Question

To suit the needs of corporate clients, advertising agencies have successfully modified a strategy originally developed for political campaigns. This strategy aims to provide clients with free publicity and air time by designing an advertising campaign that is controversial, thus drawing prime-time media coverage and evoking public comment by officials.

The Statements above, if true, most seriously undermine which one of the following assertions?

(A) The usefulness of an advertising campaign is based solely on the degree to which the campaigns advertisements persuade their audiences

(B) Only a small percentage of eligible voters admit to being influenced by advertising campaigns in deciding how to vote

(C) Campaign managers have transformed political campaigns by making increasing use of strategies borrowed from corporate advertising campaigns

(D) Corporations are typically more concerned with maintaining public recognition of the corporate name than with enhancing goodwill toward the corporation

(E) Advertising agencies that specialize in campaigns for corporate clients are not usually chosen for political campaigns., advertising agencies have successfully modified a strategy originally developed for political campaigns

Answer 1

The statement that advertising effectiveness is based solely on persuading audiences is most undermined by the strategy of designing controversial ad campaigns to gain free media coverage, as this indicates other factors contribute to campaign effectiveness.

Step-by-step explanation:

The provided statements, if true, most seriously undermine assertion (A): The usefulness of an advertising campaign is based solely on the degree to which the campaigns advertisements persuade their audiences. This is because the strategy discussed involves generating free publicity and air time by creating controversial ad campaigns that draw media attention and evoke public comment, rather than simply persuading audiences through the content of the advertisements themselves. Therefore, this strategy suggests that there are factors other than direct persuasion that can contribute to the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.

Additionally, the information suggests that advertising techniques and the media landscape have evolved over time. Corporate advertising has shifted to strategies that ensure brand recognition and visibility across multiple platforms. Similarly, political campaign strategies now include a variety of media, including Internet and social media, to target different demographic groups.