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The Negative Effects of Advertising

Good Essays

Alexandra Wesson
Professor Myslinsky
English 111 - 027 10 April 2011
Unethical Advertising 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 …show more content…

Unquestionably, if there were no such thing as advertising we would see a great deal of improvement in the attitudes and beliefs of the American people. We are constantly being bombarded with unhealthy information. In this age, we are driven by technology. The internet, television, and media run our lives to an extent. We are constantly seeing some sort of advertisement, whether on a billboard or otherwise. People want the image that is expressed in advertisements, and more often than not, the image portrayed is not practical. In the article, “A Mighty Image” by Cameron Johnson, he informs us that “The image creates an allure, that is, an attractive association of the thing…with a set of ideas. That set of ideas can be entirely divorced from reality, entirely separate from the needs of everyday life” (180). If there was no advertising it would allow the public to see other things about the world they would have never noticed otherwise. More attention would be placed upon the arts and literature if ads were not constantly in our faces. This would counteract everything we are learning and beginning to believe about the media and advertising. If advertising was outlawed we could thrive. Companies would have to find some other source of funding for television programs, magazines, etc. We would be forced to think for ourselves, for a change. Getting rid of advertising

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