Essay on Advertisings Subliminal Message

According to the commercial speech doctrine, only deceptive speech that is considered commercial may be regulated. General deceptive speech is not commercial, may not be regulated. When deciding what may and may not be regulated, it is important to understand the subtle differences in what is considered commercial and non commercial speech. An analyzation of false advertising would give further understanding to the notion of commercial speech and how it may be degenerative to a society when untruthful.

When it comes to the topic of commercials, most of us readily agree that commercials are irritating. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the purpose of the commercial. Whereas some are convinced that commercials are meaningless, others maintain that commercials tell a story. Effective commercials are repetitive and illustrate a story. Marketers use rhetoric marketing, the art of persuasive speaking and writing, when persuading an audience to buy a product. Rhetoric marketing is especially effective through the illustration of a story. It is effective because the marketer is able to relate to the consumer with a story or message. Advertisers also use the appeals of logic, credibility, and emotions to intrigue interest in a company. Coca-Cola’s advertisement, “Falling,” depicts the product as a confidence building companion suitable for young love through a series of logical and emotional appeals that visibly promotes the brand’s credibility.

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.

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

Jean Kilbourne’s film, Killing Us Softly 4, depicts the way the females are shown in advertisements. She discusses how advertisement sell concepts of normalcy and what it means to be a “male” and a “female.” One of her main arguments focuses on how women aspire to achieve the physical perfection that is portrayed in advertisements but this perfection is actually artificially created through Photoshop and other editing tools. Women in advertisements are often objectified as weak, skinny, and beautiful while men are often portrayed as bigger and stronger. Advertisements utilize the setting, the position of the people in the advertisements, and the products to appeal to the unconscious aspect

Television is an electronic telecommunication device that transmits pictures and sounds. Since its inception and release into society, the Television has grown to become extremely popular. The undying devotion to this medium has helped shape many aspects of human life. It has become a tool for education and entertainment. Businesses have found an efficient means to access the wider public through advertising. Advertising is a paid form of publicity aimed at a large audience by businesses with a view to increasing sales. Advertisements, unlike propaganda, have clearly stated sponsors. Through advertising, businesses can communicate with the user of their goods and services. The television allowed for the exponential expansion of advertisement. While older media is still used for advertising, Television’s ability to transmit moving picture and sound put it well above print media and radio (Messaris 2)

There are many rhetorical fallacies that advertisers use to trick customers. They prey on mankind’s belief in authority, and ignorance. They do everything they can to get you to buy their product. Some of the most common fallacies that you see today are faulty appeal to authority, emotionally charged language, and transference. Different industries use different fallacies to sell or promote their products.

Today’s world is dominated by the great influence of advertising media, which often depicts the objectification of women. The film Killing Us Softly 3, discusses how influential the negative portrayal and misrepresentation of women is throughout advertising media. The Versace advertisement I have chosen to analyze displays a slim, scantily clothed woman of color guarded by a shirtless, muscular man. Based on concepts from the film and the course’s text, it is clear that this advertisement sets a particular feminine beauty standard and, nonetheless, illustrates women as solely being sexual objects of men, having little to no power. This fashion ad influences the way women view their physical appearance, along with their position and function in society.

As critical thinkers, it is imperative that we have the ability to take fallacies into account - especially when it comes to advertisement. It is very easy to become influenced based on how products, such as food, liquor, diet supplements, and even toothpastes are presented to us. Some products may appeal to different aspects of our lives, this is done by the use of rhetorical devices. In other words, rhetoric devices are “used to influence beliefs or attitudes through the associations, connotations, and implications of words, sentences, or more extended passages. Rhetorical devices include slanters and fallacies” (Higher Education). Some advertisements may appeal to our emotions, which is known as pathos. On the other hand, others may

Generally, an argument amongst people will happen at some point in their week; It’s not uncommon for arguments to become heated. Individual’s use all sorts of different ways to persuade the other person to believe they are right. In order to be persuasive, an individual has to be able to support their claim; whether it is facts or opinions. (Engleberg & Wynn, 2013, p. 230) Although, many people can base their arguments on false claims called fallacies. There are two commercials that represent different fallacies of reasoning; one being an H&M commercial portraying the appeal to popularity and the other an Android commercial that portrays the faulty analogy fallacy.

The logical fallacies of amphiboly, appeal to authority, appeal to emotion, and non sequitur are often found in advertising to persuade us to purchase certain products, whether we need them or not. In order to think critically, we need the proper skills. Whether reading advertisements, deciding which politician to vote for, or buying a new car, we need to know how to carefully examine the statement to determine the validity of the content or structure. When a person’s argument is flawed, it is usually from a fallacy. Fallacies are defects in an argument, which cause the argument to be invalid or weak. By understanding what fallacies are, we can avoid making them and detect when other people use them.

up about two thirds of the A4 sized advert. The picture is of a woman

Advertising has been defined as the most powerful, persuasive, and manipulative tool that firms have to control consumers all over the world. It is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service. Its impacts created on the society throughout the years has been amazing, especially in this technology age. Influencing people’s habits, creating false needs, distorting the values and priorities of our society with sexism and feminism, advertising has become a poison snake ready to hunt his prey. However, on the other hand, advertising has had a positive effect as a help of the economy and society.

The viewer sits on the couch, nestled inside a cozy, warm blanket with a large bowl of buttery and salty popcorn on his lap. His heart starts racing as the movie reaches its climax. Just as his lungs stop breathing and his eyes grow wide with fascination, the channel changes to an old advertisement that he’s seen a thousand times. Ads like that one appeal to the three main techniques that have subliminal messages to viewers. These different techniques have proven to be effective with television watchers. Advertisers use these three techniques to target a certain audience.

Advertising is a persuasive communication attempt to change or reinforce one’s prior attitude that is predictable of future behavior. We are not born with the attitudes for which we hold toward various things in our environment. Instead, we learn our feelings of favorability or unfavorability through information about the object through advertising or direct experience with the object, or some combination of the two. Furthermore, the main aim of advertising is to ‘persuade’ to consumer in order to generate new markets for production.