “sensitive new clothes,” as Chambers puts it. He calls this “enlightened sexism.” Chambers said women are traditionally undervalued in advertising. They are dressed up in skimpy bathing suits and placed in front of products regardless of whether they are relevant to the product or not. Women are often used as props and sex objects in order to sell a given product, said Chambers. Women are the biggest victims of marketing, but they are not the only ones. At a talk recently given at Mount Royal University, Chambers discussed
the particular challenges the LGBT community has faced in terms of advertising. “Traditionally, marketers either ignored gays and lesbians or portrayed them negatively or just made them the punch line of jokes,” said Chambers. This began to change in 1981 when marketers started targeting ads specifically at the LGBT community, Chambers said. Absolut Vodka became the first major company to launch an ad campaign aimed towards the LGBT community. Stephen Wright, president of Pride Calgary, also sees marketing towards the gay community becoming more of a trend. “Probably within the last year or so because of the push for gay marriage, you are seeing more advertising come in,” says Wright. “It’s still not where I would like to see it but unfortunately I do not control the advertising industry.” Companies are slowly starting to realize that there is a big market in the LGBT community, said Wright. This is why we are beginning to see more blatant advertising than in the past.
Wright knows that the community is being targetted for advertising purposes, but he said that this is the point of advertising. With almost every gender, race and sexual preference being targeted by advertising at one point or another, it’s hard to say that any one group is being singled out. He believes that’s just the nature of the beast. At Chambers’ panel discussion at Mount Royal University, many audience members said that he did not give the consumer enough credit. One member of the audience challenged Chambers and said that individuals always have the ability are to say no. Another said that people do not buy things just because of advertising. Chambers had an answer for both questions. He said, the truth is, we do buy things because of commercials. After all, if advertising didn’t work, it wouldn’t exist. Chambers said that even if we are aware of the techniques, it can be tough to overcome every type of manipulation that faces us. For Chambers, the important thing is that we are aware of the advertising going on around us. Oftentimes, advertising uses emotion to win individuals over. By being mindful of this, we can help prevent ourselves from being pulled in by marketers, he suggests.
“The last thing marketers want you to do is stop and think” — Bruce Chambers, CBC Radio’s Ad Guy “The last thing marketers want you to do is stop and think,” he said. Markerters want you to make a quick decision with your emotions, an immediate gratification kind of thing, said Chambers. How to overcome adS The best thing to do is stop and think and put some analysis in it, explains Chambers. You will find that the product isn’t something you need . This is probably the best tip for how to overcome this manipulation, said Chambers.
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