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Public Relations Ad
- 34 statements
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An oddity in the world of commercials — an ad for something that neither consumers nor even most businesses would have any reason to buy (if they could afford it in the first place), or for a company that primarily makes such products. Frequently seen on cable news channels. A cynical interpretation is that they're a form of propaganda. Large corporations in general don't have a good image with the public, so they put adverts on the air, aimed at people who normally don't actually purchase said company's product, with the sole intention of smoothing over their public image. Alternatively, such commercials may be intended to show off the success of the company, to induce people — including perfectly ordinary people — to invest in the company, buy stock, or submit their resumes. So, no, you can't buy your own personal jumbo jet, but you can buy a little piece of Boeing—and if you are really keen, you can go make jets for them. Another possibility is that the goal of such adverts is to reach those viewers who are in the position to be customers of the company running the ad. CEOs and Purchasing Managers are people too, people who watch TV and might be influenced by adverts when making decisions on behalf of their employer. This may be why such adverts are often on news channels, because it's plausibly the kind of thing that the target demographic (people with decision-making power for potential business customers) might watch. Somehow, that seems like the least insidious of the possibilities. Arguably the most chilling is the possibility that purchasing such ads with a news organization might function as a kind of protection money to prevent them from running negative stories about the company. Unfortunately, it seems as plausible as the other explanations, since Sunday morning talk shows don't seem to do hard hitting stories or interviews on, say, farm policy or energy policy. At best, they might have the CEOs of two competing companies on to discuss why the latest tax break for CEOs of energy companies is a great idea. Of course, those possibilities are not mutually exclusive. They might all be true to a lesser or greater extent. See also We Care, We Don't Suck Anymore, and YouTuber Apology Parody. |
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Better Off Ted had parody ads for Veridian Dynamics, the fictional company the show is set in, appearing Once an Episode. Despite the feel-good images and soothing music and narration, the ads don't do that good a job at helping the company's image. | |
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Parodied on The Simpsons, with a Super Bowl ad for the Catholic Church. A guy drives down a lonely stretch of rural desert road, and goes to a gas station, where 3 sexy, scantily-clad women come up and wash his car, with a close-up of the bustiest woman's...cross necklace. A voiceover comes on and says, "The Catholic Church: we've made a few...changes." | |
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The General Electric "We bring good things to life" campaign is somewhere between a stock pitch and an ad for the appliances that the company makes. Advertising GE washing machines and microwave ovens is one thing, but who's going to buy a locomotive or jet engine? During the extended period when GE owned the network, it seemed like they used to just throw these on NBC when they couldn't sell the airtime to someone else so they don't get suspiciously heavy on PSAs and program announcements (since even the business wonks and fans of 30 Rocknote Which reveled in Biting-the-Hand Humor directed at GE perhaps even more than it did making jabs at NBC don't generally make an immediate association between NBC and GE, and the rest of the population had no clue). These ads have been seriously reduced in number ever since Comcast completed its buyout of the Peacock Network in 2013, so it's likely this is what was going on. |
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Fictional example: In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode Time Chasers, the villain, a Corrupt Corporate Executive, pitches his company GenCor: "Innovators. We really can't do without them... and neither can you." The Designated Hero views this ad and the plot is set in, er, motion. | |
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Yet another fictional example: Babylon 5 had a fake documentary episode which featured an extremely creepy ad for the "Psi Corps", who encourage you to submit your children to them for testing. It also features a subliminal message telling us to "Trust the Corps". | |
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
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Advertising Tropes | |
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Basic Commercial Types | |
| Better Off Ted / int_706acb0c | type |
Public Relations Ad |
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