Manipulation In Advertising

Do TV commercials care more about selling their product than actually being truthful? TV commercials are only interested in selling people their product and will use anything in their power to do that, even manipulation. Most commercials these days are centered on the concept of manipulation and making the average person believe what they are trying to get across. Making you feel as if you do what they are telling you to do then you will become something else or you will receive some sort of benefit. TV commercials use sex, emotions, and icons to manipulate its viewers.

Sex is the number one tactic used by TV commercials to manipulate its viewer’s. “Sex sells” is a frequently used slogan used around the entertainment business. Sex is the number

one way to grab someone’s attention. A great example of a commercial using sex to grab viewer’s attention is the famous Hardees commercial. The famous Hardees commercial starts with a beautiful woman that has dirty blonde wavy hair. She is dressed in an American flag bikini top that is obviously too small and wearing jean shorts that are way too short for her and show off her legs and butt. The woman is tan and has sweat running down her body. She is sitting on the hood of an old red Shelby Mustang, with white strips down the middle and has this monstrous burger in her hand that is bigger than her face. The camera angles are zooming in on her chest and her trying to fit this huge burger in her mouth. Hardees use this woman and her body to try to get people to pay attention to the commercial. What Hardees does not want you to know that this burger is just one of the many reasons obesity is a huge problem in the United States. Hardees want you to be attracted to this woman and purchase this burger but do not tell you that you will not look like this woman if you eat the burger. This is just one of the many ways TV commercials use manipulation, they also use your emotions.
TV commercials use emotions to get ones attention.

When someone feels happy about something it makes them want to go out and do it or buy it. The same goes for when someone is sad. TV commercials use happiness and sadness to pick at viewers emotions to make them really think about helping the commercial out. An example of TV commercials using sadness to dig into their audience’s emotions is the famous SPCA commercial. The commercial starts with the song “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan in the background. Little snippets of animals that are in sewers and backyards that look horrific. The animals that are being shown have matted fur are covered in brown watery sludge. The images are so hard to watch and the songs sets the mood already. Then a voice comes over as the song gets quitter and asks the audience questions such as “Would you help these animals if you were standing right here” “How can you let them suffer” then they get to their entire point of the commercial with this line, “Just twenty-five cents a day can save this animal”. The commercial starts grabs the viewer with a sad song and then makes the sadness grow by asking you questions that make you feel bad for these animals. What they forgot to say is that these animals that you are seeing have already been saved. Yes, there are animals that are like this everywhere and they do need help how much of the donation is being made to make this commercial to grab at your emotions? Another way TV commercials are manipulative is when they use

icons.
Famous actors, singers, and icons are used to manipulate people every day. When people turn on the TV and see Adam Levine or Taylor Swift they immediately what to know what is being said about them. TV commercials have realized this and use actors and singers to promote their product. An example of a commercial using famous people to promote is the Proactive commercial. Proactive started using real everyday people in their commercials but their audience did not really believe it worked because they did not know this person and didn’t trust them. Proactive started using famous stars. One commercial in particular is the one with Adam Levine. It begins with picture of Lavin in his younger years with acne all over his face. You can hear him in the background talking about how insecure he was and how he still struggles with it today and that it affected his career until of course he found Proactive. What this commercial fails to mention is that the pictures of him you are seeing are usually from a 20 years ago when he was a teenager and acne was a part of growing up. It also fails to mention that he probably has never used this product in his life and he is getting made thousands of dollars to tell you he has because they know you trust him.