Interesting Facts

An advert for Nurofen painkillers, has been banned in the UK for falsely claiming it targets specific types of pain. (The Advertising Standards Authority received complaints about TV adverts that suggested that Nurofen could target back pain. In one ad which showed a woman experiencing back pain, a voiceover said: “Just a single dose of Nurofen Joint and Back provides you with constant targeted pain relief for up to eight hours.” In an interesting use of language RB UK Commercial, which owns the Nurofen brand, said the advert did not state or imply specific pain could be targeted and that it was “disappointed” with the ruling. A spokesperson said: “Nurofen pain-specific products were introduced to provide easy navigation of pain-relief options for consumers experiencing a specific type of pain ." Please note, they didn't use the word "targeted pain relief". Actually the term painkiller is misleading.)

A Norwegian city, Trondheim, has banned adverts that show semi-naked models, male or female, in public spaces. (The new policy says: “No advertising that conveys a false image of the model/models’ appearance and contributes to a negative body image will be permitted. As a minimum, advertisements in which body shapes have been retouched should be marked as such.” This is seemingly an attempt to reduce the impact such adverts could have on people with body image issues. It reminds me of the "Beach Ready" controversy on London Underground.)

Shock horror!  According to research published in the Journal of Global Fashion and Marketing, 82% of claims made in adverts for cosmetics are bogus. (Researchers found that only 18% of all claims made in commercials for cosmetics prove to be true.  They classified each claim as vague/ambiguous, an omission, an outright lie, or as acceptable. Every category of beauty products was looked at, including makeup, skincare, body and bath products, fragrance, along with hair, and nail care. Claims like:- "award-winning product" "clinically proven" "your skin feels softer" "your face looks younger" "dermatologists recommend this" "all you need for a day of confidence" and even:- “no testing on animals” Just to prove you can't believe them, here is a famous advert which definitely deserves a #fail:- What were they thinking?)

According to Professor Brad Bushman, a psychologist of Ohio State University, the old adage, "Sex Sells", may no longer be true. In a recent study researchers found that people pay so much attention to the graphic material their minds are distracted from what is actually being promoted. (Prof Bushman said, 'Our findings have tremendous applied significance, especially for advertisers. Sex and violence do not sell, and in fact they may even backfire by impairing memory, attitudes and buying intentions for advertised products.' The study found viewers were less likely to remember ads when they were shown around films and TV programmes with explicit sexual or violent content and more likely to remember them during more family friendly material. Violence had an even more negative effect, and brands advertised during programmes or films in this genre were remembered less often, evaluated less favourably and less likely to be bought than products plugged alongsi...

Allegedly, image recognition software that detects brand logos on pictures uploaded to blogs and sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr is being used to glean marketing information for targeted advertising. (For example, Twitter is using image-based ad targeting through image analytics firm, Ditto Labs.  They are able to pick out photos posted to Twitter -- either directly or through Instagram -- that contain a brand's logo, collect the Twitter handles of the people posting those photos to create a list that an advertiser can then submit to Twitter as the audience it would like to show particular ads to. Maybe it's time to stop wearing branded items when we have our photo taken.)

The French city of Grenoble is going to ban all advertising hoardings by next year. (They will scrap 326 advertising hoardings, including 64 large billboards by April 2015. The mayor has promised to replace the signs and billboards with trees and community noticeboards. They will be the first city in Europe to do so, although the French village, Forcalquier, implemented a similar ban back in 2009.)

According to the advertising watchdog in the UK, pyramid shaped tea bags do actually make a better cuppa than round ones. (Following an advertising complaint from round baggers Tetley (my favourite cuppa), they concluded that the pyramid shape did allow the tea to move more freely, releasing more taste. The tests showed that the infusion of tea, at 40 seconds and two minutes into the brewing process, was greater when using a pyramid teabag than when using a round teabag. IMHO what really matters is what tea is inside. I don't like PG because it has an orange colour. Hubby calls it monkey tea, but i'm sure there are people who prefer it. My mum would mock anyone who used a tea bag, but surely it's simply a matter of personal taste.) Source

The first banner ads sold on the web appeared on HotWired. (HotWired proceeded to sell banner ads in large quantities to a wide range of major corporate advertisers. In fact HotWired coined the term "banner ad" and was the first company to provide click through rate reports to its customers. The first web banner sold by HotWired was paid for by AT&T.) Source: Wikipedia

A poster campaign proclaiming "There's probably no God" does not breach British advertising rules. (More than 300 people complained about the the atheist campaign where the slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life," was stuck on around 800 buses. Now that's free speech.)

In the UK, radio adverts can be banned for being too quick. (Recently a radio ad by Vodaphone was banned, because the legal terms were read out too quickly. In fact the actress recited a 30 word legal 'terms and conditions apply' disclaimer in just under 8 seconds. You can listen to it here , then try it yourself. Here's the text:- "Subject to status, availability and connection to 18-month contract. Unlimited calls to landlines or Vodafone Mobiles only. Fair-use policy, terms and 60-minute call cap applies".)

According to the New York Times US Airways makes $10 million a year by advertising on tray tables and napkins in their airplanes. (I wonder how much they charge to advertise on their sick bags?)