The Impact Of Advertising Essay

Alastair Garrett

English 101A

Mr. Marcel Kristel

March 23, 2015

The Impact of Advertising And Children

To persuade, to inform, to entice, to appeal, to delegate, and to sell are all forms of advertising. Companies have mastered the art of advertising. Either it’s directed towards children, adults, elderly, handicapped, or foreigners, advertising campaigns have an impact on everybody, both directly and indirectly. For several years, and especially more so today, companies have designed strategic and sophisticated approaches in their advertising campaigns to lure in potential consumers, especially young children, through various use of appeals, styles, and “weasel words”.

In Jib Fowles excerpt, “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals,” Fowles

There are laws in place that restrict the use of misleading and unwarranted claims in what a company can advertise and how they go about advertising. When making a claim for their product, advertisers have managed to use “weasel words,” where they appear to say one thing when in actuality they tend to say the opposite or nothing at all. Some of the most common weasel words in use today are “help”, “virtually”, “new and improved”, “acts”, and “like” (Lutz). These words might seem miniscule to the common consumer but extremely effective to the advertiser. For example, Proactiv Solution has been a very successful product in the market, especially after getting its start with 2-minute advertising commercials and 30-minute infomercials. They reeled in celebrities as their spokespeople and showed before and after pictures of real product users. But exactly what does it promise? Their target audiences are especially among children and teenagers who suffer from acne. Proactiv says that it has helped many people and celebrities with acne problems and helps control and prevent any future breakouts. It does not clearly state that it has put a complete stop or an end to breakouts 100%, it has only aided. Yet, as of 2007, Proactiv sales were $850 million annually (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/fashion/18skin.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0). For advertisers, whatever comes after the weasel word is the key catch phrase, that an average consumer usually forgets or completely overlooks the weasel word. Another example, which one may argue as false and vague advertising, is for cigarettes. Winston uses its slogan: “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.” Exactly how cigarettes should taste is questionable, but children may associate this with something they should try because cigarettes may “taste