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Promises, Promises. That particular revelation came during one of the "depth interviews" conducted in the name of motivational research, the way-out wing of advertising in which the Freudian sell is rudimentary. As all admen know, people don't buy products, they buy psychological satisfaction: the promise of beauty, not cosmetics; oral gratification, not cigarettes. Depthwise, baking a cake is supposedly a re- enactment of childbirth and shaving a form of castration. Speed and performance, or a sense of male power, are blatantly stressed in automobile commercials. Cars become wild animals or fish Wildcat, Impala, Cougar, Stingray, Barracuda. When a man slips behind the wheel humming "Only Mustang makes it happen," he, too, becomes a big ripsnorting stud. Ridiculous? Well, whoever heard of a car called the Aardvark or the Pussycat?
Actually, most admen use this sort of motivational psychology the way Roman emperors used auguries or modern politicians use religion: they don't necessarily believe in all that stuff, but they invoke it when it seems useful. Often motivational research merely boils down to an inspired hunch. The elaborate process of commercial making begins in earnest with an agency brainstorming session (see box opposite). Once the slant of a campaign is determined, writers and artists then work up rough drawings of the ads in comic-strip form. Ideally, these "story boards" will have a "hooker opening" or an intriguing scene-setter, plus a memorable catch phrase or two that dramatizes the need, say, for Murine to cure "eye pollution" or for Wizard air freshener to wipe away "house-itosis."
Prestige Sound. The script is then delivered to a production group usually an independent agency. In the casting process, actors are chosen for the "authentic look," Jack Gilford, for instance, seems typecast as the conniving Cracker Jack addict, and Lou Jacobi looks every bit the beleaguered traveling salesman in a Hertz ad. Narrators Ed Herlihy for Kraft Foods and Alexander Scourby for Eastern Air Lines are prized for their ability to project "appetite appeal" and a "prestige sound." Just as important is the preparation of catchy music, which may even become a bestseller on the pop charts, as was the good fortune of Benson & Hedges' Disadvantages of You and Polaroid's Meet the Swinger.
At length, a small army of actors, makeup men, hairdressers, set designers, wardrobe people, technicians and directors head out to make their film, and act out the admen's fantasies. Perhaps they will alight in an ancient West German castle, which was the setting for a recent Volkswagen commercial. Maybe the cameraman will strap himself to the back of a speeding motorcycle or scoot around in an electric wheelchair to achieve new whirling, eye-catching effects.