Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2019 June 25

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June 25

YouTube ads

I tend to watch a bit of YouTube, and I come across these frankly awful ads. By awful, I mean an small child on a budget of a week’s pocket money could do a better job at making an ad. If you’ve ever watched a YouTube gaming video, I think you’ll understand what I mean. So my question is, how does the owner of the game, who has created, launched and maintained a game as well as paying a large sum to advertise on YouTube not know how to make a decent ad? Or am I mistaken in that these ‘awful ads’ seem enticing to younger viewers? Apologies for not providing a link to one of these ads, if you want to find one, try any gaming video on YouTube, most of the ads are the same - mobile games with a fairly simple idea, often easy and offline to play. Regards, Willbb234 (talk) 20:36, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

What would lead you to believe that those are intersecting skill sets? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:09, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

They didn't follow item #12 of the Evil Overlord List, "[o]ne of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation."[1] That's to be expected--the list is a collection of mistakes that keep getting repeated. See also #37. 173.228.123.207 (talk) 00:14, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Would someone mind answering my question to the best of their ability? If you can’t then that’s fine. Willbb234 (talk) 06:20, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

How about you answer this question: What would lead you to believe that the ability to design a game has anything to do with the ability to create a good advertisement? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:05, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

I would ask you kindly to see here: [2] I believe that aspects of my answer to this question will help you in your quest. Bad ads are a marketing tool used to ensure you remember them. To prove this, you and I are now discussing this after the fact here, and the ads are remaining in your memory. Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 09:15, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Hard to tell without an example. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:05, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for that answer, Anton. I didn’t think of that answer, definitely has some weight. I suppose good ads, are sometimes too serious and thus rather boring, meaning they won’t be remembered. Thanks once again, Willbb234 (talk) 11:21, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

If an ad captures your attention and sticks with your memory, unless you remember what the ad is advertising then it's a failure. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:42, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

• I found this link to a video showing some of the worst YouTube ads. Willbb234 (talk) 12:22, 26 June 2019 (UTC)
• And this link to a bunch of reddit posts. Willbb234 (talk) 12:27, 26 June 2019 (UTC)
• I’m not sure anybody would want the game after seeing an ad like this. Willbb234 (talk) 12:32, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

• One possibility is that they are trying to look "authentic". That is, they want you to think that kids playing the game made the ad, and that you are therefore getting honest recommendations from players, as opposed to a slick presentation from a professional advertising firm which was paid big bucks to tell whatever lies they think will get you to buy the game. Unfortunately, this ad is not likely to actually be authentic, but just the latest trick from advertisers to get us to believe their lies. SinisterLefty (talk) 22:20, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Some insight here: [3], [4], shaky camera. 92.31.143.72 (talk) 11:21, 28 June 2019 (UTC)