Advertising & Consumer Sovereignty

The “American Dream” has changed form dramatically since the term was first coined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams. By definition, it refers to the goal of the American people to pursue their own individual dreams with independence. However, considering the increased amounts of advertising in recent years due to the advancement of technology, are Americans actually making their own, uninfluenced decisions about the products they are purchasing? Kalle Lasn, the founder of the anticorporate AdBusters Media Foundation, would likely disagree. As the founder of this organization, the Estonian author’s goal is to inform average consumers about the hidden grime in advertising that they may not be aware of, such as discrimination and logical fallacies.

not be able to act rationally at all because the advertisements are causing them to act

Every day, companies present the people with advertisements everywhere they go. Advertisements have become very prevalent in today’s society nowadays focusing in on a negative connotation. Advertisement has become an effective way for producers to display their new products. In present day, they come in forms of billboards, flyers, e-mails, and even text messages. It is widely known that companies create advertisements to persuade people to buy specific products or goods; however, it is not widely known that advertisements can make a negative impact on today’s society. The companies manipulate people’s mind and emotions, swaying people by new promotions and therefore generating a strong desire to fit into the society, that causes them to make inessential expenditures. Advertisements pose a critical impact on the American culture.

For the longest time now, advertising has played a huge role in how we identify ourselves in the United States with the American culture, and how others identify themselves with all the cultures of the rest of the world as well. It guides us in making everyday decisions, such as what items we definitely need to invest our money on, how to dress in-vogue, and what mindset we should have to prosper the most. Although advertising does help make life easier for most, at the same time it has negative affects on the people of society as well. Advertisement discreetly manipulates the beliefs, morals, and values of our culture, and it does so in a way that most of the time we don’t even realize it’s happened. In order to reach our main goal of

Every minute of every day, millions of people are exposed to advertisements. They plague televisions, streets, radio waves, and all means of communication. These advertisements employ many methods of persuasion and their influence is irresistible. Just like prisoners in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, we are told every day to invest our time and interest into the subject of these advertisements, and to accept the forms of reality they serve us. Whether it be a commercial for a must-have new car, to a spot featuring desirable fast food, or to magazines with photoshopped models; we are seduced to accept these false

Advertising is protected by the First Amendment of the United States constitution. Conversely, advertising requires less control from the First Amendment, but requires the majority of control from the government and most importantly, the Federal Trade Commission. The Federal Trade Commission controls the content and images that are being advertised to consumers that seem to be exaggerated or just plain over the top. With that being said, false advertising is one of the biggest rising issues amongst many companies, celebrities, business, and much more. False advertising is when an individual(s) attempt to betray consumers into believing they are purchasing an absolutely amazing product, when in reality, they are

The average United States Citizen views about 5000 advertisements a day (Johnson). Advertising is everywhere. Billboards on the way to work, ads on the internet, and paper products such as magazines or newspapers display a sale or a promotion of a good or service. Usually, the ad will give a brand or company name, and uses the product’s merits to draw the consumer closer. This has grown exponentially as advertisements in media in 1970 were estimated to be 500 a day, a ten percent increase in the last 48 years. (Johnson). This is due to the rise of technology, as the computer has become a household gadget within the new millenium. These advertisements are meant to give a synopsis of the product or service’s purpose, quality, and efficiency. If a consumer views 5000 advertisements in a single day and assuming the commercials do not repeat, 5000 goods or services are introduced. With more options to choose from in such little time, the consumer has a harder time differentiating the quality and perhaps necessity of the product. The marketers rely on the quick, impulsive decision making of consumers. With the misleading nature of many infomercials or radio broadcasts, the people of American society are bombarded with constant propaganda, thus making seemingly harmless promotions more potent to filling industries’ pockets and lessening the common population’s

Advertisements are an extremely prominent part of American society. Very few places exist that an individual can go without being exposed to some form of ad. From product placement to billboards, advertisements exist in nearly every facet of life. Marion Nestle discusses what she considers to be one of the more heinous forms of advertisement in her essay, “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate.” Nestle uses several persuasive techniques to convince her audience of the evils of supermarkets. Her use of emotionally charged phrases paired with her more logical assertions help to drive her point home while her clear bias and lack of supportive source detract from her overall argument

When I was a kid in school, I was told that there were the basic things that you needed like clothes and food and there were the things that you maybe want but don’t really need. Advertisements do not have any effects on what we need. We don’t watch and add about how we need to eat food to stay alive; we have hunger for that. However, Advertisements greatly affect what we want.

In the article “Commodify Your Dissent”, Thomas Frank argues about his point that is based on the American cultural ideas in the 1950s. There are a lot of differences between two lifestyles, such as education, technology, and fashion. I strongly agree with Thomas Frank that marketing no longer promotes conformity, but, rather, promotes “never-ending self-fulfillment” and “constantly updated individualism”. Because humans’ interest and trend are changing over time, humans’ needs gradually increase. Back then, people only use magazines and TV to advertise their products. Nowadays, the technology is developed significantly, so advertisers have to change to match the society’s trends to get customers attention. Moreover, they have a lot of good

at first, the author argues that influence of advertisements on American customers are too high that prevent them to be noticed by other logical assertions such as eccocertification label. conversely, the lecturer brings up the idea that all consumers do not treat similar to advertisements. They distinguish between different commercial programs; especially they will trust on a certain product, if its quality is approved by an independent organization.

Each day we are bombarded with advertisements from a plethora of corporations in every waking moment of our lives. Advertising agencies have become so advanced at what they do, that often times we may not even realize we are being advertised a product. This raises an interesting ethical dilemma over a certain type of advertising: persuasive advertising. Philosophers, economists, and business professionals have debated over whether or not persuasive advertising is an immoral violation of the autonomy of consumers. While not all forms of advertising are in and of themselves certainly immoral, persuasive advertising is particularly reprehensible due to the fact that not only does it manipulate our unconscious desires of which we are completely unaware in order to sell a product, but it also routinely leads us to act against our own best interest, thus overriding our autonomy.

Companies involved in targeted advertising also have to deal with ethical issues. According to a study conducted by JL Davis on decision making in advertising, most of advertising experts were influenced only by legal actions, while ethics contributed as the minor factor. Based on the study of Wallace Snyder, advertising ethics, especially targeted advertising, is often given little attention until the company is compelled to make a response when challenged by the law (Snyder 2008). Some consumers haven’t been aware of that their privacy are stolen. Even if consumers were aware of online

“Advertising is far from impotent or harmless; it is not a mere mirror image. Its power is real, and on the brink of a great increase. Not the power to brainwash overnight, but the power to create subtle and

Advertising and promotion, ethical pitfall: Issues over truth and honesty. Issues with violence, sex and profanity. Taste and controversy and negative advertising