Carson's final essay

My essential question was “How are art and advertising related?” It very difficult to discover an answer for it because we did not have any scheduled stops concerning advertising. Our stops included ESPN radio, National Public Radio, Emerson College, and the New England Cable Network.

Only one had any remote connection to advertising and ironically enough it was National Public Radio which is commercial free. It is also on radio so even in their programs concerning spurring up interest in donating money can not be seen to include art. The part that had to do with art was a man we met who was working on programming a new web banner. He explained his job as making things look pretty. I made the connection that he was an artist using his talent to make the banner for NPR visually appealing enough for someone to think it may be worth checking out.

The rest of the information I got on my topic of choice was mostly from advertising I had seen previous to the trip as well as Billboards or posters scattered around Boston. What made me want to look deeper into this topic was a commercial that is no longer playing but I can still remember it quite vividly. It was an M&M commercial I had seen and ABC where the different colors of M&Ms were arranged and moving around as if camera were looking directly into a kaleidoscope as someone else turned the end of it. The song playing in the background was also very artsy, it was an Iron & Wine cover of the Postal Service song “Such Great Heights”. The art in this commercial not only made my mouth water for the taste of M&Ms but it also has stuck with me this long and driven me to write a paper about it.

Another brand which has deeply explored the possibilities of using art to make their product look good is Apple with the Ipod. The original Ipod commercials have a background of a solid color; usually a bright vibrant one such as blue, green, pink, etc…, in the center of the screen would be a silhouette of a person dancing to an upbeat song. The person would be completely black with the exception of the white Ipod and headphones. The art techniques used in this commercial are mainly color and music. The song would be catchy and one these commercials actually made the song “Jerk It Out” by The Caesars famous. The commercial was so unique that as soon as one came on you would know what the product was, and that to me is an effective commercial. One where it comes on, you can sing along, and you are provided with interesting eye candy.

Ipod also had posters up on the subway in Boston which were very artsy. In the posters were for the new colors of the Ipod Nano. It was on a black background, and all there was a Nano which you can tell had been moved around in an intricate pattern based on the dim colored trail that led to it. Anyone who has ever played with a sparkler on New Years Eve knows exactly what I mean.

Commercials that include art I tolerate much more than boring stupid ones. The art gives the viewer something to look at and appreciate while you are indulged in the commercial. It not only does not piss you off but you remember it and tell others about it. That is what makes an effective commercial. So there is no straight forward answer to my question. Art and advertising are to complete different things, but when used together it can be a beautiful yet effective way to sell a product.