The Future Roles of Journalism: Where Does Ukraine Stand in Europe?

The article analyzes the emergence of ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response), the growth of ASMR videos into the most significant YouTube trend, and the reasons for attracting ASMR to brands’ commercials. The objective of the article is to find out the effectiveness of the involvement of ASMR media technologies in the advertising production. We made a content analysis of the ASMR videos on YouTube channels of ASMRtivists, and a detailed review of the ASMR spots that have received the highest resonance in the media (brands «Dove», «KFC», «McDonald’s», «IKEA», «Michelob Ultra», «BMW», «Coca-Cola», «Adidas», etc.), and reviewed publications on ASMR and ASMR advertising in various online journals and leading media such as «The New York Times», «The Guardian», «The Washington Post», «The Daily Telegraph», «The New Yorker», «The Times». The study discovered that after the first ASMR commercial («Dove» chocolate) appeared in 2015, the peak of ASMR commercials was in 2019 (43 commercials). Since 2018, brands have produced 11 to 17 commercials per year with ASMR positioning. It was found that the list of commercials by C. Richard, the founder of the ASMR University, did not include commercials for the brands «BMW», «Adidas» and «Coca-Cola Russia», which were added after correspondence with Professor Richard. The main conclusions of the study are the following. First, there is a problem with both brands and media outlets that misidentify the genre of AMR, so that commercials are labeled as ASMR when, in fact, they are «oddly satisfying videos». Second, there is an emphasis on the attractiveness for brands to produce ASMR ads because of their association with the pleasurable associations of relaxation, rest, and sleep. Finally, based on the studied ratings, studies, expert opinions, and evaluations of the advertising business, we proposed the assumption that FMCG brands actively exploit ASMR. At the same time, the fast-food sector largely remains a niche trend.