I just wanted to blog about a few ads I’ve seen recently. On my way to Manhattan a few weeks ago, I walked past a poster ad hanging on one of the walls on the Staten Island Ferry. I don’t know what made me look at it but the advertisement was for Nicotra’s at the SI Hilton. They were advertising the “perfect” wedding on beautifully manicured lawns and gardens, an outdoor gazebo and a banquet hall for the reception. There was one large background photo and several (three, I think) smaller photos in a column on the right side of the ad. The larger photo showed the lawn with the gazebo in the background and a bride in her wedding dress. The other photos were of the banquet hall, the food and a wedding cake I think. The bride appeared in one of these smaller photos. As soon as I saw this ad, I wondered…hmmm a perfect wedding, yet the groom is no where in sight! It was on the bride shown.
Another form of advertising I’ve noticed is on sporting events on cable television., specifically the channels FSN and MSG. About a month before the movie “Ghost Rider” came out, both networks began shameless promos DURING the action for this movie. A graphic taking up a major portion of the screen would appear about Nicholas Cage in Ghost Rider and the play-by-play announcer would say “Only XX days until Ghost Rider is in theaters.” After numerous times per game and watching this every single game I couldn’t wait for the movie to come out! No, not because I would be first in line at the theater but so I could stop hearing this stupid advertisement during the game.
This is an example of advertising trying to get into the content of the program. Rushkoff mentions this in Merchants of Cool, but in the context of MTV. This example is even more blatant.