From the ‘Long Tail’ to ‘Madison and Vine’: Trends in advertising and new media

Media economists, advertising industry practitioners and their critics have long distinguished between informational advertising and other forms that rely on socalled creative techniques of persuasion or direct comparison (Mattelart 2002: 204; Myers 1986: 147; Turner 1965: 9-11; Ogilvy 2004: 179-81; Hood 2005; Luhmann 2000; Schudson 1993). Because it appeals to reason and usually addresses the fulfilment of human needs, many advertising critics have reluctantly conceded that informational advertising is economically and socially beneficial. Creative and persuasive techniques have received less favourable consideration because they seek to influence purchasing decisions by indulging human emotions and wants, and rely on fabricating difference where it might not otherwise be found. Similarly, direct comparison is often considered to be a poor advertising practice but, like other types of creative and persuasive advertising, it tends to be both legal and effective.