The Clio Awards Web site brags that companies spend more time, effort, and money, second for second, on Clio Award-winning commercials than on most Hollywood films. For that kind of money advertisers can push a lot of consumers' emotional buttons. Dove beauty bar has grown into a worldwide brand on the strength of its relationship with women users. Hershey's Kisses, Guinness Stout, and Pepsi all mean much more to their users than chocolate, soda, and beer. Tom McElligot, a co-founder of ad agency Fallon McElligot and a Copywriter Hall of Famer, makes no bones about the ultimate incentive behind the business.
Great advertising can build a career.
Great advertising can even make you rich. Some companies are trying to stay a step ahead of such criticisms. Instead, the slick, black and white ad reaches out to the rest of us by featuring a multicultural cast of young and old, fat and thin, and beautiful and ugly, bowling while enjoying their MGDs. The trend in advertising, Savan says, is to convince recipients that they're hip because they understand some message in the ad that not everyone can understand. The organizers of the Clio Awards say they aren't bothered by the harsh criticism of their industry, but, then again, advertising is hardly a realm in which critical thinking is encouraged.