Whatta cliche!

An entertaining discussion has shaped up on BBC News online about the stereotypes marketers are overly-fond of using. I have a feeling that stereotypes serve as mental shortcuts for marketers who haven't taken the time to find out about their target market, and instead just rely on old standbys.

Here a brief sample of the themes people mentioned from The Modern Rules of Advertising?:

"Children will not eat fruit or vegetables. Ever."
"Both men and women find driving deeply pleasurable, never boring or stressful."
"Men are inherently lazy/slobbish; women are the reverse."

And don't even get me started on common librarian stereotypes!

If you're up for it, take a look at the response from a creative director who defends advertising, making some interesting points along the way. What, for example, does the advertiser say for himself? He talks about "visual economy," stating that advertisers only have seconds to get their messages across, so putting out images that don't require too much interpretation is key. Also, he encourages people to not play the victim, but rather vote with their dollars if they don't like certain ads (something I agree with completely).