Ad leader

Author: Wei Junying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: This is a book written for those who are interested in advertising. Similarly, people who dislike advertising can also find support for their views, because our discussion about advertising is not limited to admiration and affirmation. Any individual may not pay attention to advertising, but they cannot refuse to come into contact with it. As the genius McLuhan said, "Advertising is not designed for people to consume consciously. They are designed as unconscious pills to create the magic of hypnosis, especially for the hypnosis of sociologists." Indeed, this is the case. If advertising is a form of mass education, many people might scoff at it. However, when the expenses of various advertisements are roughly equal to the entire national education expenses, and when they use mass media as the main channel to persistently promote their messages, we no longer have a reason to ignore this intrusive force that affects our lives. Perhaps Toynbee's assertion is a bit alarmist: the future of human civilization depends on our struggle against Madison Avenue (Madison Avenue is the hub of advertising in New York). However, the wisdom he expresses has a prophetic revelation. We are facing an undeniable fact: whether you acknowledge it or not, advertising has become a fundamental form of expression in modern society. It permeates our lives in every aspect, not only directly affecting the market and economic activities, but also influencing people's ideas and behaviors, and even becoming an interpretation of human lifestyles. On one hand, advertising, as a form of forced participation, makes it impossible for us to avoid; on the other hand, we cannot live without advertising in our daily lives. While we are helpless toward advertising, we are also filled with appreciation for it. As a result, advertising is becoming more and more prevalent, and its fully socialized characteristics and diverse expressions not only have a significant impact on economic life but also play a guiding role in people's cultural trends and aesthetic tastes.
Logos is a timeless topic. Interestingly, while philosophers and cultural scholars are endlessly interpreting Logos, advertisers have already directly used it to simplify their identity systems and symbolic creations. In fact, in Greek, Logos means discourse, which later extended to knowledge, learning, essence, structure, substance, God, reason, and more. Philosophers believe that humans not only live in the physical world but also in the symbolic world, so Aristotle had a classic definition: "Man is a logos animal." In simpler terms, humans are animals of symbols and culture. Without a doubt, advertising is a cultural symbol with emotional colors that represents humanity in the commercial society. In this book series, we shift our focus from advertising to society and people, attempting to discover some universally significant issues in the transformation of human attitudes and behaviors from the exploration of advertising phenomena. Therefore, as an understanding of the current form of advertising, the perspective of observation strives to transcend the limitations of traditional advertising, such as the spiritual dimension of advertising, the integration of advertising information, the pursuit of entertainment in advertising, the cultural transcendent value expressed by advertising, and even the confusion and awkwardness of advertising, all of which are within the scope of research.
To fully convey the unique symbolic system and characteristics of advertising, we consciously combine textual descriptions with image explanations in the layout. This approach is motivated by two considerations: First, because advertising, as an independent symbolic system, employs the comprehensive use of symbolic features of text, images, sound, and other basic expressive elements. Understanding advertising goes beyond logical rational interpretation and analysis; it is also crucial to provide more sensory descriptions and visual demonstrations. Second, we attempt to use this method to describe advertising concepts and symbolic characteristics while also presenting a colorful scroll of advertising, blending engaging reading with delightful viewing. Perhaps this is an attempt at a new reading style as traditional textual symbolic communication transitions into contemporary visual symbolic communication.
From the perspective of advertising itself, this choice has inherent significance. Observing advertising through a new lens means accepting a challenge that transcends tradition. Although, in essence, we still regard advertising as a means of marketing communication and do not deny the pursuit of advertising dynamics and the admiration of creative planning, which primarily stem from the driving force of economic power, we also believe that this pursuit enriches human spiritual and cultural progress. In this regard, we strive to move beyond a narrow understanding of advertising, neither avoiding its allure to humanity norly viewing it as a source of materialistic evil. We must admit, this is the world we inhabit—a diverse yet unified and colorful one. Broadening our perspective also means examining advertising with an expansive and open-minded gaze. Its marginal effects and impacts far exceed our imagination, and there are so many propositions that need to be included in our observation that we are often overwhelmed by the realization that the scope of our vision is so limited. Fortunately, in this completely open era, tolerance and understanding are a self-reflective shield bestowed by civilization. Therefore, although the authors of this book series are mostly young and emerging figures in the advertising industry, and their narrative style and theoretical interpretations may have shortcomings, we still gather the courage to present our own insights. Perhaps this is an attempt to flourish advertising research and broaden the perspective of advertising, though it may be rough, yet it is more in line with the needs of the present to cast a stone to draw forth jade.
We extend our gratitude to the leaders of Xiamen University Press, which is renowned for publishing advertising books, and to Mr. Wang Yimin, who is rigorous and meticulous in his scholarship. It is because of their support and guidance that the "New Perspectives in Advertising" series has been published. We look forward to a broader perspective on advertising.