Novelty


Novelty refers to those and images which emphasize the originality or newness of a product or service. Since new discoveries and products are common in our technological society, so also are ads which stress their new benefits. (See "Demonstrations") Ads have an important function in providing information about such new items: people need to be informed that new things exist, their benefits, and how to use them.

Product-centered ads make claims and promises to stress the good qualities of the product: explicitly said in words, or implicitly suggested using words and images
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Are you bored? -- from "Is Boredom Bad?" by Roy Rivenburg, Los Angeles Times (2/22/03):

"One of the great ironies of modern life is that 'in an age when we have more entertainment available to us than ever before, there seems to be an epidemic of boredom,' writes psychiatrist Richard Winter in the new book 'Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment.' Winter and other commentators believe society is so saturated with TV, videogames and advertising that people are losing their sense of wonder.... Instead of rushing to fill the void with a new DVD or other distraction, people should 'stop and reflect on the true reason for their boredom and then take appropriate action,' Winter writes, 'We can learn and grow from it.' Anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson [in Peripheral Vision] says the constant quest for novelty means people miss out on the world around them: 'It's a mistake to assume things are only stimulating if they're new. If you're in a meadow filled with birds singing and plants and insects, that's a stimulating place to be even though it'll be the same tomorrow.'" [See: Patricia Spacks, Boredom: The Literary History of a State of Mind (1995)]

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Key Words


advanced
amazing new
announcing
breakthrough, contemporary
cutting edge
discover, discovery
exciting new
fad
fashion, fashionable
first showing
fresh
future
innovate, innovation
introducing
introductory offer
just released
latest
modern, modernistic
new, new improved
novel, novelty
original, originality
premier
recent
revolutionary new
state of the art
style, stylish
technology
timely
today's
up to date