Book Ad Acknowledges People's Intelligence
To promote its new book called Countdown to Crisis, Crown Publishers has placed a series of blog ads that contain the usual, gushing quotes from those who love the book but, unusually, they also include quotes from those who hate the book. Rarely do advertisers call attention to the negative aspects of a product or service, choosing to highlight only the positive. While nothing is perfect and everyone knows it, the continual positive-spin, adver-blather most ads spew forth just falls on deaf ears after a while.
People are intelligent and enjoy being treated intelligently. In the case of this book ad, pointing people to a negative review is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps after reading the review, a person considering the book might think the reviewer's opinion simply isn't relevant to their mindset or book buying consideration set. With people armed with endless sources of information regarding any and all advertised product, hiding or glossing over the truth is pointless. Crown Publishers knows this.
