The Impact of Mass Media Advertising on Society

962 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Advertising And Its Effect And Its Importance In Modern Day Business

In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, consumerism is essentially expected. Numerous billboards, posters, flyers and spam mail commercializing products on a daily basis could prove it. Cutting edge technology also allows advertisements be experienced through the use of mass medium and it is nearly impossible to escape the invasion of advertising. Continuous exposure to advertisements has indeed impacted numerous consumers, in which most of them are unaware to the situation and companies are taking advantage of this by allocating big budget to improve and develop advertisements solely to persuade consumer’s preferences toward their brand or product.

Advertising has been specifically linked as the main cause of obesity and anorexia, alcohol and tobacco consumption, society’s unrealistic standard of beauty and imprinting outdated gender roles. This could be prominently illustrated in advertisements in the 1950s, where sexism was not only tolerated; it was expected and actively encouraged, partly through chauvinistic print ads (Julian). Furthermore, critics have protested that one of the most popular beer campaigns of the late 1990s – featuring a trio of frogs croaking Budweis-errr – used cartoonlike characters to appeal to young viewers (Campbell, Martin, Fabos, 345).

While banning advertisement completely seems inefficient, authorities have taken steps to regulate the content of advertisements, therefore minimizing the negative impact of mass media advertisements as advertising has become so powerful and so subtle that consumer accepts most of it impetuously. It has been truly integrated with daily life and stimulates the ‘want’ in a society and belittling the true meaning of ‘need’.

Adverti...

... middle of paper ...

...bjects to consumer’s mind, trigger desire, and ultimately comply and make the purchase, therefore, influencing consumer’s behavior.

Works Cited

"Advertising and Marketing Industry: Market Research Reports, Statistics and Analysis." Advertising and Marketing Industry: Market Research Reports, Statistics and Analysis. Report Linker, n.d. Web. 09 May 2014.

Cowie, Caitlin, and Mike Rose. "This Is What Happens When You Replace The Women In Ads With Men." BuzzFeed. N.p., 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 9 May 2014.

Kilbourne, Jane. "Beauty...and the Beast of Advertising." Center for Media Literacy. Center for Media Literacy, Dec. 1990. Web. 09 May 2014.

"Real Beauty Sketches - Dove." Real Beauty Sketches - Dove. Unilever, n.d. Web. 08 May 2014.

Zaslow, Jeffrey. "Girls and Dieting, Then and Now." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 09 May 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Every Nook And Currency: The Dangerous Spread Of Commercialized Culture

    507 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article, Every Nook and Cranny: The Dangerous Spread of Commercialized Culture by Gary Ruskin and Juliet Schor (Ackley 361). Since the early 90s is when Commercialism has bombarded the society. Ruskin and Schor provide examples why advertising has an effect on people’s health. Marketing related diseases afflicting people in the United States, and especially children, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and smoking-related illnesses. “Each day, about 2,000 U.S. children begin to smoke, and about one-third of them will die from tobacco-related illnesses” (Ackley 366). Children are inundated with advertising for high calorie junk food and fast food, and, predictably, 15 percent of U.S. children aged 6 to 19 are now overweight (Ackley 366). Commercialism promotes future negative effects and consumers don’t realize it.

    Read More

  • Out of the Dark: A History of Radio and Rural America by Steve Craig

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    The gendered patterns in advertising that Craig outlines in his essay still exist today, in commercials of how men and women are portrayed. In Steve Craig’s, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women,” it is stated that large advertisers and their agencies have evolved the pseudo-scientific method of time purchasing based on demographics, with the age and gender of the consumer generally considered to be the most important predictors of purchasing behavior. Therefore, Craig argues that computers make it easy to match market research on product buying patterns with audience research on television viewing habits, eventually building a demographic profile of the “target audience.” According to an article titled Web Advertising: Gender Differences in Beliefs, Attitudes and Behavior, previous research suggests males and females exhibit different beliefs about and attitudes toward traditional media advertising along with different advertising-suppressed consumer behaviors. Craig talks about how in John Fiske’s book, Television Culture (1987, Chs.

    Read More

  • Charmin Toilet Paper Ad

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Advertisements are one of many things that Americans cannot get away from. Every American sees an average of 3,000 advertisements a day; whether it’s on the television, radio, while surfing the internet, or while driving around town. Advertisements try to get consumers to buy their products by getting their attention. Most advertisements don’t have anything to do with the product itself. Every company has a different way of getting the public’s attention, but every advertisement has the same goal - to sell the product. Every advertisement tries to appeal to the audience by using ethos, pathos, and logos, while also focusing on who their audience is and the purpose of the ad. An example of this is a Charmin commercial where there is a bear who gets excited when he gets to use the toilet paper because it is so soft.

    Read More

  • Changes of Women’s Roles in Advertising from 1900’s and 1920’s

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    Advertising, whether criticized or celebrated, is undeniably a strong force in American society. Portrayals and Images of women have long been used to sell in published advertisements. However, how they have been used has changed enormously throughout the decades. Women have fought to find a lasting and prominent position in their society. Only in the span of twenty years, between 1900’s and 1920’s, the roles of women changed dramatically here in United States.

    Read More

  • The Misguided Pursuit of Social and Financial Success

    3033 Words  | 7 Pages

    Shah, Anup. “Media and Advertising.” Global Issues, Updated: 26 January 2008. Accessed: 17 July 2010.

    Read More

  • Consumerism and Faith

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Consumerism is the idea that influences people to purchase items in great amounts. Consumerism makes trying to live the life of a “perfect American” rather difficult. It interferes with society by replacing the normal necessities for life with the desire for things with not much concern for the true value of the desired object. Children are always easily influenced by what they watch on television. Swimme suggests in his work “How Do Kids Get So Caught Up in Consumerism” that although an advertiser’s objective is to make money, the younger generation is being manipulated when seeing these advertisements. Before getting a good understanding of a religion, a child will have seen and absorbed at least 30,000 advertisements. The amount of time teenagers spend in high school is lesser than the amount of advertisement that they have seen (155). The huge amount of advertisements exposed to the younger generation is becomi...

    Read More

  • Dangers of Advertisments in Jean Kilbourne' Killing Us Softly

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a brilliant update of the Killing Us Softly series, Jean Kilbourne explains the dangers of advertisements and how they objectify women. Advertisements intelligently portray women in a sexual and distorted way in order to attract the consumers’ attention. Media sets a standard on how young women view themselves and puts them at risk for developing an eating disorder. Kilbourne’s research has led her to educate those who have fallen victim to achieving the “ideal beauty” that has evolved in today’s society.

    Read More

  • Ethics of Advertising

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    Is advertising the ultimate means to inform and help us in our everyday decision-making or is it just an excessively powerful form of mass deception used by companies to persuade their prospects and customers to buy products and services they do not need? Consumers in the global village are exposed to increasing number of advertisement messages and spending for advertisements is increasing accordingly.

    Read More

  • The Most Important Sentence

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, ed. Careers in Focus: Advertising & Marketing. N.p.: Ferguson, 2004. Print.

    Read More

  • The Code Of Gender: Identity And Performance In Pop Culture

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many companies spend over millions of dollars advertising every year, and these advertisements influence how an individual thinks and acts in a society. It becomes a significant aspect of our lives whether it has come to our acknowledgment or not. It influences us to the extent we believe the information presented in the media are “normal”. To be precise, advertisements create and define the social norms. These concepts are strongly built into my mind since a young age, especially the gender roles between men and women.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 and the Dark Side of Mass Culture and Consumerism

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Advertising Age.” Advertising age 75 years of ideas RSS. AdAge, 2005. Web. 3 Jan. 2014

    Read More

  • The Objectification of Women in Advertisements

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    The objectification of women is a huge issue in society and is often led by advertising. However, many men still believe that the adverts depicting women in a sexual and often passive posture are not very offensive, but rather very funny or sexy. However, how would they feel if it were their daughter or sister being advertised throughout the world as a sexual object? The Tiger Beer advertisement shown in the appendix is a clear example of the objectification of women in advertising. The Tiger Beer advert was made to appeal to men from the age of 20 to 60.

    Read More

  • Volkswagen Publicity Campaign

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    Berkman, Herald W. and Gilson, Christopher. Advertising: Concepts and Strategies, 2nd ed.. (New York: Random House, 1987). 244.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Advertising and Media on Society

    1824 Words  | 4 Pages

    and disappointment and also a way to connect.” Despite the over excessive use of food in ads, overeating is not the only. eating disorder influenced by the media. In most ads, especially for cigarettes. and beer, thin, beautiful women are used to promote the idea of “having a good time”, which helps endorse the product.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Garnier Fructis Advertise

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Curry and Clarke’s article believe in a strategy called “visual literacy” which develops women and men’s roles in advertisements (1983: 365). Advertisements are considered a part of mass media and communications, which influence an audience and impact society as a whole. Audiences quickly begin to rely on messages sent through advertisements and can create ideologies of women and men. These messages not only are extremely persuasive, but they additionally are effective in product consumption in the media (Curry and Clarke 1983:

    Read More

More about The Impact of Mass Media Advertising on Society

Open Document