Manipulation Of Advertising Essay

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Recommended: Masters of Desire: the Culture of American Advertising

The Manipulation of Advertising
In corporate America, it is obvious that the established goal of modern advertising is to achieve financial gain for the investing party. Advertising is the direct manipulation of consumers in order to motivate the support of ideas or purchase of the items being marketed. There are several marketing tactics used in successful advertising. Desire, competition, nostalgia, and a sense of urgency, are all key human emotions exploited during a commercial promotion. Advertising must make a connection with the targeted party in order to achieve its goal of the consumer responding and to take action (Lance and Woll 19-21). Isn’t it interesting that some of the most successful marketing ploys are presented as purely informational? It is through such advertising that the consumer can be easily duped into following direction provided by the presenting organization in order to protect or improve their lives.
The beginnings of American advertising started in the 1800’s with simple newspaper ads and grew with the additions of magazines and radio sponsorship (Cracknell 21). American imagery and pop art, which began in the 1950’s and 60’s, brought with it the beginning of brand association and establishment of visual logos and icons (Hoffman 101,109. The following addition of televisions to most American households increased advertising tremendously (Cracknell 17). Television ownership became a status indicator which initiated the onset of material gratification as developed and presented in media advertising.
A powerful angle used in advertising is the need instilled in American culture to achieve status and impress others. Highly priced, high ticket items and luxury brands are known to use this scheme...

... middle of paper ...

...oll 32-34). Always remember, the main goal of an organization’s promotion is to increase their profitability margin; and that, in a nutshell, is the bottom line.

Works Cited

Cracknell, Andrew. The Real Mad Men: The Renegades of Madison Avenue and the Golden Age of Advertising. Philadelphia: Running, 2011. Print
Hoffman, Barry. The Fine Art of Advertising: Irreverent, Irrepressible, Irresistibly, Ironic. New
York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2002. Print.
Lance, Steve, and Jeff Woll. The Little Blue Book of Advertising: Fifty-two Small Ideas That Can
Make a Big Difference. New York: Portfolio, 2006. Print.
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” Mad Men. 19 July. 2007. Netflix.com. Netflix, Inc. Web. 19 July
2014.
Tartakovsky, Margarita, M.S. "How Marketers Manipulate Us to Buy, Buy, Buy." Web blog post. Psychcentral.com. World of Psychology. 2 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 July 2014.

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