Stereotypes In Advertising
Don’t Let Advertisements Affect You
Have you ever been tricked into purchasing merchandise that claims it will make you look more appealing but never really does you any justice? Throughout the years, our nation has been deceived by thousands and thousands of advertisements per year. Advertisers have increased their earnings from $20 billion in 1979 to $180 billion in 1999, which only caused more advertisements to be displayed and more people to become influenced by them (Killing Us Softly). These advertisements do not only influence us to purchase these products, but they cause us to stereotype the classification of "beauty" and "the ideal person" (Sexual Stereotypes in the Media). Advertisements are harmful to society because they portray …show more content…
However, there are other methods to advertise more accurately. For example, in the book The End of Advertising as We Know it, the author lists key points a corporation can do in order to preach about their ad truthfully and righteously in the following quote: "Tell the truth, tell it all, and tell it fast. Do something to make things better. Have a theme and stick to the product and only the product. Know when to shut up.” (Zyman 140) Zyman 's advice may be helpful for advertisements in selling their products, but it still does not provide a solution to the cause of society 's insecurity of their self-image. A solution to this however, can be for advertisements to stop spreading negative ideas into their ads and provide positive influences to the audience. For example, in the Special K commercial, it shows several women standing on a scale to see how much they weigh and instead of a number, the scale reads: "Amazing, Free, Beautiful, Confident, Charismatic, etc." This portrays a helpful idea to women, men and teens all around the world to feel beautiful in their own skin. Advertisements can be beneficial to us, the corporations are just the ones who choose to spread negative ideas rather than the positive …show more content…
We as a nation have to be aware of the false advertisements and aid each other into what to and what not to buy. We also should encourage one another and make our loved ones feel better about themselves. A compliment a day can truly make a difference in a person 's life and can aid teens to not buy in to advertising. Although it is not an easy task, if society takes this process one step at a time, we can change the views of advertising and slowly discard our insecurities.
Works Cited
1. Balasubrahmanyan, Vimal. "Hidden Power of Sexism in Media." Rev of Women and Media: Analysis, Alternatives and Action. Kamla Bhasin; Bina Agarwal. Economic and Political Weekly, 13 April 1985. 641. Web
2. Cortese, Anthony Joseph Paul.Provocateur : Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004. Web.
3. Humes, Edward. Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash. New York: Avery, 2012. 53-74.
Have you ever been tricked into purchasing merchandise that claims it will make you look more appealing but never really does you any justice? Throughout the years, our nation has been deceived by thousands and thousands of advertisements per year. Advertisers have increased their earnings from $20 billion in 1979 to $180 billion in 1999, which only caused more advertisements to be displayed and more people to become influenced by them (Killing Us Softly). These advertisements do not only influence us to purchase these products, but they cause us to stereotype the classification of "beauty" and "the ideal person" (Sexual Stereotypes in the Media). Advertisements are harmful to society because they portray …show more content…
However, there are other methods to advertise more accurately. For example, in the book The End of Advertising as We Know it, the author lists key points a corporation can do in order to preach about their ad truthfully and righteously in the following quote: "Tell the truth, tell it all, and tell it fast. Do something to make things better. Have a theme and stick to the product and only the product. Know when to shut up.” (Zyman 140) Zyman 's advice may be helpful for advertisements in selling their products, but it still does not provide a solution to the cause of society 's insecurity of their self-image. A solution to this however, can be for advertisements to stop spreading negative ideas into their ads and provide positive influences to the audience. For example, in the Special K commercial, it shows several women standing on a scale to see how much they weigh and instead of a number, the scale reads: "Amazing, Free, Beautiful, Confident, Charismatic, etc." This portrays a helpful idea to women, men and teens all around the world to feel beautiful in their own skin. Advertisements can be beneficial to us, the corporations are just the ones who choose to spread negative ideas rather than the positive …show more content…
We as a nation have to be aware of the false advertisements and aid each other into what to and what not to buy. We also should encourage one another and make our loved ones feel better about themselves. A compliment a day can truly make a difference in a person 's life and can aid teens to not buy in to advertising. Although it is not an easy task, if society takes this process one step at a time, we can change the views of advertising and slowly discard our insecurities.
Works Cited
1. Balasubrahmanyan, Vimal. "Hidden Power of Sexism in Media." Rev of Women and Media: Analysis, Alternatives and Action. Kamla Bhasin; Bina Agarwal. Economic and Political Weekly, 13 April 1985. 641. Web
2. Cortese, Anthony Joseph Paul.Provocateur : Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004. Web.
3. Humes, Edward. Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash. New York: Avery, 2012. 53-74.