History Main / PublicRelationsAd

* The 30-second commercial "Sounds" shows a montage of the products of U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman being assembled and used rhythmically building up over the course of the commercial until 22 seconds in it cuts to an [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocent little girl]] playing the company's jingle on a piano. The moral (rephrased): "We make products that help men kill each other in order to make it safe for little children to play the jingle of a company that makes products that help men kill each other." That's the value of performance. (View on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdgJZjD1JLM YouTube]] or [[http://vimeo.com/47427225 Vimeo]])

A cynical interpretation is that they're a form of propaganda. Large corporations in general [[AcceptableTargets don't have a good image with the public]], so they put adverts on the air, aimed at people who normally don't actually purchase said company's product, with the sole intention of smoothing over their public image.

** "Plastics make it possible." One must wonder how it is possible to boycott plastics; it's not like people can get rid of them entirely. As the ad points out, things made of plastics are generally not possible to make with any other material--as if electronics can be made of wood.

** "Beef. It's what's for dinner." and "Got Milk?" You have to wonder why a marketing executive thinks that an ad like this would be necessary or valuable. I mean, sure, it might make somebody consider buying cattle flesh and bovine secretions to use in their next meal, but the major consumers of cow byproducts aren't individuals, but large corporations that use those byproducts in their own branded items (pet food, frozen meals, cheese, pastries, the list goes on and on).
*** "Got Milk?" is especially strange, because that was a U.S.-wide ad campaign that was funded by the dairy processors of only one state (California). Though, to be fair, California produces more milk than any other state--although on the other hand, most Americans ''can't'' buy California milk (milk spoils very quickly, and if a state can support dairy farms, or is near one that does, all the milk will come from there).
** "Plastics make it possible." Yeah. How am I going to boycott plastics anyway? It's not like I can get rid of them. As the ad points out, things made of plastics are generally not possible to make with any other material-- oh, you've convinced me, I won't buy that wooden laptop now.
** "Cotton, the fabric of our lives." Thank goodness that some fabric conglomerate put together this ad campaign; from now on, [[SarcasmMode I'll check the material of every piece of cloth I purchase to make sure that there's SOME cotton in there,]] at least. Seriously, though, is there a marketing executive out there that seriously thinks some fifteen second song about touching and feeling somebody's clothing is going to change anyone's behavior?

* Toyota's been running a lot of these since their accelerator issues. A major feature is that they're heavy on footage of older Toyotas (with all-mechanical throttle linkages...). One wonders why: GM's been featuring footage of their decades-old greatest hits since TheEighties, and look at where its' gotten them...