Effects of Advertising

Introduction

Advertisements are everywhere, traveling by all ways possible, infiltrating the privacy that every person holds important to themselves and their family. American Marketing Association defines advertising as "the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media."

Today, with the development of the technology and the diversity of the mass media, advertising has influenced us pervasively in our daily life. Advertising has been applied in most of fields in society such as economical advertisings, educational advertisings, political advertisings, and healthy advertisings, etc. Advertising is used to promote goods, services, images, and anything else that advertisers want to publicize. It is becoming a major part of mass media. We may view it positively; at other times we may just skip or ignore it. In order to attract audience, advertisers use various techniques on their advertisement to make people aware of the firm's products, services, or brands.

Although the methods used by advertisers are infinitely, they have a common goal to persuade those who may become their customers to buy their products. An excellent advertisement will create a deep impression on its potential customers through particular techniques. They deliver their advertisement through TV, radio, magazines and newspapers, internet, billboards, and other multi-media means. By advertising, individuals or companies are able to get more extra profits from their products, promote their products, and gain the most important purpose - to sell.

Discussion

In many cases, there are some negative effects - some annoying hindrances in our daily lives. It makes our nerves, distorts the truth, and adds to the cost of the product. Advertising is designed for one purpose - to sell. To achieve this goal, advertisers are willing to stretch and distort the truth, just to convince people to buy their products. For example, an advertiser may convince buyers to purchase their products by stating those have been tested and found superior. In reality, the products are not better than any other - the tests themselves doubtlessly conducted by the promoting company - conducted to ensure at least something is superior about the product, even if it is only the color. These advertisements are worded carefully so that they are telling the "literal truth" - the truth is exactly what the words say, although people misinterpret the message by using conversational logic as something different - something better. By using ingenious tactics like these, the populace is deceived into buying a product that may not do what is required, or a product that a buyer may have never needed. That is why advertising is not good for our society.   

First, I would like to discuss about the negative effects to children and youth. One of the most corrupt forms of advertising comes from cigarette companies. According to some investigator, "Cigarette advertisements are degrading not only because the products behind them are proven to be a health hazard, but also because the advertisements are focused toward younger ...