Obnoxious Commercials, are They Effective at All?

too loud! image with text for slice, signed


Suzanne Coleman, MD, BS social psychology

It seems that the advertising community has decided that screaming at the audience increases sales, but does it really?  I wonder what the research shows on this.

What I have read actually shows that the best way to get and hold someone’s attention, besides actually saying something they want to hear, is to whisper.  Screaming is not whispering, so why are they doing it?

Besides screaming, they have added random loud noises with no real rhythm or melody.  Do they think that everyone has ADD (attention deficit disorder)?

Another prevalent ad technique which doesn’t make much sense is when the presenter is talking really fast, and the speech is edited to eliminate the normal pauses in conversations.  It’s really hard to follow this and again I wonder, is there actually any research that shows that this leads to sales?  I would think that the basis of any sales would be getting the consumer to listen to what you are saying to them, but maybe I am wrong about that.

When any of this noisy distracting craziness is going on, I simply reach for my remote, and hit my favorite button, “mute.”  Ah, that’s better.  Am I the only one?

What about the bright white backdrops they are using so often these days?  With the new backlit televisions, this just blinds me, am I alone?  I literally block the screen when those commercials are on.  Is that effective marketing?

So conversely, what are the best commercials?  Well, in my opinion, the ones that are enjoyable.  Now I know I am not alone on this when I say that the ones with the best music are at the top of the list.  Add to those the ones with interesting and enjoyable visuals and you have my top characteristics of TV ads that hold my interest.  These tend to be things like high-end car ads, some other car ads, Target ads over the last few years or more, some Apple ads, and others.

So I want to know, is this an age thing?  Maybe a cultural background issue?  Or is it just that advertising executives are making the wrong choices when it comes to really getting their audience to sit, watch, and listen to their ads?  I wonder what the research shows.

What do YOU think?

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