Just so we’re all on the same page, when I say “advert” I mean commercial, and when I say “aerial” I mean antenna. I’m aware of these differences, but they still seem unnatural to say, so I’m sticking to my British guns.

I came to a conclusion this week: the US and the UK — my experiences of each, at least — really aren’t all that different. Obviously, there are some major differences that are hard to ignore — different currency, driving on the wrong side of the road, and so on — but if you take a step back and take a very general view of the two places, there are far more similarities than differences.

That is, until you turn on the television. More specifically, until you turn on the television and wait for the next ad break (or “commercial break”). I could say watching American adverts is a little like being forced into something you absolutely do not want, over and over again, while between 10 and 50 people shout at you as loud as they can.

Watching American adverts for the first time is rather overwhelming, as you might have gathered. I’ve been here two months and I’m still a little jarred when the adverts come on¹ (admittedly, I haven’t watched much television here). But before getting into specific advertising differences, it’s worth noting that there are some fundamental differences in the way Britons get their telly.

There aren’t as many TV channels in the UK. Cable TV is almost ubiquitous over here, which almost guarantees a minimum of around 12 channels (I think). In the UK, your basic TV + aerial will net you 5 channels. Two of those are public channels, funded by our tax money², and as such do not broadcast adverts.

Secondly, British advertising is strictly regulated³. The rule used to be only 6 minutes of advertising per hour, but it’s been relaxed to 12 more recently.

So with these two caveats, that means there are a lot less potential ad spots on British television than there are on American television, which by extension means Britons see less adverts. I’m not sure how this might affect the content of our adverts, if it does at all, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.

On with the show.

Although the basic notion of advertisements stays the same — to convince a consumer to buy a product — there are two very different methods employed, and thanks to an introductory Media course, I’m able to give these methods names!

Hard Sell vs. Soft Sell

All signs point to American consumers not giving a damn about advertisers, welcoming them into every facet of their daily lives, but Britons see advertising as an unwanted menace, forcing advertisers to approach us from a more non-invasive angle.⁴ Enter: the soft sell.

American adverts are all about the hard sell. The product is the star, and every second of the advert is devoted to it, touting its features, aggrandizing it in every which way possible, staging it in face-offs against its lesser competitors. The product is front and centre the whole time, telling you what a fucking badass it is, and how it will save your life. British adverts, on the other hand, are almost embarrassed to be there at all. Frequently, the product takes a backseat to other elements, with the adverts relying on other techniques to reel you in, without being pushy about how awesome the product is.

One technique I’ve seen used more and more frequently is to set the advert up as a mini-drama or movie. The video embedded below is one example.

In 30 seconds of advertising, there are only two specific mentions of the product — one of which is engineered to be a part of the “story” — and the advertisement itself is written in a way that, presumably, is designed to engage the viewer, encouraging them to pay attention. It also features characters of a popular British soap opera, which is sure to appeal to the hordes of froth-mouthed soap addicts in Britain.

Another good example is this excellent Burger King advert from a few years ago. For the most part, it’s a catchy, entertaining sing-song. The burger itself doesn’t enter until right at the very end. It draws you in, and waits until the very end to push its product. It’s particularly effective because the song is catchy and easy to remember, leading to huge numbers of people wandering around humming or singing the song, generating yet more advertising for them.⁵

It would be unfair to say that there are no American adverts employing less annoying techniques like these, but they are considerably rarer, displaced by adverts that are all information, all sell, and almost all annoying. If British adverts are like a mini-drama or movie, then American adverts are more like lectures: a narrator extolling the virtues of a product that, in all likelihood, covers the majority of the television screen.

Something else I’ve noticed is the part humour plays in adverts. There are some hilarious adverts aired in the UK — and they’re always the most memorable ones — but I see humour during adverts a lot less frequently over here. And it seems to be a different kind of humour, too, which won’t be at all surprising to a lot of people. Almost everything about British humour — be it in an advert or movie, or a stand-up comedian — is opposite to American humour. Where we rely more on puns and satire, Americans seem to go more for big, easy laughs.

Advert content aside, there are also numerous types of advert you just don’t see very often on British TV. Thanks largely to the advent of the DVR, advertisers are trying to cram as much advertising as possible into the shows themselves. Almost all the major networks advertise their major shows over whatever is currently on. (Can you imagine an advert for Coronation Street while Emmerdale is still on?) This is starting to happen on British TV too, but it’s largely confined to the end of the show, while the credits are rolling.

Product placement, too, isn’t nearly as common on British TVs. The video embedded below compiles a few scenes of product placement on one of my favourite American shows, 30 Rock:

It’s blatant product placement that they don’t even bother trying to hide, even making self-referential jokes about it⁶. I saw a similarly blatant example of product placement a few weeks ago in a Heroes episode where two of the characters drove a car that was also being advertised heavily during the advert breaks. Bonus points if anyone knows the embarrassing reason that I even know what Jimmy Choos are. If a British show attempted something like this, Advertising Standards would have a field day. As recently as March, Andy Burnham, the UK’s culture secretary, said “fuck no” to product placement.

So that’s American advertising. With the gentle stroll through the commercial break that I’m used to, it feels a lot like getting punched in the face.

Edit: Avery provided a little fact checking, and I’ve edited this appropriately.

1. Probably at least partially because commercials here seem to be played at a higher volume
2. BBC 1 & 2
3. Plenty of info about it on the Advertising Standards Authority website
4. There is research that backs this up that you could find fairly easily
5. It also prompted thousands of complaints from butthurt women, which I like to think Burger King anticipated, knowing it would lead to press coverage, and by extension, even more advertising for them
6. Doing so is kind of a 30 Rock “thing”, more about it here