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Argumentative Essay-All Advertising Should Be Banned

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All Advertising Should Be Banned

A man on the point of death is shown lying on a bed, Aids has taken such a grip on him that he will never return from his state of unconsciousness; is this advertising or exploitation? Another man, half naked, with a Kalashnikov in one hand and a femur bone in the other is used to sell jumpers to the worldwide public; is this again exploitation or just effective advertising? Both of these are, however, effective if a person remembers this company’s name, United Colours of Benetton, but at the same time it can be argued are exploitation. Whether for a good or ghoulish reason the company has used successful advertising. This is a widely debated area: where to …show more content…

This is not to suggest that Benetton were right in their advertising techniques, quite the opposite in fact, the advertisements were clearly morally wrong in these circumstances. To use such an incredibly moving image, the man dying of Aids, in this context- to advertise clothes was insulting; Benetton refused to comment whether they had asked permission of the family to use the photo. There are many advertisements that are far-fetched and manipulate emotive images for their own purposes; Benetton is not alone in this.

Sexist, racist and belittling images are used for commercial purposes. Companies claim that they are appealing to their target audience, but can this stereotyping and conformity really be called advertising? The Land Rover advertisement for their Freelander depicted a bare-breasted Himba women wearing traditional Namibian dress, whose breasts have been pulled sideways by the power of the passing vehicle; the company was forced to retract it. Advertisements like this, which mock other cultures and use racial stereotyping, should be banned. How can society obliterate racism when international car companies use a form of it to sell cars? Advertisements rely on sexism too, the stereotypical housewife image or the degrading blonde bimbo, they

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