Back in 2007, a research firm estimated that the average person saw up to 5,000 ads a day. Can you imagine what it is today? Actually, we can tell you. While there are no official figures, the average person is now estimated to encounter up to 10,000 ads every single day.  Do you think it’s unlikely that you’re seeing 10,000 ads a day and don’t know it?

Let’s walk through this. You’ll see ten billboards on your way to school or work. If you walk, you might see as many as 250 ads as they pass by you on buses, cabs, service trucks and delivery vans. For every hour you listen to the radio, ten minutes of it will be commercials.  Included in the 10,000 figure are the online ads and digital marketing you see on social media platforms, personal websites, even games you play on your cell phone (like Words with Friends). Every time you use Google to conduct a search, gobs of sponsored ads appear at the top of the results. Some of the time, you don’t even know you’re seeing an ad. Native advertising ads often look like user-generated posts within a user’s feed. They match the form and function of the platform upon which they appear, and in some cases, they function like an advertorial, but manifest as a video, article or editorial.  They can also appear as paid search ads, in-app banners, and product placement in your favorite TV show (here’s an example from Breaking Bad). We haven’t included subways and trains, food packaging, podcasts and email. It’s dizzying. And it’s why we used a gif from the movie, Clockwork Orange. You see ads whether you want to or not.

If a commercial is clever or funny (and back in the day, if it included a hot man or woman because “sex sells”), it’s not as painful to watch.  These days, exit the sex. In a paper authored by Sherril M. Stone, she wrote: “Research has shown that brand identity is only one reason advertisers use animals to promote their products or services. Specifically, the use of animals to market products encompasses several psychological perceptions including cognitive, behavioral, and emotional components. This study examined the prevalence of animals in current advertisements.”

We found a few that included a Bloodhound, check them out:

 

 

It’s not the only TV commercial to have included a Bloodhound:

Game for another?

The Bloodhound ads are lighthearted, but if you still don’t think that a commercial with a dog can move you, check out this one:

Right?