At Home With Advertising

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31780, 10 September 1968, Page 9

At Home With Advertising

(By Garry Arthur) David Frost’s illuminating report on advertising in Britain put us at the small disadvantage of being unfamiliar with many of the products he referred to. His barbed criticisms, however, of advertising methods and failings can easily be applied to much of the material inflicted on us by New Zealand television advertisers. Another reason for taking a closer look at commercials is the big increase in tele-

on statistics more for support than illumination. Annoying Many commercials are so lacklustre that they escape notice entirely, although repetition may—just possibly —implant the product name on the subconscious. Others, far from making the watcher eager to buy, are so annoying that the immediate reaction would be to avoid that commodity at all costs. Many of the advertisements shown here quite obviously were not made in New Zealand. American and Australian voices give them away, and sometimes the background confirms the country of origin. This was the cause of some agitation by Actors’ Equity in Australia some years ago. with the result that advertisers were compelled to use Australian actors and actresses for their commercials, and presumably they still do. A similar arrangement here would provide plenty of work for professional actors. It '•’ould be interesting to know just what proportion of imported commercials there is a present. One small loss, of course, would be that delightfully zany commercial in which an over-zealous wife rips off her husband’s shirt to apply a chest embrocation.