Last week I talked about the perils of "selling the negative, in terms of the obnoxious "Brand X" comparison and also selling by creating fear in the prospect. I mentioned that selling positively can be tricky when it strays into one-offs. Among these are vanity and guilt.
Fundamentally, I believe that advertising should address solving another person's problem or filling a perceived need. That sounds easy, doesn't it. Suppose the problem is that the person in question feels less attractive, or less smart, or some such. Can we advertise confidently by appealing to that anxiety or vanity? Sure. Users of your product or service arguably are moving from a less happy to a more happy state. And we can state or imply that the product or service does that. I think we need to be careful in making claims that can't be proved. But to show a happy end user in the ad and address that emotional connection should be perfectly fine.
But when you develop that ad copy, just step back and ask if you are making a connection or just playing with emotions. If the former, all is well. If the latter, your integrity depends on toning in down.
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