Is anyone impervious to advertising?

"A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself." David Ogilvy

I noticed that the Coles Magazine now has a new section - Coles Finds. No that's not strictly accurate. It has always - well for some time now - been there, but usually just a page, with a scattering of products. Now there is a whole three or four page section which is presented in the same way as any other of the sections in the magazine - and crucially - near the front of the magazine - just after all the introductory stuff - an editor's summary - Welcome to January is this month's theme - would you call it a theme? Then there is a page of contents and then we come to this. As if we are looking at the first set of recipes.

And a brief word about the wording here - Coles Finds. It almost implies that Coles in a completely disingenuous way has found these new products on their shelves, when really they are directing us to find them.

It's pure advertising of course, but absolutely in the not drawing attention to the actual product vein. Above, - a kind of recipe - add one Coles product to another - sauce (or should I say coulis? - they do) - and ice cream - and serve with another - wafers. There is only one actual 'real' ingredient - the raspberries. The ice-cream is not shown in it's tub - although the opposite page advertises one of their Coles Finest ice-creams which is an oblique way of demonstrating the classiness of their ice-cream, as is the subtle small Canstar logo which gives the icecream an award - although the print is too small to see what the award is for. Moreover the photography and styling is given the same prestige treatment as virtually all of the published recipes.

Now shall I go out and buy said coulis and ice-cream? Probably not, although perhaps in my brain there has lodged a tiny bit of respect for the idea that the ice-cream has a Canstar award, and that their Coles Finest ice-cream does look classy - even if my head is telling me that they have just spent a lot of money on getting top people to design the packaging and style the photograph.

We really don't need a recipe for this sort of thing do we? But they've even given it the 'retro' label, which might actually make you feel that it is an actual recipe - and one all tied up in those favourite food advertising clichés of nostalgia, home, and comfort plus a little bit of style not to mention trendiness.

So I guess that even if I am not sucked into buying any of the actual products on show here, I am sucked into the idea that Coles is a brand to be respected. A step above Woolworths? I'm sure that's what they are trying for anyway.

Turn over the page in the Coles Finds and the ice-cream theme is continued - 'ordinary' Coles home brand on the left, Coles Finest on the right, with an additional, small promotion for ice-cream cones and ice-cream 'pops' - what I call lollies. More pointing to that Canstar award, and also to an award for the mango sorbet. That award is a bit more obscure though. "Discover our Product Of The Year award-winning products. Only at Coles" - it says on the web page dedicated to the award winners - and in smaller print - 'Survey of 5000 people by NielsenIQ'', which leads me to think that this is an internal survey. Not really an award. But then when it comes to food and drink awards I doubt that many of us look at what those awards really are - how many of us look carefully at all those awards on wine bottles?

Before I move on from their Coles Finds however, let me also point out that these two pages on ice-cream have not finished with you yet. No - in the small print against the Coles Finest mango sorbet - the ice-cream that got it's whole page ad at the start of this section - there is a reference to this actual recipe for Mango and vanilla ice-cream pops later in the magazine. Very professionally presented, photographed, styled as usual with top people in their fields, and with both of their 'award winning' products on display - plus another Coles product - meringue nests. So we have continuity here - continuity of product and product theme and continuity of styling theme as well because this section is called Sweet Nostalgia. You've got to admire the thought that went into all of this really, don't you? And aimed probably at the slightly wealthier section of their target market.

And, as a sort of an aside, do the general public bother about awards when they are buying food to feed their families on a tight budget? I doubt it - they just want the cheapest

But Coles Finds doesn't end there. Turn over the page and opposite a full-page ad for various Devondale dairy products - everyday stuff - we have - simpler treats - the ridiculously early hot cross buns - which every year seem to spawn more varieties. This is for the everyday purchase, or a low-end of the market treat I guess. I've had my say in the past about why we get hot cross buns as soon as Christmas is over, but I guess it's something they want to promote. Not exactly a new product but a seasonal one. And even they seem to realise this is not the edition to push things you can do with hot cross buns other than just eat them. But then you can access lots of ideas by doing the QR thing. Which is not something that an old lady like me, who isn't tied by umbilical chord to her phone - is really into. A simpler presentation - although from top class photographer and stylist - but simple is appropriate for the everyday.

Having finished this post I suddenly realised how taken in by their advertising I have been because there is also yet one more section within this section on Coles Finds- Flavour Forecast - from Michael Weldon (I think ex-MasterChef), now Coles Development Chef. I missed this out because I just thought that the magazine editors were now on to a general thing about what foodie trends were coming in 2026. And yes they sort of are, but really it's yet another advertising section for upcoming products and to remind you that Coles is always on trend.

There is indeed a short series of briefs on what he sees as upcoming trends - Sweet and savoury; Sri Lanka, Philippines and Armenia; Asian fusion with other cuisines; and cooking over flames, but this is followed by a new products to come that feed into those trends bit - a shaker salad range of 3 - what's a shaker salad I ask myself? Not a lot of advertising here, just a reminder that Coles is on to the trends.  In this section Michael Weldon spoke about viral TikTok trends for example, so you can imagine that have a whole team watching TiTok, Instagram and YouTube to see what's hot, as well as studying cookboo and restaurant trends. Well they need to don't they? If everyone is suddenly into kimchi they need to stock kimchi. So why, I ask myself, haven't they yet got za'atar in their spice section?

Did I say that Coles Finds doesn't end there? Well it doesn't even end at the end of the headlined section, it continues throughout the magazine, in small windows beside a recipe, drawing attention to particular products, which don't even have a really direct connection to the recipe they are focussing on. Take for example this page - which continues the ice-cream theme - into the Product Picks (i.e. what's in season) and the piece on corn. The recipe is for Corn ice-cream with honey popcorn crackle - what a title with all those proven to be popular words like ice-cream, popcorn and crackle - and the products on display are Coles Black bean and corn salsa and Coles Kitchen American BBQ slaw kit. Nothing to do with ice-cream but a clever segue from ice-cream to corn to ice-cream - to corn, which theme continues from this section of Produce Picks - to their prestige Curtis Stone section - In Season with Curtis Stone (the Curtis Stone bit is a signature) - who tells us everything we wanted to know about corn as well as giving us a recipe or two - which being the prestige section only mentions Coles eggs and no other Coles products at all. There is no need to here. The fact that Curtis is in the magazine is ad enough.

Coles advertises to the lower budget customers in a different way - in their every edition section on Budget Meals which is shown here. The styling of the food is somehow less high-end looking - not the top crew here - but nevertheless tempting and also looking as if there is a lot of food on show. What we have here are three salads, which look as if they are packed with nutritious stuff to varying degrees of expense - but all packed with Coles products.

If people make these things I wonder do they take it for granted that if it's presented as a budget meal, then the Coles products being pushed at them are the cheapest way they can do it. So I looked, and yes, I guess that most of the products are home-brand versions of common things like rice, or soy sauce, or chilli flakes. I question Coles lemon juice, but then lemons are pretty expensive for some reason, even when people currently have lemon trees loaded with lemons. My niece gave me a big bag of them the other day, because her neighbour had been giving her even more than my big bag.

Even the most educated amongst us, are not immune to advertising. Really we are not. Because advertising is really clever, and is always aimed at a specific market. If you are the target, then it's safe to assume that you will be affected by it - even if you consciously know that you are being targeted. Because:

"Advertising is about norms and values, aspirations and prejudices. It is about culture."

Anil Ambani

Bad advertising is when they get the target wrong - like that famous 'You're never alone with a Strand' cigarette campaign. Because the guy was indeed alone - even though the ad was memorable in a very arty - noir - kind of way. What I consider bad advertising, even repellent advertising, might be just right for a different audience.

It's clever stuff. Wickedly clever, and along the way has produced some amazing art - and literature even. Well that's what Marshall McLuhan seems to be saying when he said:"Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century." But then he also said: "Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century" So I'm confused. Here are a few 20th century ads that could be considered art I guess. But really that's a topic for another time.

I could also say a lot more about the subtle - and not so subtle advertising of the supermarket magazines - and maybe I will some time. And as, you can tell, by the amount of time I spend on them on this blog, I am one of the biggest suckers of them all. In spite of David Ogilvy - who must be in advertising saying:

"The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife."

Although I will add to that - 'he is your husband'. Husbands are equally unmoronic, yet equally - possibly more - captured by smart advertising. And yes I am most likely taken in by advertising - if it's aimed at me. Look - I prefer Coles to Woolworths - for no real tangible reason if I'm honest. And honestly a large part of that is their magazine. the Woolworths magazine is not nearly as good. It's all about IMAGE.

Nothing on the fridge - I was fasting yesterday. To no avail as it turns out.

YEARS GONE BY

January 21

2025 - Nothing

2024 - Confit - from duck to egg yolks

2023 - A new favourite thing - baked polenta

2022 - An unlikely mild disappointment

2021 - Missing

2020 - Hi tech in the outback

2019 - Nothing

2018 - Nothing

2017 - Restaurant timing