An article recently appeared in AdWeek, entitled “You Can’t Avoid Ad Avoidance…”. Provocatively and correctly, Greg Stuart asks, “What is the future of a business where the consumer hates your product — in this case, advertising?”  You get the point, I’m sure.  Obviously, marketers need to find better ways of having their brands’ communications welcomed into people’s lives.  However,before we hit the panic button, I and my colleague Ray Pettit would like to ask why ad avoidance does NOT always occur, how much it matters, and if that makes advertising a waste of funds.  Advertising is also a source of education, enjoyment, pleasant surprise, and brand connection, not just annoyance.  People can have 2-3 times higher recall of TV advertising for brands they love.  People love movie trailers, don’t they?  People buy certain magazines mostly for the advertising, don’t they?  People seek out branded websites as part of their shopping process, right? So, when we ask people about advertising in GENERAL, sure we get negative response, but obviously people don’t avoid all advertising.  Ask a schoolkid about whether they are happy or sad when school gets closed because of snow…all kids love a snowday!  Does that mean that school is a bad thing? At the ARF we are curious to see in a more passive way if advertising has the desired commercial impact.  OK, bring it on!  Comments please…