The power of advertising

Sometimes you really do want that cookie. Who says it’s a good idea to eat fruits and vegetables? Maybe I like being fat. Maybe I enjoy the smooth silky taste of a chocolate chip cookie. Wait…Society says that is wrong and I will become a lard ass if I keep eating cookies and I will not find a mate because society fueled by the advertising  media says that to be fat is uncool.

The media and advertising industry is today where the tobacco companies were 25 years ago. Advertising is so much a part of our lives today. So much so that J. Kilbourne says “The average American is accustomed to blue eyed blondes seductively touting a variety of products.” Ads sell much more than products. They sell values, images, concepts of success, teaches us about love and how to love and tells us what is normal. Addictions are also formed and encouraged by advertisements. The young gamer that stays up all night to get to the next level is the latest Halo franchise game. Or the girl thinks that it is wrong to eat and that she is too fat.

My objections come up when the advertisers target the children. It was interesting to see the video that was played in class where teenagers were compared to unexplored Africa. As a parent I would hope that I would have more say in the things that would influence my children’s lives in the future. But adolescents think they know it all and the parents influence can lessen during that period of erratic growth and change. They are more influenced by their peers and the “dominant cultural messages perpetuated and reinforced by the media. Mass communication has made possible a kind of nationally distributed peer pressure that erodes private and individual values and standards.” (Killbourne)

So as parents what do we do to fight this. How can they be stopped? What can combat a force such as this? More stricter and stringent controls need to be placed on the advertising industry. Similar to what was done to the tobacco industry. Ads need to have ratings similar to what is placed on movies and TV shows and certain ads of a higher rating should be placed later on at night. The industry has no controls and congress should step in and regulate the industry and the materials that it lets out. In my country all ads have to pass through a censor panel made up of religious figures and they approve or deny ads based on their content and their influence on children. The popular figures themselves also need to be educated. In recent times Oprah has raised the awareness or anorexic models and the influence this has on our children. Since them many popular figures have spoken out when they have learned that their figures have been photoshopped or altered by graphic artists. This sort of speaking out by the role models is exactly what we need. Education is key.

Animated characters can also be used to replace human models. Not only will it be cheaper to employ cartoons. The ‘toons’ will have less influence on our children, as would say  a real life skinny model. We all grew up with the Simpsons. No one can say that those cartoons have swayed them to do something a regular advertising  campaign would.