Advertising Impact on Society

Advertising is one of the most popular ways to promote a product. Through advertisement the creators of these products can make millions of dollars, depending on how successful their advertisements are. But are the advertisement selling a product that will help them or are they selling violence and sex? Many ads can influence people in different ways. One of these ways is to show women as objects of rape and sexual abuse. In, “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” Kilbourne talks about how many ads use women and portray them only as sexual beings. Some of these ads can influence violence against women. Kilbourne described violence in ads, “as in pornography, usually power over another, either by physical dominance.” (269). The Dolce & Gabbana

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.

Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly surrounded by advertisements. On average, we are exposed to approximately 3,000 ads per day, through logos, billboards, and television commercials, even our choices of brands. But in today’s society, one of the most used and influential tools of advertising are women. But the unfortunate thing is that women are not just viewed as actresses in these ads but as objects for people to look at, use, abuse, and more. In her fourth installment in a line of documentaries, “Killing Us Softly 4,” Jean Kilbourne explains the influence of advertising women and popular culture, and its relationship to gender violence, sexism and racism, and eating disorders.

Do you ever watch the Super Bowl for its commercials? Have you ever bought a more expensive product because you had seen its advertisement? If the answer is yes, then you might have been a victim of today’s marketers. Jean Kilbourne, the author of “Killing us Softly” stated in one of her lectures, “The influence of advertising is quick, cumulative and for the most part, subconscious, ads sell more products.” “Advertising has become much more widespread, powerful, and sophisticated.” According to Jean Kilbourne, “babies at six months can recognize corporate logos, and that is the age at which marketers are now starting to target our children.” Jean Kilbourne is a woman who grew up in the 1950s and worked in the media field in the 1960s. This paper will explain the methods used by marketers in today’s advertising. An advertisement contains one or more elements of aesthetics, humor, and sexual nature.

In a day, the average American sees thousands of ads, the world is covered in them. Be it on TV, in the daily newspaper or on the shopping cart one picks up at the grocery store, exposure to these ads is inescapable. Most are these ads are harmless, wanting only to catch the attention of potential customers and invest them in their product. The companies make use use of pathos ( for example the Budweiser commercials with the puppy and horse), logos (the Geico “15 minutes could save you 15% or more…”), or ethos (Jamie Fox using his iPhone 6s in Apple’s latest ads) to sell their product. Some companies, however, employ extreme tactics to stand out. They create ads that target human’s natural inclination to use sex and violence. More often

Everyone has heard the phrase “sex sells.” It seems to be a major factor that drives people to buy. Advertisers manipulate this behavior by creating ads that showcase their products as a way to gain love, beauty, and desirability. Advertisers frequently use sex appeal with flirtatious images as an attention grabbing device to play with the public’s emotions. Because the public is a diverse group of individuals, it is difficult to target the masses by focusing on hobbies, sports, or flaws. Because of this, advertisers target sexuality, something everyone can relate to. In the February, 2016 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine, they overtly demonstrate this. In an ad for Kinky Vodka, they represent multiple sexual innuendoes such as provocative body posing, stereotypical feminine colors, and seductive wording.

The commercials producers successfully capitalized on societies yearning to live a lavish and prominent lifestyle. The advertisement plants a growing seed inside the audience’s head that drinking Hennessy is an assure way to access a life of social elegance as well bump elbows the beautiful and wealthy. Possessing the skill and knowledge use a controversial substance and responsibly glorifying the drink is an exemplary method on how to market an ad. The Hennessy Cognac commercial is swarming with high-end materials: expensive cars, glistening jewelry, and designer clothing. It is understandable that society gets captured in the belief that Hennessy is the missing variable in the pursuit to live a life of luxury. Comprehending the dynamics behind marketing is a crucial skill when it comes to successful advertisement. Realizing the importance of selling a product that opens the doors to an iconic lifestyle is tremendous

to represent that, that I felt like a doll for so long.” Said Cara Delevingne, supermodel.

According to Jay Walker-Smith, president of the marketing firm Yankelovich, American society has gone from being exposed to roughly 500 advertisements a day in 1970 to approximately 5,000 advertisements a day in 2015. As Killing Us Softly 4 reveals, advertisements and their contents have major impacts on the way an individual within a consumer driven society and culture views their day-to-day lives and overall satisfaction with themselves. Advertisements and marketing campaigns utilize and manipulate a variety of techniques to sell their products such as selling seemingly risqué/romantic sex lives and perfectness whether that be bodies, hair, makeup or lifestyles. One of the largest areas of marketing is food and alcohol, in which women are

Marketing to children is not a new phenomenon; however, there have been many ethical debates on its rightness; is advertising to children a gentle persuasion of the innocent or a sinister threat to our society? There’s too much as stake if we remain silent and simply assume that marketing companies have our children’s best interests at heart; the truth is they don’t. This paper will explore to implications of marketing to children and the overall effects it has on our society. I will argue that advertising to children is a social problem. In the first part of my paper I will discuss why advertising to children is ethically wrong, I will then discuss what has changed; this will be followed by a discussion as to why it is a social problem and finally, I will conclude my paper by discussing what should be done to change it. Please note this paper is written in the first person as I have children and I have a vested interest in this topic.

Ads sell much more than products. They sell moral values and cultural images, such as concepts of success, love, and sexuality. Jean Kilbourne argues that advertising is a very powerful social force that should be taken seriously. Her videos (e.g., Killing Us Softly: Advertising Images of Women; Still Killing Us Softly; and Calling the Shots: Women and and Alcohol) use print advertising as a vehicle to provide careful and cogent analyses of gender inequality. (Cortese 14)

The advertisement is specifically directed towards women in the way that it appeals to what they believe Skyy Vodka can give them. In the advertisement there is a woman in a black dress leaning back eating olives with a martini glass between her fingers. On the floor is the Skyy vodka bottle and a man in a suit between her arm and body who seems to be passed out with his arms spread apart with a tie covering his eyes. The foreground shows the man woman is in her apartment, while the background is red and in the upper left-hand corner of the page it says “#18 She Wins.” The first thing the ad demonstrates is empowered women who are in control of their sexuality and can get what they want in a relationship. The next thing the Skyy Vodka appeals to is power this is obvious because of the body language, clothes, red setting and title. The other thing it appeals to is wealth from which is obvious based on the quality of their surroundings and clothes. The advertisement appeals to women by showing that by using Skyy Vodka that women can refute the societal standards of being a subordinate through having a confident dominance.

Advertising has had a major impact on society. Some may be considered positive and some negative. Take a look around, advertisements are placed everywhere, television commercials, billboards, newspapers, and even on the sides of buses. Advertising is the basic form of marketing and trading throughout the world. Today’s society knows it as marketers trying to influence or persuade consumers into buying something. It also serves as a medium for services and businesses. There are many advertising strategies, but television commercials will always remain the number one strategy. Think about it, how much television is watched a day, probably a lot. What better way to advertise a product or service? Advertising has a positive effect on our economy. It does not only influence and persuade consumers, but it also benefits them in many ways. It also benefits manufacturers and their company, and the world as a whole.

The advertisement is specifically directed towards women in the way that it appeals to what they believe Skyy Vodka can give them. In the advertisement there is a woman in a black dress leaning back eating olives with a martini glass between her fingers. On the floor is the Skyy vodka bottle and a man in a suit between her arm and body who seems to be passed out with his arms spread apart with a tie covering his eyes. The foreground shows the man woman is in her apartment, while the background is red and in the upper left-hand corner of the page it says “#18 She Wins.” The first thing the ad demonstrates is empowered women who are in control of their sexuality and can get what they want in a relationship. The next thing the Skyy Vodka appeals to is power this is obvious because of the body language, clothes, red setting and title. The other thing it appeals to is wealth from which is obvious based on the quality of their surroundings and clothes. The advertisement appeals to women by showing that by using Skyy Vodka that women can refute the societal standards of being a subordinate through having a confident dominance.

Advertising is designed to foster a desire to purchase goods and services, yet it is much deeper than that—advertising is a system of effective manipulation that twists the mentalities of those subjected to it. It shapes people’s views of the world and warps their connections to each other. Therefore, advertising not only shapes their personal values but also distorts them until their principles no longer come from within them. Thus, in my opinion, advertising, unless deeply rooted in high ethical standards, destroys any concept of community, common morality or deep bonding.