Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that snide snarkery is distasteful, but when you’re trying to speak in the customer’s terms, you’ve got to say things in a way that resonates. Maybe focus group testing showed that this approach works with certain groups, e.g., 18-25-year-olds. They have plenty to be cynical about, with no jobs to go to after graduation and still living with the folks.

Advertisements for upscale products like cars and perfumes are beyond positive. They assume the viewer is already in the upper tax brackets and is happy as a clam, but this (car, perfume) will make his or her already-wonderful life even more so. And will show everybody how rich and happy s/he is. I hate those ads. But then, I’m not in the upper tax brackets.

Remember, back in the 60s and 70s, when positive messages were out there, most people were pretty optimistic, post-WWII. (Except around Vietnam in the 60s and Nixon and the war in the 70s.) I blame Watergate for eroding people’s trust in government. Around that time, you started seeing very dark movies, protesters, and so on. Political figures since Nixon have not acquitted themselves very well, partly because many people distrust them to begin with and opponents are on the alert for “gotchas,” and partly because many of today’s politicians are less dedicated public servants than creatures from the black lagoon of big-money politics.

I believe the state of the economy, the sleaze of politics and the resulting increase in fear and insecurity have a lot to do with attitudes toward products (Politicians are products now, aren’t they? Read “The Selling of the President.”) and their claims. If the advertisers tap into those feelings, it’s like saying, “Hey, we understand you. We ARE you. So you can believe us.” NOT!

I wonder if they’ve poisoned the well by relying upon snark, sarcasm, irony and artificial “edginess” in pursuit of the cool factor. Have we seen so much smart-assery and intentional fourth wall-breaking that we now automatically assume that all advertising is a contest unrelated to the actual product and its quality?

Occasionally, I’ll watch older television ads–60s and 70s stuff–and a majority of those spots are “wow, we have a damn good product” messages. They’re not buzz creation efforts or clever for the sake of cleverness.

I’m beginning to wonder if the next big thing might be the old thing–a straight-up positive message. As naive as that may sound in our era of careful, complicated branding, I think relentless positivity may be the best way to overcome cynicism.

Fantastic post and thanks for the link to Crane’s article.