The only thing that helps: better ideas!

 
Guest commentary The advertising ban in São Paulo could prove to be a stroke of luck for the industry, says Dominik Imseng. 
One of the largest cities in the world is also one of the emptiest: since last year, advertising has been banned in public spaces in São Paulo. No more posters, tickers or mega screens. Advertising on cabs and buses is also banned. Yes, the fight against "visual pollution", as the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, calls advertising, is merciless. And it is generally welcomed. "A victory of beauty over ugliness, of cleanliness over garbage", cheered the Brazilian magazine Veja.Even if no politician in this country has yet campaigned for this very special form of advertising ban, signatures could easily be collected here to restrict advertising. Millions of stop-advertising stickers are proof of this. Or surveys that show that people even trust used car dealers more than advertisers. Or e-mail programs in which the folder for unwanted spam mails is simply called "Advertising". But above all, since Vance Packard's influential bestseller "The Hidden Persuaders", advertising has been seen by many as an immoral "secret seductress" that forces people to make purchasing decisions that have nothing to do with their actual needs.
The only thing that helps against all this resentment is the only thing that helps in advertising: better ideas. Because they not only ensure that a campaign stands out in the face of thousands of advertising messages every day. They also ensure that people want to discover the point of an advertising message for themselves. And therefore perceive this type of advertising much more consciously - as a witty attempt to charmingly seduce them.
In this respect, creative advertising is not unconscious "secret seduction", but obvious, declared seduction: a company makes an offer that you examine - and then accept or not.
Uncreative advertising, on the other hand, does not work horizontally between equal communication partners, but vertically: a company communicates from the top down, people are supposed to be the mere recipients of the message and remain passive in terms of communication. Yes, basically this is not about communication at all, but about one-sided propaganda. And it is precisely this type of advertising that more and more people see as an attempt at manipulation - and therefore increasingly reject with good reason.
Who knows? Maybe São Paulo's mayor won't end up being the gravedigger of advertising. But rather its savior.
Dominik Imseng is a copywriter/concept developer at Matter & Gretener.