PressEthic

In an article in the New York Times on September 19, the issue of media and advertising was addressed. The advent of new media has made certain that advertising is no longer found only in the traditional places one might expect. We read book and movie reviews, check out the new season lineups and watch to the very end of our favorite programs to see the scenes for next week – but what else is influencing our choices?

Now that it has been acknowledged that Lonelygirl15 was a film project, whose creators intend to make it into a movie and are telling us to “stay tuned,” it leaves one to wonder - what else abounds in the mass of media, particularly on the web, that is misleading or simply not true? The publicity garnered by Lonelygirl15 is sure to create copycats, more avant-garde advertising, aimed to create attention for a cause, but deceiving its audience in the process.

The Times’ article details a new form of advertising called “teaser” campaigns. The infiltration of advertising on the web is well documented and the public has been finding frustration with Internet pop-ups and banners for years. Yet now it seems that we are reading advertisements and not even knowing it, becoming intrigued by an image only to investigate further and find that it is merely an advertisement for something unrelated.

Some examples of these cryptic advertisements seen in the subways or on the highway include an obscure billboard with a picture of Abraham Lincoln in front of what appears to be a garage door. There is only one sentence on the board, They miss you and an Internet URL. You wonder, They miss you? Who misses you? You go home and type in the URL to see just what is going on and it’s an ad for … a sleep-aid medication?

ABC is promoting its new show, Six Degrees, all over the NYC subways but you wouldn’t know it. As talked about in the Times’ article, you see a sign that randomly declares - The person next to you could be your boss or That lady in red is looking at you. Intrigued? You go home and type in the URL, the only other writing found on the poster. From there you become engrossed in a video q&a and montage for five-minutes before you even realize that this is all only an ad for the new ABC drama, Six Degrees.

Andy Sernovitz, chief executive of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association noted the allure of advertising teasers and acknowledged their inherent deceitfulness:

We all know that disclosure is important and honesty first. The question is, How do you still have creative freedom and how do you do fun mystery-based entertainment and make that compatible with open transparency?

ABC defended using teasers in the promotion of its new shows:

Michael Benson, the senior vice president for marketing at ABC Entertainment acknowledged that people who see the ads and the Web site may have no idea that it is a campaign for a television show. Still, ABC hopes people will figure it out “sooner than later.”

Teasers also appear disguised as blogs and blog postings that are written by advertisers and through myspace profiles that exist only to promote a new movie or book. Fox’s Prison Break is just one of countless movie and television shows advertised through myspace.

While the effectiveness of this type of advertising campaign is questionable the awareness it creates is undeniable:

It’s about getting people intrigued with something that isn’t just advertising and selling something, Mr. Benson said. For a tease to work its got to really get the audience to ask questions.

Bob Garfield, co-host of the WNYC radio program, On the Media, defended consumers:

It is the unspoken compact between us and advertisers that there is a lot we will take. We will be screamed at; we will be offended; we will be irritated; But we wont be made into chumps. So there is always risk of a backlash when the reveal reveals not only who the advertiser is, but that they’ve been lying to us.

Regardless of the controversy these advertisements have the potential to create, even negative publicity is publicity in itself. If this form of promotion becomes the norm due to the buzz it generates, both media and the public are in peril. The line between fact and fiction will become further blurred and it will become increasingly difficult to decipher the truth in media.