In the university context I expect the similarity is (sounds harsh) the size of the intellectual egos.

I was the editor of a trade magazine for Australia/NewZealand, and the publisher/advertising agent who I worked for always used to talk to me about adverts. What works/what doesn’t work in terms of layout/ads/catching attention/selling the product.

A lot of what he mentioned, and which I learn’t, is exactly what you are pointing out in the adverts here.

It’s all about simplicity. I think nowadays, people have tried to be just that little bit clever. There is something in advertising on occassion, that indicates that those marketing the product have lost touch with the real world. The same can often be said for University settings, eg, lecturer’s and students can get so engrossed in philosophising and analysis, that they lose track of what EVERYDAY people in the population will pick up in a text/advert/film. Of course, with this knowledge, programs and other things can take advantage of the untrained eye. But what is more worrying at times, is they work outside the ‘untrained eye’s’ line of sight.

Making an advert too clever, complicated often works against the point being put across. Yes, that is fantastic for the University student who wants to analyse the cultural references but marketing is only aiming to sell.

Simple, eyecatching and easy to remember. Don’t clutter it up with extra text or fancy images, or witty educated remarks that simply won’t be appreciated in this format.

Reminds me after all that, of what Marge Simpson says to Lisa and Bart about Springfield being ‘a part of us all’. She didn’t dress it up with a fancy,flashy, witty deeply meaningful comment. She just repeated the words three times like an echo. And yes, it works. Afterall, I remember the words too!