Why I Love Advertising

Hira Tanweer

I became interested in advertising two years ago when I watched a Red Bull commercial about a person’s limits. The commercial ended with the line “the only limit is the one you set yourself.” After watching the advertisement, I felt inspired and motivated. I was transfixed over the idea that a commercial could make me feel all of that despite the fact that I don’t drink energy drinks and have never tried Red Bull. Ever since seeing the commercial, I’ve been fixated on advertisements.

Although there are many bad ads out there, there are also some really good ones. Advertising has the ability to affect what we do and how we think. One thing I love about advertising is that advertisers have the chance to create stories that millions of people can potentially see. Many advertisements have characters, a plot, a setting, and even a conflict. We have the chance to create a story from start to finish.

I also love the people aspect of advertising. Advertisers get the opportunity to create connections between the brand and their audience. For instance, Dove did a short film in 2013 in which they hired a sketch artist to draw a person the way they described themselves and they also had someone who only saw the individual for a moment to describe the person. The intention of the video was to show that women are more beautiful than they think are and how they are their own worst critics. When I watched the Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches, I was able to relate to the ad and the message. Dove was able to create a conversation about real beauty and connect with its audience. For Coca Cola’s Open Happiness campaign, they also tried to connect with people by placing a Coca Cola machine at a college campus. The machine gave students various items including Coca Cola bottles for free in order to spread happiness. It got the students happy and excited and it probably made their day. The relationship aspect between the brand and the audience made me love advertising.