Where to begin: On-Line Dating?

Commercials for "on-line dating" are rampant. I do not want to pose the usual arguments about on-line dating, but rather to focus on the incessant commercials of such companies as e-Harmony, Match, BlackPeopleMeet, and ChristianMingle. I was inspired by one of these commercials to start this blog moments ago and already another one comes on the screen.

Let's start simple. e-Harmony is getting more creative and even more annoying with their recent commercials. Dr. Neil Clark Warren and his team do their best to use every kind of appeal. Certainly, we are more likely to trust a Doctor, but we need to be wary of this. If they are not a doctor in a related subject, then they have a lot less credibility. But, having checked out Dr. Neil Clark Warren, he passes this test. I do like the fact that the primary purpose of e-Harmony seems to be long term, committed relationships. But the commercial where his granddaughter comes to him to complain about his teacher who met someone on another site seems desparate. Moreover, the repetition of this commercial just makes the whining sound more like incessant nagging. I see this commercial as a failure in that not only does it fail to persuade me it, it succeeds in dissuading me all the more from on-line dating and causes Dr. Warren to lose some credibility for signing his name and brand to such a commercial.

I almost forgot about Match as their commercials have become a little more subtle and a little less obnoxious. Even though I can ignore their more recent commercials, they do still air quite frequently. Perhaps they should consider just how forgettable their current ad is when considering future ads. I had to find it on YouTube just to remember what irks me about their commercials. Of course, the upbeat song and vibrant visuals create a very positive atmosphere to bring any potential client to their site. This is something we should be aware of as it is most definitely part of the persuasion, but it is nothing to be concerned about.

 It's the statistic they sandwhich ever so casually in the middle of this and many of their other commercials that is so deceptively enticing to even those who would not normally be seeking on-line dating. If "people who join match are 3x more likely to find a relationship than people who don't," and you are currently seeking a relationship and having difficulty, then joining match sounds like it will be very helpful. Do not be fooled! It does not tell us that these people find these relationships through match, or that they are even successful relationships. I don't have any statistics to counter them with, but even so, how hypocritical would it be to implement statistics for the purpose of persuasion. Statistics in commercials are always vague and appealing and instead of buying into them, we should boycott the companies that try so hard to decieve us, even if we are seeking that product or service.

In order to avoid rambling on too long, I will save ChristianMingle for another time. However, I have a little to say about BlackPeopleMeet and this is less about method's of persuasion and more about content. Just to be clear, this site intentionally seeks to segregate dating based on skin color. Of course, those who do not want to segregate their dating can avoid such a site, and those that do want to segregate their dating can do so on any dating site (with perhaps a little more work). The fact is, it plants a seed of encouragement that it is okay to segregate for some reasons. Is this what we really want? I hope this doesn't encourage inequality in any measure, but the more likely consequence is that it leads to more social division and this is not good.

What is this blog about?

The Advertisement Admonisher is a blog designed to critique commercials that I find to be ineffective, especially ones that are intended to target "someone like me." I say that because any advertisement that would seek to target one specific person (i.e. me or you) would likely fail on a larger percentage of people, but by profiling, advertisers hope to sway us by targeting "someone like me (or you)."

As one who studied both creative writing and a broad array of communications, I am especially critical of that which takes aim at me through such means in an attempt to persuade me. I should hope that this blog would raise the awareness of my readers' as customers and force a higher standard in the world of advertising. If nothing else, I hope to share relatable experiences with advertisements that challenge you as individuals to be more in aware of how commercials affect not only your consuming, but your thoughts and actions.