[jajko]

Ads work on you? A serious question.

They ellicit so much immediate mental resistance on my side (coupled with ads-free life mostly via Firefox & ublock origin that propagates way beyond just blocks of static ads, ie no youtube ads at all) that any of those rare times I experience them, I add some small amount of hate towards given brand & product.

Somehow, brands that invest heavily in pushy ads tend not to be my main focus anyway so google et al just keep missing badly with me.

Something about preserving moral integrity, not subject to external manipulation etc. Subtle but powerful aspects of existence

[csa]

> Ads work on you? A serious question. They ellicit so much immediate mental resistance on my side

The ads that work on folks like you are almost certainly the ones that you don’t notice or maybe barely notice.

This is fantastically difficult to prove without a fairly invasive tracking of someone’s life over time.

That said, really good mentalists are masters of this type of shaping of one’s thinking — Derren Brown has videos on this.

[2muchcoffeeman]

I think you still need to be open to the product they are selling.

I always buy soda in this order: Cherry Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper, Cherry Coke, Coke, something with a fake grape flavour, maybe something else if none of those exist or water.

People have tried to convince me that soda ads work on me but my receipts say otherwise.

If you were advertising new chip flavours. Yeah, I’d try that at least once.

[csa]

> I think you still need to be open to the product they are selling.

Generally speaking, yes.

That said, many people spend money or will spend money on things that aren’t for themselves.

> I always buy soda in this order: Cherry Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper, Cherry Coke, Coke, something with a fake grape flavour, maybe something else if none of those exist or water.

If this is your list, then (most) ads for sodas aren’t targeting you to buy sodas for yourself.

Every ad doesn’t need to address every viewer of the ad, nor should it.

Additionally, converting a viewer to a direct sale is not always the goal of an ad. Moving someone from a “cold lead” to a “warm lead” (e.g., through brand recognition, brand identity, etc.) are frequently the main goal of a given ad or ad campaign, especially ads that aren’t super targeted.

[2muchcoffeeman]

If this is your list, then (most) ads for sodas aren’t targeting you to buy sodas for yourself.

Ok. But if I’m buying for someone else, I’m asking them what to buy.

Left to my own devices I will never buy “off list” except if I come across some weird thing that I’ve never heard of.

In this way, these ads “don’t work on me.”

[lblume]

Do you have and maintain these lists for all product categories you buy regularly? A well-maintained ordering of product options for most of these groups would be highly impressive and certainly make you more resistant, but I doubt the extra effort would be really worth it to most.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Obviously not. But people always retort “of course ads work on you. Maybe it’s just in subtle ways!”

No. They don’t always work. I provided a very clear example.

[throw0101b]

> I think you still need to be open to the product they are selling.

It should perhaps be noted that an immediate sale, or an immediate desire to purchase, is not the only goal of advertising:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchase_funnel

[burnished]

I feel the same way. But they can still work because at some point you will be buying a product and all else being equal it is likely that you will pick one that seems more familiar, which will be months or years after the irritation fades.

But also I think the knee jerk reaction to ads like that is uncommon, or at least this is the first time I've seen anyone else publicly share this opinion. I think most people see them as a nuisance or a service as opposed to an underhanded attempt at manipulation.

I didnt really understand that at all until I got an ad for things I actually wanted (catalogue from a restaurant supply store, turns out cotton candy machines are surprisingly affordable). Obviously very different in content from most ads but I think it reflected the positive feelings other people must get from some ads where they feel reminded of a thing they like.

[Tryk]

Tell me 5 cars brands on the top of your head.

[dpig_]

In a restaurant with no menu, name a soda you'd ask for.

[alganet]

Soda.

https://www.imigrantesbebidas.com.br/bebida/images/products/...

[voidUpdate]

Whatever coke or pepsi I can see over the bar, while wondering why I'm in a restaurant with no menu

[frankvdwaal]

I usually just blurt out "cassis", a blackcurrant soda. I for one don't care about which brand. Does that count?

[syradar]

Since the whole Trump thing: Cuba Cola Zero, Champis Zero, Trocadero Zero, Mino Limonata

[CBarkleyU]

Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford

[syradar]

Volvo, SAAB, Renault, Volkswagen, Audi

[axus]

I prefer to "do my own research". The things I'm supposedly finding independently may also be the result of a marketing effort, if it's subtle enough, so I'm vulnerable to that.

The less I know about something, the more susceptible I am to misinformation. I tend to believe a detailed "product spec sheet", for example.