Advertising Project

Ads I saw yesterday:
Billboards on route 222:
Lottery, Kia, Outten Car sales, RACC, Sienna, Kia, PSA about bullying, Re/Max, GNA (restaurant in Reading), Toyota, high school student art, Lasik, Service Electric, AirTran, Computer Wizards, MaidenCreek TV/Appliance, Century 21, Ozzy's Family Fun Center, Airport Diner, Crystal Cave, Coors Light

On TV at the Firehouse in Kutztown (on a hockey game in Canada)
FedEx, Telus TV, Boston Pizza, BCFerries, Coke Zero, Re/Max, Chevy, Tim Hortons, Molson, Air Canada, SportChek, PS3, Mastercard
Red Bull was advertised on a cooler

On ESPN at the Pub in Kutztown:
Ford Fusion, Service Electric, Coors Light, Miller Chill
various beers were advertised on the walls, including Budweiser and Yuengling, and there was another Red Bull cooler

At home, on Adult Swim:
Kia Soul, Denny's, Avatar, Dr. Who, Fred Beans (Kia), Stride gum, Taco Bell, Mighty Boosh (an Adult Swim show)

There were a few things I found very interesting while working on this project. First of all, I purposefully waited until Thursday to keep my log because I had to work that day, and I wanted to do it on a day that I knew I would be leaving Kutztown because I thought I would get a lot more ad exposure. Surprisingly, I was wrong. The biggest thing I learned from this project is that people are exposed to much more advertising during their down time than when they are out and about.

I realized that Thursday was a bad choice because I was busy all day. I did not get on the Internet in the morning like I normally would because I woke up late, and then I sat in class all day, so I was not really exposed to any advertisements. On my way to work I was in a hurry again and forgot to record the billboards I saw. I work at a restaurant in Reading, and we have several TVs playing in the bar area. On a normal night, I would see lots of commercials during my down time, but Thursday night was extremely busy so I didn’t have any time to watch TV. So it really wasn’t until my drive home from work that I started seeing lots of ads.

Since I don’t listen to the radio, billboards were the only ads I experienced on my way home. I noticed that a lot of them were for local businesses. A few made a point to advertise that they had been voted “Best of Reading.” Clearly, they were all marketing toward local people who are interested in supporting local businesses. Kutztown in particular is very concerned with keeping chain businesses out, so it makes sense.

After I got back, I went out in town. At the Firehouse bar in Kutztown, a Canadian hockey game was on TV. Though I didn’t catch any commercials, there seemed to be a logo everywhere I looked. All along the ring surrounding the ice rink were logos and company names. A lot of them were Canadian, but there were a great deal of American companies too, since advertisers knew Americans would be watching the game as well. I was surprised by how many logos didn’t have words at all but were instantly recognizable—the Chevy logo, for example.

At home that night, I watched TV for a little while before I went to bed, but only long enough to catch one commercial break. I was surprised at the sheer number of ads that played during one commercial break—there were eight. I guess it makes sense, since if each is 30 seconds long, that’s four minutes, but I had never stopped to think about how many ads I was actually taking in. I only watched TV for 20 minutes or so—how many commercials must I see in a day that I actually watch a few hours of television?

So the only times I actually saw any advertisements were the times of the day that I wasn’t doing anything. Now that I think about it, it seems like common sense, even though it surprised me at the time. Advertisers know that you’re not going to come to them. They come to you, and make sure to be easily accessible so that you can passively absorb their message when your mind isn't occupied with anything else.

I don’t know how much of the advertising I saw was actually effective. I can’t imagine that a lot of people would choose to sell their house using RE/MAX realtors just because they saw the logo on a hockey rink on television. However, I bet a lot of people watching Adult Swim late at night might be convinced to get a burrito after seeing a Taco Bell commercial.