In Joe’s recent Journal post here, he writes: “Not all advertising is phoniness-generating.”
This triggered thoughts down a different path. It struck me that perhaps not everything printed in a newspaper for a fee (an “advertisement”) is really an advertisement. When one runs a feature to commemorate an anniversary, like Kellogg has done, there is inherently less phoniness generated. Perhaps none at all. Similarly, when one runs an announcement for an upcoming event, there is inherently less likelihood of phoniness creeping in. Again, perhaps none does.
When it comes to using print — or any other — media to help generate demand for one’s offering, the polarity of [anniversary <—> announcement] may define the boundaries within which phoniness is born. When one creates and places any advertisement that promotes something other than pure anniversary or pure announcement, phoniness is born. It might be cleverly masked (fake-real) or adeptly acknowledged (real-fake), but a certain inauthenticity still underlies the act.
Kellogg has indeed done a marvelous job of rendering these ads authentic. By re-printing entire old newspaper pages, and not just re-running old Kellogg ads, the company creates a more real feel. By tacking on the tagline, “For more than 100 years Kellogg’s Corn Flakes has been a great way to start the day,” and by yellowing these reprinted pages, Kellogg is acknowledging that these ads are not like its normal ads, past or present.
The real-real alternative would be to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Corn Flakes as pure history. This would be the case if Kellogg were to re-run old newspaper pages in which its ads had appeared 100 years ago (as part of the page), sans the new tagline and sans the faux yellowing.
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