As Michael says, people are not robots but if marketing had zero effect, companies wouldn't spend so much money on it. No one is controlled, but they can be influenced.
Perhaps a personal anecdote will add something to the discussion.
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Some of you may remember the *Wasssup* advertising campaign Anheuser Busch unleashed a few years back. It began with a spot in which four African American men, urban trendies, say hello to each other in a round robin telephone conversation in a *Black* way.
It so happens that the director of the spots and one of the actors are childhood friends with whom I've stayed in close touch over the years. So, as the campaign unfolded, tentatively at first, then acquiring pop culture velocity with remarkable speed, I had a chance to follow its progress and the evolving impressions of AB execs - relayed to me through my buds.
AB wanted to appeal to a *cooler* demographic and expand beyond their perceived base of *bubbas* and frat boys. The ad was supposed to help them accomplish this goal. It's success or failure, in the eyes of AB's owners, would be judged by how well it pushed this project forward.
The *wasssup* spots became wildly popular and sales increased. More *wasssup* spots were filmed. The director and the actors appeared on *The Today Show* and courtside at the NBA playoffs and at the Grammys and I don't remember how many other shows and events.
There was even a European tour to accompany the campaign's release in the UK and on the continent.
The important thing to remember here is that AB's distributors throughout America regularly reported increasing sales while this campaign rolled forward. The field reports of increased sales spurred the continuance of the campaign and its expansion into similarly themed ads involving stereotypical Italian men (*how you doin?*), stereotypical middle class White guys (*how are YOU do-ING?*) and finally, CGI animation of an alien bringing American *urban cool* to his homeworld.
Of course, it came to an end as all things must. But for me, the lesson learned was simple and direct: people can be influenced by ads. Companies monitor the success or failure of these influence efforts very carefully. When an advertising project produces the desired effect (sometimes greater sales, sometimes a change in image or something else) the campaign continues to be funded.
This doesn't strike me as a terribly complex or shocking thing.
DRM