Introduction
The article Virtual Advertising and Entertainment is mainly a brief detailing of how advertising has in recent years switched from the traditional media that is, broadcast (radio and television) and print (newspapers and magazines).
Summary
The author generally proposes that with the advent of the internet and developments in computer software the advertising industry has made progressive steps towards securing more audiences which is the primary foundation of businesses in the industry.
The article concludes that the gap between the consumer and the advertiser is constantly widening mainly because the former is getting more and more control over the content he/she views. The author proposes that it is imperative that this gap be narrowed down if the advertising industry is to survive.
Evaluation
From the outset it is easy to see that the length of the article is limiting and this could be the reason why some critical aspects were left out. Since it is presumed that the author was publishing for the general audience, it would have been better for him to take time and conduct a thorough investigation into his topic of study and then presented the findings in such a way that any average reader could easily grasp his message.
As much as the article gives a general overview of virtual advertising, it fails tremendously by not properly defining what virtual and advertising is as well as not giving a critical analysis of what it entails. The author simply delves into fronting his personal opinion regarding the importance of virtual advertising and entertainment.
The ideas presented in the article are not properly substantiated therefore making it even more difficult for the reader to establish the credibility of the author and his work. For instance, when the author categorically concludes that there is a decline in print and television advertising, it would only have been appropriate for him to provide enough statistical data to back his statements.
The article though generally well written does not have a sense of direction. For example, the closing remarks on the widening of the gap between advertisers and consumers would probably have had a better impact if it had come at the start of the article.
That way it would have developed a better link with the aspect of advertisers embracing new media. The grammatical correctness of most of the article is commendable save for the fact that the author at one point claims that advertisers are increasing their podcasting and rich media ‘presents’ when he meant ‘presence.’
Conclusion
In general, the article appears like some form of public relations campaign for virtual advertising. This is mainly because it ignores the fact that a majority of consumers appreciate more advertisements that are presented in the traditional media of print and radio as compared to those delivered through the new media of internet and CD ROM (Smit, 2000). It is almost obvious that an individual will sit through a commercial while watching his favorite sport than insert a compact disk in his computer drive to watch the same commercial.
The same applies to newspaper advertisements, where the consumer has to appreciate the presence of several advertisements even without making the conscious effort to do so. In a way, the traditional media of print and broadcast are bound to be more effective especially because they do not give the consumer the option of choice (Smit, 2000).
Reference
Smit, E. (2000). Mass media advertising: information or wallpaper? Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis