US of A
I’ve just come back from a road trip through California and (perhaps a little tragically) I couldn’t help but notice and compare their advertising to that of ours over here in the UK.
One thing that struck me is the sheer amount of TV advertising – ads before the programmes’ introductory titles and then again straight after, before the content has even started, no restrictive minutes per hour for them it seems. Apart from the volume, the content is also very different, lots of prescription drug advertising (not allowed over here) with at least half the commercial dedicated to terrifying side effects. They also have far more political advertising – NHS bashing seemed to be a key topic in the light of Obama’s proposed reforms!
Magazines didn’t appear to hold that much difference in terms of volume or style but radio ads were far more localised than over here. Personal addresses from small town business’ were not unusual – for instance Jonathon from Pahrump telling us he had lived there all his life and therefore was best to defend us if we happened to get caught DUI was typical.
Perhaps the most innovative use of outdoor media that I haven’t seen over here was a huge ‘wanted’ billboards detailing which murders, rapists etc were on the loose in the local area. Very reassuring…..
