{photo courtesy of Fashion According To Alana}
{photo courtesy of Rush PR News}
What makes us want to do this? Sometimes it's the commercial and the way the commercial makes the item appear, and sometimes it is just us wanting to have the lasted and the greatest thing out on the market! But many times, it's a combination of the two!
No one needs the new Sally Hansen nail effects, but their cool and people just want to try them out for themselves! We all want to see for ourselves if these products really are as cool as the commercial makes them out to be!
Let's take the Reebook Easy Tone commercials for instance...after watching them, we all think that if we buy and wear those shoes too, then our legs and gluts will look just like the women's in the commercials do! This is what they want us to think and we all know this isn't true, but...we all insist that we try them out for ourselves! This is how companies lure us in and get us to go out and buy their products...over and over again! It's all about marketing, and how the introduce us to the product!
Companies will do anything they can to get us, the consumer, to buy their product! During the summer of 2009, FitFlops became a popular sensation among woman. All it was, was a simple shoe that claimed would easily tone your body (legs in particular) throughout the day while you were going about your daily routine! How simple is that? This was especially appealing to people who didn't have for a regular fitness routine.
According to Rush PR News, after such a huge popularity of FitFlops, they expected shoes such as the Reebok EasyTones and Sketcher ShapeUps to be the new fitness sensation, and they were right! The advertisements of these two shoes, and many other fitness shoes, show men and woman who are very fit & toned wearing these shoes in the commercials, wanting us to think they got that way by wearing these shoes! Problem is, they probably haven't been wearing those shoes for months to get that way, and were already toned and fit in the first place, which is why they were hired to do the commercial! This is where the consumer is mislead most of the time. We look at those models & think we can look that way too, if we just had a pair of those shoes! FALSE! But...what do we do? We go out and buy them anyways! This is easily how companies run to make that money honey...by getting the consumer to want and then to buy their products!
I would have to say that fitness shoes were a great invention on someone's part! I don't even like the look of the Reebok EasyTone's, but have looked into buying them more than once, in hopes of achieving the looks of the woman on the commercials! I hope I'm not the only one that can admit to that! :P
Companies are smart at coming up with new products to sell, making them appeal to us through celebrities and perfect looking people, which makes us run out and buy their product! We're all guilty of it, even if we don't want to be! It's all about marketing and fitness shoes have made there bold statement whether they actually work or not!
Dear Kati,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog. I can definitely relate to it. It is true that companies market their products in ways that will make the consumer more likely to buy. I appreciated the part of your blog that said, "Problem is, they probably haven't been wearing those shoes for months to get that way, and were already toned and fit in the first place, which is why they were hired to do the commercial!" People are so often mislead when they see people with perfect bodies appear on these commercials. The truth is, the people in these commercials more than likely do not look the way that they do because of the shoes they are modeling. I also liked it when you said, "Companies will do anything they can to get us, the consumer, to buy their product!" Most companies do go to drastic measures in order to spark the interest of consumers and make them want to buy their product. They come up with entising commercials and advertisements that are in most cases not 100% true. We all have to be smart when it comes to the items companies pressure us to buy. Thanks for writing! I will come back to read more soon if you continue to relate to your audience.
Meerkat
Dear Kati,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. When I saw this commercial, the first thing that came to my mind was I need to get my girlfriend some of those shoes. Then, I discovered that they made a pair for men as well. I went to the store and got a great deal for buy one pair get the second pair for half the price. I bought my girlfriend the easy tone and bought myself the run tone.
When you put that "Companies will do anything they can to get us, the consumer, to buy their product!", it stood out to me. I feel like this is scary because a company would even lie just to get us to buy something. That's exactly what you said, and it make me think of what other people are lying to me about.
When you said that "Companies are smart at coming up with new products to sell, making them appeal to us through celebrities and perfect looking people, which makes us run out and buy their product!", I felt as if that is all you needed to say. The point in selling products is to make people want them so much that they feel the need to have them, and this is a great summary of that. What person doesn't want to look sexy like a celebrity? I agree!
I loved the fact that you talked about propaganda. I actually like to watch commercials. Yes, I watch the Superbowl for the football game, but I don't mind the commercials either. You had great pictures and great structure. I enjoyed your blog and will be back to see what else you have. ;-)
Gazelle
Dear Kati,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with this post. I am actually doing a project on subliminal messaging like this. It is crazy to think about all of the little nooks and crannies that corporations seem to find and use against us. I always find myself craving a Coke after seeing the cup on American Idol...ironically, I don't even like Coke.
This statement, "No one needs the new Sally Hansen nail effects, but their cool and people just want to try them out for themselves!" is the story of my life. I love change and trying new things, whether or not I actually need/like them. I love to watch the Food Network and while I would never eat what they are cooking, I still want to try to make it.
"We look at those models & think we can look that way too, if we just had a pair of those shoes!" It doesn't matter what the shoes look like, the fact is we want them. If orthopedic velcro shoes were put on the runway in Paris during fashion week, we would somehow find ourselves wanting them. It is crazy to think about things like that. I know that I don't find shape-ups appealing in anyway, but if wearing them means I will look like that model, I just might get a pair!
I really enjoyed reading your blog. The organization is very good. I am sure I will be coming back to read more soon. Thank you for your opinions.
Zebra
Dear Kati,
ReplyDeleteAdvertisements that lure people in are an important part of American society. It can definitely have a great impact on the American people. Like you said in your blog many people like to have the latest and greatest things. Many people buy new things because they are afraid of being left behind. Other people buy the newest things because they want to look attractive. Another thing you mentioned was that companies will do anything to get people to buy their products. They will run misleading ads and stretch the truth to make their products look nice. They will also have popular celebrities and athletes endorse their products in an attempt to boost their sales. Thank you for writing Kati. Many people are lured in by misleading advertisements in attempt to be more popular. Everybody also has to realize that actions speak louder than anybody’s words or appearance.
Junco
Dear Kati,
ReplyDeleteI can totaly relate to this post. I honestly can't think of how businesses in America would be able to make it without their advertisement. I find it to be scary the way they can lure us into purchasing things we don't even need.
"According to Rush PR News, after such a huge popularity of FitFlops, they expected shoes such as the Reebok EasyTones and Sketcher ShapeUps to be the new fitness sensation, and they were right!" This sentece stood out to me because it is so true. These companies know exactly what they are doing when they do it. It is almost mind warping.
"Companies are smart at coming up with new products to sell, making them appeal to us through celebrities and perfect looking people, which makes us run out and buy their product!" I can relate to this sentence because I am guilty of this exact scenario myself. Seeing how perfect the ladys legs and butt looked in the commercial made me want to go out and buy a pair myself.
Thank you for you post. I will be back to read more.
Chimpanzee