Positive And Negative Effects Of Advertising

Advertising is not only used to sell products, it also affects the ideas of who we are. Each and every day we are induced to believe that we must spend money to attain an ideal

On the television screen a beautiful blonde woman in a swimsuit and heels tosses back her hair, smiles for the camera, and tells millions of viewers to “tap the Rockies” as she pops open a silver can. This is just one of thousands of advertisements aimed at viewers to promote a product. Advertising is essentially the art of selling or promoting something, whether that is a new car, a political candidate, a sports drink, or even a religion. While advertising has become so commonplace that it seems almost white noise to consumers, the effects of advertising are much more manipulative and harmful than people realize.

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

Unfortunately, advertising is sending our country into a quick downward spiral, doing an immense amount of harm and little good. Companies pay millions of dollars each year, in hopes to successfully pull the wool over our eyes and get their product sold. The dishonesty is leaving the citizens of this country with nothing to gain. The biggest problem with advertising is that the majority of it is alarmingly misleading. Advertisements convey an unrealistic view of a particular product. Companies go to extraordinary lengths to persuade consumers to indulge in unnecessary luxuries. Once again, the consumer falls victim to their tricks and

Advertisements negatively impact society by influencing people’s choice by manipulating society into buying products their products. Advertisements are everywhere and are hard to ignore after a while. As a result of that, people finally give in and buy products that they usually would not purchase. In Adam Dachis’ article, “How Advertising Manipulates Your Choices and Spending Habits (and What to Do About It),” he stated, “You see advertisements every day, whether it’s on a web page, before a movie, or in the middle of a TV show, and it’s easy to say “they’re just ads” because, at worst, they feel like a nuisance or interruption” (Dachis). The quote stated above communicates that advertisements are everywhere. The excerpt from the article means that it is hard to ignore the advertisements due to society watching ads on a everyday basis. This is important because it’s hard for society to say no and not buy what advertisements are selling because advertisements persuade people to buy the items. Advertisements changes parents’

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

Some critics might say that advertisements are not purely manipulative or persuasive. They might argue that advertisements can positively contribute to society while trying to sell a product. This is debatable because modern day advertisements have reached a peak of meaninglessness and emptiness. They do not necessarily contain any thoughtful portrayal of society or its culture. Rather, they are packed with many false ideals distant from reality.

Everyday our lives are affected by advertising and media. Companies use advertising to take advantage of every aspect of people’s lives. As a result, a change needs to happen in advertising, for the negative impacts of advertising are hurting the cultural norms of society. Everyday companies use advertising as a tool to take advantage of the relationships of consumers.

People see up to 5,000 commercials a day (Johnson); additionally, a number of individuals feel that these advertisements are simply informative. Actually, they are choked full of fallacies which deviously influence peoples spending. Granted, advertisements are an important element in the business world and a thriving economy because of its information, it is manipulative due to the fact that it distorts a human’s view on a psychological level by embellishing, disregarding the entire truth, and appealing to an individual’s deepest desires.

We live in the age of consumerism; we are constantly surrounded by advertisements in our everyday environments. Through television, print, billboards, radio, the Internet and countless other mediums, it seems as though we cannot escape ads. We have become so accustomed to advertisements that most of the time we are unaware of the impact they can have on us. To help us become more aware of the effects of advertisements and consumerism, activist groups like Adbusters has helped bring more attention and awareness to how information and meaning gets generated and transmitted in our society today.

American society has changed drastically over the past years and some people say advertisements reflect the society that we live in now. Advertising in our society encourages unhealthy habits, focuses in on our weaknesses and leads us to believe that we are materialistic. Advertisements can also change our vision of reality and makes us believe the impossible. Advertisements use sexual and racial stereotypes to help sell their products. People in our society encourage the commercials that demonstrate these things, like focus in on our weaknesses.

I can’t remember the name of my first grade teacher, but I can remember the jingle of a cereal commercial I watched at that age. I can’t remember the grammar we covered at the beginning of the course, but I just can’t manage to shake the opening lines of that Youtube Ad I skipped again as I watched videos of the beginnings of the year. Such are the strange ways of advertising, a relentless force in the eyes of some, while a beautiful symbol of free-enterprise in the eyes of others. For myself, however, the answer to what the effects of advertising truly hold is not black and white, a differentiation between good and evil, but more grayscale, like most of the issues we fight over. It is an extension of humanity and, like people themselves,

Advertising products is a useful thing for business, by promoting value that are directly opposed to humans’ wellbeing and environment. Advertisement are everywhere television, radio, and billboards telling us what we need and want. In 2002, this country spend $13.5 billion telling us what to buy. We are influenced by advertisement by making us think we need certain materials. Advertising is so powerful that we will jump at the new and improved bull crap that companies throw at us. We will buy into our happiness and consume and consume some more, but we will never be satisfied.

“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