Advertising people, feh, say most Americans

Americans take a dim view of the advertising profession. Stop the presses.

According to a study of public perceptions done by the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson on behalf of AdWeek.com, as reported in DM News, only 14 percent of those surveyed say their fellow Americans respect ad people. The top three most respected are military personnel (79 percent), physicians (75 percent) and teachers (71 percent). Two-thirds of respondents said that advertising was an important part of American culture, but they think there's too much of it and too many things are over-hyped.

The conclusions are based on a random online survey of 966 Americans, 18 years and older, with a 50/50 balance of male/female ratio, from September 5 to 12 .

Only 12 percent of those surveyed noted improvement of ad people’s status. Ad professionals are seen as a “necessary good” by 31 percent of the population (besting politicians and car salesmen). Asked to say whether they agreed with certain statements:

· 72 percent agree, “I get tired of people trying to grab my attention and sell me stuff.”
· 52 percent agree, “There’s too much advertising — I would support stricter limits.”
· 42 percent agree, “American advertising has improved in recent years.”
· 24 percent “resent advertising.”

“The study significantly uncovers a basic disconnect between the ad industry’s ‘world view’ and that of its audience,” JWT’s report said. “When asked to pick the word that others would use to describe them, 42 percent of the sample ranked themselves as ‘ pragmatists ’ — justifying the feature-centric and end-to-end benefit ad approach resonating most with consumers today.”