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THE POWER OF ADVERTISING

Can you imagine your life without advertisements? They are present in all sectors of our lives, in our homes on TV, on public means of transport, in the streets, in newspapers, you name it. It is only natural that all this advertising with its intrusive nature would have an impact on our lives, and many people would agree that this impact is on the whole negative one.

Adverts are very creative and attract out attention, they are also highly persuasive and influence the way we think. Their aim is to make us believe we feel a certain way if we purchase the product which is being advertised. For example, many adverts for products show good-looking, successful people enjoying themselves and consuming or using a specific product. This plays on our psychology and our sense of self-worth, and it makes us want to buy the product so that we can look and feel like the models in adverts.

Images and lifestyles aren’t the only thing that advertising imposes on us. Artificial needs are also imposed on us. We are constantly exposed to visual and verbal adverts which try to convince us that our lives will be improved if we buy a particular product. Don’t tell me the plasma TV or the air freshener advertised on the TV is a necessity. However, clever advertising creates in people a sense of need for material goods, which if they don’t acquire, can often lead to feelings of inferiority and unhappiness.

Advertising also gives a distorted picture of reality, which creates unrealistic expectations, particularly among young children and teenagers. Many adverts are targeted specifically at these age groups, creating an intense desire to own a particular product. The resulting pressure on parents is so great that they often give in to the demands of their children in order to avoid confrontation, creating patterns of consumption and gratification at the expense of other values in life. This vicious cycle can have wrong effect on children and consequently the future of society.

Advertising today, poisons our minds with fallse ideas and instills in people a sense of dissatisfaction. It turns people into materialistic consumers developing bad shopping habbits.

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