Henar

The Power of ADS

Thursday, 24. September 2009, 23:25:24

photography, photo, fotografia, art, concept, concepto, cartel, advertisement, war, creativity, creatividad, guerra, ads, creativo, anuncios, creative

The image "Commercial War" by Chinese artist WANG Qingsong focuses on the power of ads and the misconceptions that ads can create. He presents this fight for advertising as a war between enemies, a struggle over financial power and business gain.

There´s a big struggle between companies to position their ad in the most optimal placement in public places. All kinds of slogans and images bombard us every day. The agencies with more power and influence usually get the best spaces, and spend huge ammounts of money "renting" the best places. In fact, sometimes they spend more money in the "space" than on the actual billboard advertisements.
Nowadays, everything is advertised. If a product is not, then it seems it doesn´t exist.

In his photo, old ads come down as new ones occupy their lost space on the huge wall. It´s definitely an interesting photo, which makes me think about the the power ads have over our daily life. We don´t really notice anymore, but we see an amazing ammount of different ads every single day, on TV, a bus-stop, magazines, internet. These words and images exert so much power on our mind and eye...

Which ones do we remember at the end of the day? Which are the best ones? I would say, the ones that catch my eye are usually the ones with a simple and original message and a clean and simple design. I love ads which make me smile when looking at them, and think "I wish I had designed that!"

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Comments

PainterWoman # 25. September 2009, 03:59

Wow! I'm wondering how anyone sees the ads at all that are higher up on the wall. It would seem almost useless to place one there.

Felix Pleşoianu # 25. September 2009, 05:33

Amazing. I've seen something similar, on a much lower scale, during the Romanian parliamentary elections last year. But this... I'm speechless.

Anonymous # 25. September 2009, 22:43

Laurka writes:

Interesting! If we see all those ads together they lose their individual power because we can't focus on a single ad, we only see them as a whole.

Henar # 29. September 2009, 10:01

Amazing, isn´t it?

Claudeb, you get that kind of image with lots of different ads during the elections. Completely different messages on the same space...
It´s quite interesting, in fact, because it makes the designers who create the images for the respective campaigns, use very clear and powerful designs. This way, usually, the simplest image is perceived sooner. Like your photo: when I look at it, the first ad I see is the orange one with the flower.

Laurka, it´s true that it´s imposible to focus on every single ad, especially the ones on the top.

Felix Pleşoianu # 29. September 2009, 11:06

Originally posted by Henar:

usually, the simplest image is perceived sooner. Like your photo: when I look at it, the first ad I see is the orange one with the flower.

Then it's probably no coincidence that they won the elections.

Anonymous # 29. September 2009, 13:25

Zullo writes:

In the cartoon Futurama they show how in the future companies even place ads into people’s dreams…scary omen!

Henar # 30. September 2009, 08:00

It probably helped them to win, Claudeb. In Spain, usually the best campaign designs are the ones from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. I believe this is because their slogans are less conservative, stronger and more powerful. Their corporate colour, red, also helps.

Zullo, just imagine... that would be TERRIBLE!!!

EasyD44 # 2. December 2009, 02:58

I love ads that make me laugh or have an interesting concept. Advertising in Asian cities can be even crazier sometimes...you cant walk down a block with getting a eyeful!

As far a political ads go...I like the more artistic, "pave the way" kind of posters.

Henar # 3. December 2009, 13:44

When there´s too many ads it´s too difficult to concentrate only on one...
It´s like the photo: instead of thousands of small ads, I just seem to see a HUGE ad. This image is, in fact, quite scary. There´s just too much going on in such a small photo...