Advertising Case

Unfortunately, advertising is sending our country into a quick downward spiral, doing an immense amount of harm and little good. Although it was originally used to market products, now, unfortunately, it seems to market feelings, sensations and styles of life; an astounding 'revolution in manners and morals'. Advertisers carefully plan out exactly how to attack potential consumers in an attempt to increase revenue. Advertisers ultimately harm people by filling their heads with false needs, setting unrealistic standards by which people feel they must live up to, and clouding their judgment.

The relentless propaganda on behalf of goods in general is considered by many a dangerous mode of brain washing in that advertising's central function appears to create desires that previously did not exist, or rather anxieties which respond to the advertisements (by going out and buying the advertised product or service) helps to assuage but only temporarily. Advertisers create "unfulfilled desires" which lead to unnecessary purchases of unneeded products Companies feed off of the desires they ensued in order to make higher profits (Sesana).

Advertisements create false realities in which humans are capable of achieving perfection. The images and people portrayed in advertisements are merely overly edited, glamorized versions of what they really are. This idealized form of life makes people feel unsatisfied with who they are, encourages a greediness towards items that they do not have, and makes them "oblivious to the miseries of millions who haven't a fraction of the comforts [they] take for granted". The advertisers ultimately set standards that no one is able to achieve. They plan seeds into the minds of consumers, convincing them that purchasing their product will take them one step closer to this "perfect" life (Day).

Advertisements have the power to manipulate people and influence them to do things they probably would not try under normal circumstances. Advertisers spend countless hours developing a mass marketing strategy that targets consumers and convinces them to partake in pernicious activities. Cigarette advertisers are able to increase the demand for their products even with advertising restrictions and an expanding awareness of health risks. They cloud people's judgment by misinforming them and leading them to believe what they are doing is what they should be doing (Shaw).

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