Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising
tpdsaa.tumblr.com
tpdsaa.tumblr.com
"I like the functionality, but it doesn't follow best practices."
or "Things Real People Don't Say About Science"
"These findings are compelling, but I'd like to see some corroborating studies in peer reviewed journals".
Any consumer facing industry is going to have a world of jargon that is inaccessible or ridiculous to the layperson. And similarly, these industries can support those who want to participate but don't have anything to add.
I don't see this as a jab at advertsising (although, it very well may have been intended as such) I see it as a jab at wannabes.
If you still don't believe me, try reading tech job postings...
[edit: typo]
This blog works because the "fakeness" of the stock people nicely parallels the ridiculousness of the slogan to create a satirical meta-advertisement... about advertisers.
Unless you make satirical apps for app developers, or satirical science papers about scientists, you're not duplicating the irony of this blog.
"Clearly this app is unusable because it doesn't follow HIG"
"This minimum viable product just isn't minimal enough"
"This site works with just me on it, but I don't think it will scale to millions of users"
"No it's OK, do something irrelevant - I'm happy to wait"
"Sure, I'd love to join your community so I can be notified of updates and future releases - I don't get much email and would love to hear from you."
"I really enjoy the way all your driver downloads have random numbers for filenames, HP"
Uhh, I say exactly that on a monthly, if not weekly, basis.
The MSM doesn't seem to grok that if a single, non-corroborated 'study' shows something, it's effectively noise, not news.
> I love the copy, but it feels off brand ...
I remember the first time I saw a McPizza ad. It talked about how if you didn't like one kind, then you could get a different one. And it felt really strange.
Later I figured it out. Until then, McDonald's ads had always maintained the premise that everyone likes everything they sell.
> If only this solution was more scalable...
I am constantly annoyed at the idea that "scalable" is a meaningless word. Nonsense, it is a precise, well-defined, and useful term. True, it does get misused by marketing people. But the fact is that anyone who is purchasing a large system of any sort, if they know what they're doing, will have some concern for scalability.
> Finally, a place for me to share MY story!
Isn't this a huge reason for people going to blogging platforms?
On the other hand:
> This website's music is great - turn it up!
Definitely. No one has ever said that, ever, in the history of the web.
Unless the site was specifically about that music.
Definitely. No one has ever said that, ever, in the history of the web.
Never say never. It depends on the type of a site e.g., http://www.thesixtyone.com/
Yes, but that's not what it's lampooning. TONS of ads and websites invite people to "share their story" or try to take advantage of user generated content. It's a cheesy cop out. No one wants to share their Doritos story on the Doritos website.
MySpace learned this the hard way.
Only if it's Freedom Rock, man!
Relevant:
We know that when my aunt Kay visits a website and thinks it feels cheap or just doesn't hang together or seems like it's not safe to give my credit card to; it's because they used tired stock photography and their web copy is in three different voices, or that their copy leading and margins are inconsistent, or that they have no design language or brand focus.
Real people don't pick it apart like that because they don't care, don't have the talent to do so, won't acquire the skill to do so or a mix of all three. However, WE do think like this. And the fact that most people don't think like this is why all six of us still have jobs after five years.
Also relevant: http://wademeredith.com/2010/12/your-customers-care-about-de...
the picture isn't pretty, unless, that is, Commerce is your middle name.
This is why as an app developer I am deeply sceptical about Google's model. Okay, so the consumer saves a buck, but then you chip away at their goodwill every time you show an ad. And note, when you're showing an ad, to make it effective you have to make it intrusive, you either have to lock them out of the free functionality for a while or you need to make it eye-catching.
I don't know anyone that said "I'm so glad Google bought Youtube and plastered ads all over the videos".
People hate advertising so much they will go out of their way to avoid it.
In economic terms, as an app developer the way I see it is that free+ads is really just burning up my user's good will to enrich Google. The more I annoy my customers like this, the less likely they are to recommend my app. To the extent that it is less than a zero-sum game... it's not just an even 50:50 trade-off between for pay and ad-supported.
I watched some stuff on Hulu the other day. Fancy cars, teeth whitening commercials, drugs I don't ever anticipate using, and other useless stuff to me was marketed at me. That's just not a good ad model I think. I would love to see some really new and interesting products - not Another Car|Soda|Beer commercial.
This website feels like a bunch of immature complaints and useless mockery.
Believe it or not, there are a number of exceedingly self-absorbed people in advertising. These are folks who actually do assume that clients and audiences take advertising's technical aspects as seriously as they do, and start thinking that they can use their client's money to communicate on this level when, in fact, they can't. What's worse is that they can get heated in meetings when more grounded people try to tell them otherwise. Circulating stuff like this is a fine way to rein them in gently.
I'm sure variations on this send-up are possible in any business that evaluates its own work according to generally obscure measures. It's just especially funny here, since it also uses stock-photography so well, which is a product of the same business, and a separate source of endless eye-rolling from people who have to work with it.
From an article I read the other day:
"The cognitive revolution of the past thirty years provides a different perspective on our lives, one that emphasizes the relative importance of emotion over pure reason, social connections over individual choice, moral intuition over abstract logic, perceptiveness over I.Q."
- http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/17/110117fa_fact_...
That silly call center woman that's on millions of websites.
It reminds me to this youtube video somebody posted recently on Twitter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRDhx8Lo37E It's totally viral!
No, I'm not related to the video or whoever made it.
The funniest part is that most of this stuff actually works: on message copy, brand structure (http://bit.ly/fmyD7T), the word "solution" has sold hardware for 3 decades, buzzwords like "social currency" causing enough confusion to get your attention, focusing on intent increasing conversions/revenue, font size increasing conversions, branded apps (REI ski report, Oakley surf report), website users love introspection, stock photos increasing conversion, focusing on benefits (value prop).
By far the best.
If you've never seen an Adam Curtis documentary before, this is a good one to start with. His style and delivery is unique among documentary filmmakers and is definitely worth a watch.
I think this a lot, actually.
> Hooray, we fall into the correct segment
If segment means target demographic, then I think this a lot too.
By "real people" they mean "people who don't read HN".
Good advertising and branding works -- they generate demand.
In all seriousness though, humor used well for the right type of product is extremely effective. I can no longer find the source, but I read somewhere that the Old Spice Body Wash sales went up close to 100% when the Old Spice Guy commercials were running. My wife even bought some for me the next she went shopping after she saw the ad. She said it was just to reward them for the ad itself, then she decided she liked how it smelled and kept buying it for me, all because the ad was funny.
"Women Laughing Alone With Salad"