Media Organisations - Advertising in a commercially competitive environment.

Advertising As Part of Our Culture

If you look around you, you will find your world filled with advertising - on huge billboards in the streets, on the pages of magazines, between the tracks played on the radio, on the walls of the subway, on the pages of internet sites, at the bottom of emails, on the backs of cinema tickets, on the shirts of football players. It seems that any surface that will hold still long enough to be read is considered a potential advertising medium. The fact that there is so much advertising out there means that it is part of our daily cultural experience - it's almost impossible to avoid it. 

Therefore, the study of advertising is not just about WHAT manufacturers say to consumers, but it about HOW it is said. 

Advertisements can have an influence far beyond a simple message about a product. Advertisements can introduce characters to the public imagination, make icons out of actors, have everyone repeating a catchphrase ('Wassup" anyone?), get audiences arguing over plot points or waiting for the next instalment, and generate news stories. Advertisements often take on a cultural life of their own, and occupy space in the media beyond that which has been paid for. This, of course, is great for the advertisers.

This adidas ad, featuring David Beckham, made headlines as the largest ever piece of outdoor advertising in the UK, possibly the world, in May 2002. Fort Dunlop is a Birmingham landmark, and can be seen from the M6 (which is often completely jammed with traffic) although it was claimed that the ad could be seen from up to a mile away on a clear day. The ad itself was larger than a football pitch, with the image of Beckham's face measuring 20m x 20m (cue lots of Football Bighead headlines from the UK tabloids). As well as having a huge (sorry...) impact on the local environment, the ad generated press coverage around the world on account of its size.

Task1: 

Using a news search engine (yahoo, reuters, bbc) OR the Media Guardian find out about an advertisement or ad campaign that has made the news. Use search terms carefully (advertisement + controversy are a good starting point)

Answer the following questions: 

Explain what the news story is, briefly, and what news values it has.
Assess how widely this news story has been reported. In your opinion, how much extra exposure has the product got from the news coverage?
Do you think think the advertisement was deliberately controversial? Why?