The Advertising Industry

The Advertising Industry

While watching this film I felt appalled to see how these advertisers went about their work. Advertisers aren't always what they seem. For example, there was a party held by MTV and sponsored by Sprite that paid each guest fifty dollars to come and have a good time with some of hip-hops greatest. Seeing things on television like this set the trend and show you a good time; like this is what all teens your age are doing, when in reality it's not. We are the largest generation ever having 31.6 million 12-19 year-olds in the U.S. This is a huge part of the country that these people have to advertise to. It is estimated that teens are exposed to 3,000 ads a day. We are heavily influenced by these ads and that's what makes us who we are.

In the majority of television shows or any advertisements we see there are these stereotypical creatures called "mooks" and "midriffs." The mook, a crude, adolescent male, is not real, just a media construction. He is a vulgar, loud, and an obnoxious person who doesn't exist in nature. He is Tom Green of The Tom Green Show, the daredevils on Jackass, frat boys, and the king of them all is Howard Stern. Many men fantasize upon these people and wish that they can live in the lives of these males, but it's just a creation that was made by the media. These lives are not really lived by real human beings. The midriff is no truer than the mook. She is just the female version of the design. The midriff is a sex symbol, a collection of sex clichÐ"©s. Some females agree and say they are a sex object and are proud of it. They believe that their body is their best asset and that they should flaunt the body around.

I think that some people I know and see around are definitely influenced by the MTV standard of "cool." I've seen some of my friends see something that is worn or done by a celebrity on television and they want to go out and buy it or act like them. In ways it makes you feel "cool" just like them on TV. There are definitely ways to be cool without copying the media, but it's very difficult to do. The media is everywhere. You need to be your own person and not let the media influence you. This is hard to do because no matter where you look, the media is there trying to manipulate you. Companies such as MTV use these stereotype mooks