Junk Mail And The Art Of Hype

The art of hype pervades advertising of all kinds. You can see it everywhere you go. It's characterized by its extensive use of exclamation points, big words, powerful colors, and giant pictures. You're sure to see several trademark symbols and percentages that they claim you will save. What they hide are the details which are quite often exceptions to their claims and end up rendering their savings miniscule.

These details are usually confined to "fine print" which they expect no one to read.No where is hype more prevalent, and indeed necessary, than in junk mail. The very fact that hype is so prevalent says a lot about the reader of junk mail. It implies that they have a short attention span and are unconcerned and unconvinced by details: they are emotionally driven. However, much of it can probably be attributed to the desensitization against the effects of junk mail. Even the pictures they show have a lot to say about what they imply their audience is like.Perhaps the single most distinguishing quality of hype in junk mail is the typesetting. It's designed to catch the eye.

The words are usually big, huge in fact, telling you who they are and what they're selling. Anything that can be grasped at a quick glance, that will catch the eye, and that will present the product in an attractive light, will be displayed in big, bold letters. These aren't designed to inform you of their product, as such information can more easily and efficiently be presented in plain, normal-sized fonts. Such dry and boring information, though in fact more informative, is confined to "fine print."The typesetting is almost always rampant with exclamation points, since they are probably the single most effective symbol to represent excitement, and is therefore eye-catching. Similarly, large fonts, boldface print, and capital letters also seem to imply excitement, so they're also used. Since every idea and name is considered property in America, you're bound to see several trademark (tm) symbols in the average piece of junk mail.

A good example of all of these facets of hype can be found on the GE BonusBack(tm) Loan Program:It's TIME To GET OUT OF DEBT!!What's the catch? Absolutely nothing!!You are pre-approved for GE BonusBack(tm) Loan.It takes only a few minutes to save so much.As this example shows, two exclamation points are better than one!! Of course,...

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...en they tell you that you can have that kind of fun, be that kind of family, and save money at the same time. Then, acting under the assumption that they've inspired you, they go on to tell you that all you need to do to save money is use more gas, which is absurd if you think about it, but it makes sense because you're not thinking about the details but instead thinking about the summer and your family. That was the point of the pictures and the hype. They were even nice enough to provide you with ideas for how to enjoy your gas usage!From all of the things you can pick out from a piece of junk mail, all the pictures, all the underlying assumptions that went into crafting the ad, one thing you usually won't find is valuable, detailed information. Although they present it in such a way as to seem informative, the ads are based more on hype than on information. Hype is the basis for all emotionally-driven advertising, and it can be found in the slew of junk mail you receive at your home each day.

Works CitedHine, Thomas. "What's in a Package." Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 2nd ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford, 1997.