Advertising through memory
I’ve been riding a bicycle. After more than thirty years I thought it time to saddle up and try again. Ok, that’s not strictly true. After more than thirty years I was persuaded to try it again.
And yes, they lied. You do forget.
Still, the excitement remained the same. Triggered from the first sound of the chain ticking ; an over-wound clock catching up the years since my last, childhood ride.
It’s a powerful thing, memory. Try as we might to hold onto a moment we find it can slip away whilst other, less desirable memories hold on.
I can’t remember my first kiss even though that is the one thing everyone claims to remember.
I do remember the first time I snuck a book beneath my pillow and, as the sound of footsteps receded, brought out Bobby Brewster and his typewriter to read by the fading light. I remember it because I went to the library on my own that day. I know I wouldn’t have cared about holding on to the memory. I just did.
Advertisers plunder our memories mercilessly. The first kiss image is used time and again to urge us to relate to things things they want us to imagine never forgetting. The not so subtle implication (and why should advertising be subtle?) being that their product is unforgettable.
As a creative it is often important to be able to find that common demoninator of human memory in order to leapfrog the work needed to make people understand the relevance in your message.