Is Targeted Advertising Insulting?
This may come as somewhat of a shock to you, but I like to watch NFL football. (Please, pull your jaw off the ground, you’re making a scene!)
I love the action, the passion and the gamesmanship. It really is terrific theater.
The NFL target market appears to be Macho Men...oooohhh yeah!
The only issue I take with enjoying an NFL Sunday is the slate of advertisements directed towards me.
Here is what the advertising world thinks I am, with the truth in (parentheses):
- Single or Married to significantly better looking woman (The latter)
- Beer-guzzler (I prefer a glass of Malbec, or a Vodka-Cranberry)
- Attracted to hot women (guilty)
- Only interested in driving big trucks (I happily drive a hybrid)
- A HUGE fan of subs (blech)
- A do-it-myselfer (I’ll pay an expert)
- Suffering from…uh…performance issues (all good down there, thanks for asking!)
- A super-tech nerd, despite the love of trucks (I’m fairly middle of the road…)
All-in-all, I am a huge NFL fan, but there is a discrepency between who I am and who, I assume, they want me to be.
Of course, advertisers are going after their “target market,” but I have to ask: does that exist? Is it possible to attract a critical mass of a homogenous audience with one program?
Are we suppossed to think less of our manliness if we don’t fit into the definition set out in front of us?
It’s not just the “football” crowd.
Watching “Gossip Girl” with my wife has led me to believe that advertisers think young women only care about:
- Skincare
- Haircare
- Text messaging
So do you find hyper-targeted advertising insulting?
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