RECESSION GOT YOU DOWN? MARKETERS WANT TO HELP; With headlines mired in gloom and doom, flurry of ad messages tries to tap into consumers' need for hope.(News)(Survey)

Advertising Age, May, 2008 by Halliday, Jean

Byline: JEAN HALLIDAY

Don't worry. Be happy.

So advises Ian Beavis, exec VP and exec global client director at Aegis Group's Carat. He believes advertisers are hammering away too much on the negatives in their marketing these days. The media agency's qualitative research, conducted with thousands of Americans across the country three weeks ago, revealed that "people are weary of hearing about one-sided, negative economic news,'' he said.

"Americans by nature are a very optimistic bunch of people,'' said Mr. Beavis, who happens to be a native Australian. Carat found, he said, that while consumers aren't Pollyanna-ish about the nation's state of affairs, they are looking for more hope and optimism.

The conclusion, according to Mr....

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