The role of advertisement in people's life
The role of advertisements in people's lives. The advertising tries to convince people what way of living is right or wrong, what people need to eat and what they don't, what clothes and shoes they should wear and many other things. According to the article "Illusions are forever" by Jay Chait, the "real lies" of advertisement are hard to find. The ads usually use lies in "the representation of situations, values, belief and cultural norms"(Chait,J, 2000, October). The author tells that advertisements show people a different world, not the world they used to live in, so they try to force them to live in that "real world". As people see ads 24 hour-a-day, it doesn't allow them to see things in their own way. It gives individuals the wrong imagination of how something ought to be. The author states that the media doesn't allow people to experience naturally, spontaneously, and genuinely, and it spoils people's capacity for some important kinds of personal "truth". Everything that people know comes from media, because they have little direct personal knowledge of anything in the world. A good example of Chait's thesis is McDonald's website which tries to show people that its company and products represent positive and sometimes idealistic values which are not true in reality. This website advertises a lot of values among which family, togetherness, education; fresh and healthy food and healthy lifestyle; racial harmony/diversity; cleanliness; good working conditions; and career opportunities. In my opinion, the most important values which company use to manipulate people are such values as family and education, fresh and healthy food, and good career opportunities. McDonald's website uses a lot of different things to promote such values as family and education. To better illustrate it, McDonald's has a separate website by the name of "Ronald McDonald House Charities". McDonald's is their largest corporate donor. Portions of the annual operating costs for