Consumer Driven World of Advertising
The speech titled "Advertising's Overdue Revolution" is a very interesting read. I will attempt to break the speech down into a number of main themes discussed by the author. I will then examine each of these themes and decide whether or not I agree with the points presented. On the issues that I have a difference of opinion, I will examine why, and try to support my argument with relevant facts.
How much is advertising responsible for the highest credit card debt and lowest household savings in years?
Let us make sure we understand what advertising is before we tackle this question. I will not be talking about one particular ad, but from the common theme underlying every ad. There is no question in my mind that advertising has contributed to this. As mentioned earlier a person gets hit with 3000 ad ideas a day. There is of course going to be things that a normal person will see in some of these ads and have a want for. However, advertising is a way for companies to communicate the ideas and products they are selling to the consumer. Can you imagine if there was no advertising at all? How could a company introduce a new product to consumers? They could lay a product in a store and hope people buy it. Of course, it may work for something that looks easy to use and when customers' have seen similar products. What about when it is a new innovative product? Then of course how would they know what it even is if there was no label on the package. Isn't the packaging a form of advertising at the point of sale? As you can see when you view it in simple turns, advertising is needed to sell products.
Moving into the 21st century, technology is changing, more companies are popping up, more products are available than ever before, and researchers' ae developing new ways to advertise each year. Therefor, it is no surprise consumer debt is at the highest level in recent years.
Advertising is increasingly being scrutinized and codes of ethics are being adopted and revamped around the globe. The author of "Advertising's Overdue Revolution" proposes three clarifications of the industry principles in North America. They are:
1. Promote only those goods and services that benefit human development.
2. Refrain from promoting reckless, irresponsible, competitive consumptio...
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...and beer companies would have if underage usage was completely stopped.
We have examined the more serious product that can be dangerous and deadly to underage users. Let us take a look at a few different things. According to an article in American Demographics entitled "Born to Shop" children as young as three ask for brand names, and at six months babies recognize corporate logos and spokesmen. That is scary especially considering 93% of teenage girls say shopping is their favourite activity. On this issue I do agree with the author. I think we should ban all advertising to children less than 12. The evidence shows that children under that age cannot make an informed decision. To relate this to a topic discussed earlier, that credit card debt is at its highest level ever. How much of that debt is contributed to parents buying things for kids that are subjected to these ad campaigns. For example Levis' jeans, Nike shoes, Tommy Hilfigger shirts, and other expensive brand name items that kids increasingly demand so they can fit in or so they do not stand out and get beat up. As you can see, it can be argued advertising to kids creates a number of social problems.
George Parker once said, “The only people who care about advertising are the people who work in advertising." Advertisers use many different techniques that target children and teens. Many people do not realize how harmful this can turn out to be. Advertising plays a harmful role in the lives of youth because it poses health risks, prevents children and teens from saving money, and exposes them to way too many ads.
Advertisements are one of many things that Americans cannot get away from. Every American sees an average of 3,000 advertisements a day; whether it’s on the television, radio, while surfing the internet, or while driving around town. Advertisements try to get consumers to buy their products by getting their attention. Most advertisements don’t have anything to do with the product itself. Every company has a different way of getting the public’s attention, but every advertisement has the same goal - to sell the product. Every advertisement tries to appeal to the audience by using ethos, pathos, and logos, while also focusing on who their audience is and the purpose of the ad. An example of this is a Charmin commercial where there is a bear who gets excited when he gets to use the toilet paper because it is so soft.
Goldman, R. & Papson, S. Advertising in the Age of Accelerated Meaning. In Schor, J.B. and Holt, D.B. (eds.). (2000). The Consumer Society Reader. (pp. 81-96). New York: The New Press.
... need to focus harder on providing us with information that is truly important to our lives. Now that we know, we, the audience must not believe everything we hear on the news and if we are truly interested in a story we hear, we must look into it for ourselves by going on the internet and looking up various articles about the topic that you were interested in. I do agree with all of these sources that advertisement has hurt everyone in negative ways and that many of us would feel more confident about ourselves without them in our lives. I don’t personally don’t agree with what advertisers do because I feel as if they try to find their way into our wallets without caring if we are buying junk or not. I believe that it should be mandatory for people to be handed their money back to them if the product does not come through with what it promises to provide you with.
Today we live in a society that is being dominated and confounded by commercials and ads. A new age, which could be referred to as the advertising age where commercials and ads tell us what is a necessity and what isn't. Howard Luck Gossage in his book Is There Any Hope for Advertising? Stated that there are ads and commercials everywhere around us in which there is no escape. "I like to imagine a better world where there will be less, and more stimulating advertising. I suppose all of us would like to see this come to pass, it would certainly clear away some of the confusion from advertising's murky picture and make it easier to comprehend" (7). Ads and commercials have flourished everywhere like a virus, once it strikes there is no way we can remove the marks it left behind. It creates this blurry, confusing picture, a "murky picture" as Gossage stated, which most people won't find the genuine truth behind what the product really mean and if its really useful or not. Advertising forces consumers into buying products by manipulation which make the customers buy products they think are good for them when in fact it isn't and they do this by appealing in their innermost desires. Advertisers are aware of the cultural need of acceptance and people's insecurities and takes advantage of these desires to persuade people into buying their products.
Looking through the eyes of an adolescent, many things are seemingly a necessity. From clothes to materialistic things, advertising has brainwashed the American society and has stripped them of their better judgement. Although there are many perks to advertising like awareness, promotion, and entertainment, the advertising world is harmful to society.
Zyman, S. and Brott, A. (2002). The End of Advertising As We Know It, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, Page 9, Page 10, Page 19
Advertising is an exaggerated reflection of life and founded in some of the perspectives the audience may have of society. While advertising does have a negative impact upon society by frequently portraying stereotypes, materialism and sex appeal as a method to sell products (Pollay, 1986), it is also true that society shapes these advertisements. Advertisement being a force upon the population is just as true as the statement that advertising is shaped by the population. In admitting that both of these statements are true, it is clear that advertisements inflicting the portrayal of certain negative concepts is caused by a society holding these values and beliefs. As advertising is moving forward it is becoming more filtered to suit the values of an individual as well which holds contention towards Pollay’s statement. Pollay has a valid point that advertisements does have a negative effects upon the viewer. However, it is a question about whether it is the responsibility of the advertiser to change the values of advertisements to suit more ethical values.
Advertisements clutter modern day society. It seems as if on every street corner, website, television show, magazine, or even car window, someone somewhere is trying to sell you something. Whether it be a product, a service, or an idea, businesses ploy manipulative and deceitful marketing schemes in order to persuade consumers into buying whatever they have to sell. While mass spread of these advertisements can be conducive to economic growth and possibly have other indirectly beneficial effects, there are a vast amount of advertisements that are sending destructive messages to the general public, as well as to the younger population of people. Harmful products such as tobacco, alcohol, fast food, or even potentially pharmaceutical medicines can be glorified, and encouraged for consumption. The negative effects these products can have are well documented, and it is concerning whether these advertisements should be more strictly regulated or banned from public display. Beyond physical harm, many advertisements can capitalize on the insecurities of vulnerable individuals, and can have a wide array of negative psychological effects including causing people to create a skewed body image of themselves, develop eating disorders, and even cause or worsen depression and anxiety. Many advertisements target children due to their innate vulnerability and innocence, generally preventing them from making sound judgments. While there are already many laws around the world regarding the restrictions placed on false advertising, censorship, and many other things, it could be argued that there are still a lot of negative outcomes from advertising, and stricter regulation is necessary.
Let’s look at the structure of advertising before the development of radio, TV and the internet. Before, the advertiser was the salesperson himself. He didn’t go through any kind of advertising agency, or use advertising strategies. Because, people will only advertise the products they had. And they would do it directly. Because the option of advertising the company’s product on a big scale was not yet available to the advertiser, and if he advertiser wanted to expand his grounds, it would difficult because he doesn’t have the tool to do so. The salesperson would stand in front of his business, and just try to capture people’s attention to his product. Some businesses used a notice board to portray what they had inside. Later on, businesses used newspapers, magazines and boards to advertise their products, but it’s still wasn’t able to reach a huge amount of people. But, advertising changed in today’s world, and technology had to do a lot with it. Therefore, it would safe to say that technological advancement the world was able to achieve revolutionized advertising, and the way products are
“Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket”-George Orwell. Since 4,000 B.C, there have been all types of advertisements, like billboards and advertisements from outside your home, just to get customers to buy goods or services. Advertising is a form of marketing communication that is used to persuade an audience into taking or continuing to take some action. There are different types of media that advertising use, such as magazines, televisions, newspaper, radio, pop-up ads on the computer, etc. Advertisements in colonial America, was frequently announced about goods which were persuasive and with little description. Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette reached out to readers with new devices like headlines and illustrations, which gave a visual view and a description. The 18th and 19th century advertisements were not only for consumer goods. Now in the 21st century, an average of 40,000 ads have been seen by people on the internet per year. Different topics from health to fashion to foods are being talked about in every other ad for any type of service. Everyone is affected by advertising, but the people most vulnerable would be teenagers. It has a pervasive influence on teenagers. Advertisement has a huge affect on the lives of teenagers.
“How Advertising Has Changed Over The Years.” Locker Gnome, Bradley Bradwell. 6 January 2008. Web. 4 October 2009.
It is hard to believe that people will spend out of their pockets in purchasing products they have never heard of. This is where advertisement giants come in. In this intimidating and capital- concentrated world advertising plays a vital role as it connects the consumers to the products existing in the market. Advertising is a concept where the manufacturers get the chance to publicize and exhibit their products by merely creating a feast of wide range of products for the consumers. People are now fully-aware of the kind of products in the market and then pin point on a product. It is highly satisfying for a person to get what he was looking for. Undoubtedly, advertising is a boon but has also become a bane if explored profoundly.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term “advertising” refers to the action of calling something to the attention of the public, especially by paid announcements (“Advertising”).In today’s society, people are constantly bombarded with advertisements every day, whether through television, social media, billboards, or magazines. Pope Paul IV was right for stating, “No one now can escape the influence of advertising” (Pontifical Council for Social Communication 1). Advertisers are extremely powerful in today’s society. In fact, several broadcasters rely on advertising revenue to survive. A 2014 study found that the average person is exposed to almost four hundred advertisements each day. This exposure continues to increase each day (“New Research Sheds Light on Daily Ad
Advertising has influenced teenagers in a profound way. The influence of advertising has affected teenagers in a way they are persistently exposed by means of television programs, articles in magazines, product endorsement ads, and through the internet. Although teenagers are excessively exposed, how they perceive and process advertisements ultimately determines how they are influenced. With that said, the perception towards advertisements can be amalgamated between reality and fantasy, which evidently has both negative and positive impacts. Advertisers strategically capitalize on what is trending in youth culture which makes teenagers most pervasive to wanting to fit in. The societal culture in advertising plays a crucial role in the way teenagers