advertising is harmful essay

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Advertising Makes Us Unhappy

• Nicole Torres

The more a country spends on ads, the less satisfied its citizens are.

The University of Warwick’s Andrew Oswald and his team compared survey data on the life satisfaction of more than 900,000 citizens of 27 European countries from 1980 to 2011 with data on annual advertising spending in those nations over the same period. The researchers found an inverse connection between the two. The higher a country’s ad spend was in one year, the less satisfied its citizens were a year or two later. Their conclusion: Advertising makes us unhappy.

• Nicole Torres is a former senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

Partner Center

Advertising’s toxic effect on eating and body image

March 18, 2015 — People often claim to ignore advertisements, but the messages are getting through on a subconscious level, pioneering author and ad critic Jean Kilbourne told an audience at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health on March 3, 2015. Kilbourne, best known for her groundbreaking documentary on images of women in the media, Killing Us Softly , went on to deconstruct the subconscious messages in food and body image-related advertisements and to describe how they create a “toxic cultural environment” that harms our relationship with what we eat.

The event was sponsored by the STRIPED program  (Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders), which is based at Harvard Chan and Boston Children’s Hospital, and co-sponsored by the School’s Health Communication Concentration and Department of Nutrition . Kilbourne praised the work of STRIPED in her talk, calling it “a terrific program that is making a difference.”

The average American encounters 3,000 advertisements every day, and spends a total of two years watching TV commercials in their lifetime, Kilbourne said. At the center of many of these ads is an image of idealized female beauty. Models are tall, slim, and light skinned, and digitally altered to ever-more unrealistic proportions.

“Women and girls compare themselves to these images every day,” Kilbourne said. “And failure to live up to them is inevitable because they are based on a flawlessness that doesn’t exist.” The American ideal of beauty has become so pervasive that 50% of three- to six-year-old girls worry about their weight. And on the island of Fiji, the arrival of television heralded a boom in dieting among women and girls who before then hadn’t realized that there was something wrong with them.

While advertising creates a disconnection between women — and men, to a lesser extent—and their bodies, it also offers food as a comforter and a proxy for human relationships, Kilbourne said. She showed images of ads offering chocolate as a substitute for a lover, and cookies presented as a way to get love from your children.

Alongside the chocolate ads are others that shame women for having an appetite for food, such as one that showed a pair of cinnamon buns hanging off a slim model’s hips. These images normalize disordered behaviors around food such as bingeing and guilt. “The bulimic is the ideal consumer,” said Kilbourne.

Kilbourne called for a transformation in the way we think about food. “The solution to obesity isn’t to make girls hate themselves,” she said. Instead of focusing on weight or BMI, they should be helped to turn their focus on being healthy and having energy. “If we learn to eat healthy , natural, preferably local food with pleasure, and if we exercise with pleasure, our bodies will get to the weight and shape and size that they were genetically meant to be.”

But real change won’t happen child by child , Kilbourne said. Public health practitioners need to focus prevention efforts on the environmental level. She called for warning labels and taxes on diet products, greater transparency in the use of Photoshop in advertising and fashion spreads, and media literacy education in schools, among other measures.

— Amy Roeder

Photo: Emily Cuccarese

The Negative Effects of Advertising on Society

• October 14, 2020

Adverts are everywhere. No one can really avoid them in the modern world. While there are some positives, and we’ll get to that, I want to highlight the negative effects that advertising has on society.

It is what is driving consumerism and what is making people update their phones every year even though they don’t need to. Advertisers are master manipulators. They play with your mind and take advantage of your vulnerability to make money. They can convince nearly anyone.

The scary part is that they are all around us and we sometimes don’t even realize. On our televisions, YouTube videos, websites, Spotify, billboards, at train stations… I could go on and on but I’m not going to bore you.

Without realizing they have managed to brainwash the world. And as all brainwashed people are, we don’t realize we have been brainwashed. We just think everything is normal. We have become completely oblivious to the effects that advertising has on us.

9 Negatives Effects of Advertising

1. promotes consumerism.

We are always told to buy new clothes, that girls need to wear makeup if they want to be pretty and that you can’t be ‘cool’ without having the latest iPhone. Adverts have taught us these habits and many more because it keeps us buying more and keeps companies rich.

There are so many things that we think are normal but if you take the time and really think about them, they don’t really make any sense. They are changing the way we think.

The majority of advertisements promote the fact that buying more stuff will make you happier. But this consumerist lifestyle is what is actually ruining your life.

2. Encourages you to spend money for no reason

Many companies convince you to think that you need their useless product even though the reality is, it wouldn’t make any significant difference in your life.

Think about it this way. For so many years you were able to live without their product. So why waste your money, which you worked hard to earn, on something that you could live without. It might make your life a tiny bit easier, but is it really worth it? Some even go into debt because of this.

People think that buying all this to make themselves happier but at the end of the day they are just doing the opposite. The old saying ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’ is true in this case.

3. Buying more stuff is bad for the planet

Consumerism is also causing massive environmental destruction. To make all this stuff (that people do not even need), trees need to be cut down and metals need to be mined. Not only do these deplete our natural resources but these processes release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and ecosystems get destroyed. Now that’s a pretty big price for the earth to pay for something that will not make us any happier.

So, think twice before buying something.

Related: Can Minimalism Help the Environment?

4. Affects children

Companies have started advertising directly to children to bypass the skeptical parents. On television, there are too many toy commercials to count in between TV shows that children watch every day. As they grow a bit older companies also start promoting soft drinks and alcohol to them.

They are trying to get them addicted to these substances as well as the ideology of ‘buying more will make you happy’ as soon as possible so they can make more money.

5. Promotes harmful substances

The promotion of alcohol and smoking is making more people addicted to them. They are extremely bad for our health, yet they make them seem amazing. Teenagers, for instance, think that drinking and smoking will get them more friends and make them more popular. That’s what society is telling them and after so many years, they believe that too.

6. Use of stereotypes

Most times, they enforce stereotypes in the hopes to make more people relate. For example, most beauty products are marketed towards women because they know women use these products more. But these stereotypes are stopping society from moving forward.

They are telling us what we need to do to fit in. Men need to buy these in order to make them more ‘manly’ while women need to buy those items in order to be ‘pretty’ and be liked by men. Many adverts promote gender stereotypes which is something that society is trying hard to get rid of.

But if you grow up seeing these everywhere and it’s the only thing you know, that’s how you will be when you’re older. Before, we could limit our exposure to them, but since everything has become digital and even children are in possession of phones, there’s truly no escaping.

Not to mention how they can even be offensive to some people who have decided to go against these social norms.

7. Makes you feel bad

What adverts often try to do, is make you feel bad about yourself by lowering your self-esteem in order to persuade you to buy that specific product which claims it will make you happier and a better person.

The most common way they do this is by making you feel bad about your body image or how you look in general. They make you think taking pills or wearing makeup is the only way to make yourself look ‘pretty’.

This is a toxic mentality. No one should make people feel bad and take advantage of their insecurities and vulnerability.

8. Clutters our minds

This is not one of the obvious effects of advertising but it’s certainly an important one.

Everywhere we look we hear or see adverts. This is constant unnecessary information that our brains must process. Individuals are trying to simplify their lives in this hectic modern world, but adverts are making it 100 times harder for them to declutter their lives.

9. Misleading

More often than not, companies make products look amazing in advertisements but do not perform nearly as well in real life. This is done to benefit the company since more people will buy their products. The only thing concerning them is increasing their sales. They couldn’t care less about the fact that they are robbing you of your money.

Any Positives?

Now that you know the negative effects of advertising on society, let’s see if there is anything good about them.

While there are a few positive outcomes from advertisements, the list is short. The most obvious positive is that they inform us. Either of new products or inform us about social and environmental issues. They can keep us up to date (although this is not always a good thing).

However, the biggest upside is that they can keep things free and allow people to make money. I’m not talking about the companies that created the adverts. I mean the ones who are showing the adverts. People get paid to do this. It’s the biggest source of money for TV shows, websites, blogs, and other kinds of media. All these can stay free for the user as long as they show adverts.

This is why they are everywhere.

Final Thoughts

Adverts empty your bank accounts for something that will not make you happy. When it comes down to it, it’s all about money. While they allow creators and businesses to make money, in my opinion, the amount of adverts that we are constantly bombarded with, is not good for ourselves, our mental health, or the environment.

Adverts are unescapable. It’s impossible to avoid them unless you go live in a forest. But you can try your best to ignore them and not pay any attention to them. Don’t believe everything that you are told. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Sofia Hadjiosif

I've always cared about the planet but never knew how I could use my skills to create an impact. But that's when I decided to start Terra Movement. To get other creatives involved in the climate movement and inspire more people to help the planet and its people.

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Incredible points. Great arguments. Keep up the great work.

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The Advertising Industry Has a Problem: People Hate Ads

By Tiffany Hsu

• Oct. 28, 2019

In the predigital days, advertising agencies were ruled by swaggering creative directors who gorged on lavish client contracts and sometimes created campaigns that set the cultural agenda and captivated the public.

Nearly every piece of that equation has changed. Agencies are better informed than ever before about consumers, having amassed huge stores of their data. But many of those consumers, especially the affluent young people prized by advertisers, hate ads so much that they are paying to avoid them.

At the same time, companies that hire ad agencies are demanding more from marketing campaigns — while paying less for them.

As a result, the advertising industry faces an “existential need for change,” according to a blunt report published on Monday by the research firm Forrester. Now the agencies must “disassemble what remains of their outmoded model” or risk “falling further into irrelevance,” the report concludes.

“It’s harder to reach audiences, the cost of marketing is going up, the number of channels has exponentially proliferated and the cost to cover all of those channels has proliferated,” Jay Pattisall, the lead author of the report, said in an interview. “It’s a continual pressure for marketers — we’re no longer just creating advertising campaigns three or four times a year and running them across a few networks and print.”

As advertisers bombard consumers across platforms like Twitch, Facebook, television, billboards and more, consumers are trying to get away, signing up for ad blockers and subscription services.

“People hate advertising,” said Joanna Coles, the former chief content officer of Hearst Magazines, during a session at the Advertising Week conference last month in New York. “And it’s all advertisers’ fault.”

Seated next to her, nodding in agreement, was Marc Pritchard, the chief brand officer at Procter & Gamble, one of the largest advertisers in the world. Ads, he said, are often irrelevant and sometimes “just silly, ridiculous or stupid.”

“We tried to change the advertising ecosystem by doing more ads, and all that did was create more noise,” he said.

The industry, over all, is also struggling to adapt as Google and Facebook reshape ad delivery and Netflix stokes appetites for ad-free entertainment, according to a separate report also released on Monday by GroupM, the media buying arm of the ad giant WPP.

The result is “dangerous days for advertisers,” according to the report.

“With shifts in viewing habits, commercial impressions in the most viewable, highest-attention media are in free fall across the world,” researchers wrote. “The problem is universal, and if the viewing behavior of younger audiences is a harbinger, things are not going to get better.”

Some start-ups have begun rewarding or compensating consumers to look at ads. But to effectively reach viewers, advertisers must also “incorporate data-driven, tech-fueled approaches and platforms into the creative process and tool kit,” according to the Forrester report.

That includes automation and machine learning technologies, which Forrester expects will transform 80 percent of agency jobs by 2030. In July, JPMorgan Chase announced a deal with the ad tech company Persado that would use artificial intelligence to write marketing copy.

Advertising has become a “very complex, sprawling marketplace,” with agencies grouped under large holding companies like Interpublic Group, Publicis Groupe and WPP, Mr. Pattisall said.

To stay nimble, the holding companies must centralize their operations, even if it means “the disappearance of some pretty storied, iconic advertising brands,” Mr. Pattisall said.

Last year, WPP merged Young & Rubicam, a creative agency cited in “Mad Men,” with its digital ad business VML. Soon after, WPP combined J. Walter Thompson, which was founded in the 1800s, with the digital agency Wunderman.

The consolidation will bolster agencies as clients scale back their budgets, according to the Forrester report.

Steven Moy, the chief executive of the Barbarian agency, said that multiyear contracts had shortened, with budgets tightening and performance metrics becoming more stringent.

“I haven’t seen a lot of multimillion-dollar, blue-sky, five-year projects happening — it’s more like, ‘can you deliver something in six months?’” he said.

Global spending is expected to grow at slower rates this year and next year compared with 2018, weighed down by signs of a weakening economy and rising geopolitical tensions, according to data released Thursday from the WARC research group.

For the first time ever next year, Facebook, Google, YouTube and other online platforms are expected to soak up the majority of advertising dollars, according to WARC.

Advertising giants are facing competition for clients from consulting companies such as Deloitte and Accenture , while independent agencies such as Wieden & Kennedy New York have beaten out legacy advertising companies for major accounts such as McDonald’s.

Some advertisers, like Unilever and Bayer, are pulling business away from agencies and handling some of the work internally. Last year, 78 percent of members of the Association of National Advertisers had an in-house agency, up from 58 percent in 2013 and 42 percent in 2008.

Smaller agencies, such as Cutwater in San Francisco, are feeling the pressure. But Chuck McBride, Cutwater’s founder, said that changes in the industry would allow companies to express their creativity as they experiment with increasingly personalized advertising.

“The gloom and doom is greatly exaggerated,” he said. “Things are really messed up, but there’s opportunity in this.”

Follow Tiffany Hsu on Twitter: @tiffkhsu .

Is Advertising Harmful To Society?

Alex Bramwell/ Getty Images

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Paul Suggett has over 20 years of experience as a copywriter and creative director in advertising.

• DeMontfort University

Some studies would lead us to believe that we are constantly bombarded with advertising messages . It's everywhere. On our phones, laptops, tablets, in restrooms, on buses, trains...you name it, there's probably an ad on it. 

In fact, some estimates have posited that we see 20,000 marketing and advertising messages every single day. That, clearly, is nonsense. Considering we sleep for a minimum of six hours, that leaves 18 hours, or 64,800 seconds in which to cram 20,000 ad messages. Basically, one ad every 3 seconds. You are not seeing an ad every 3 minutes, let alone 3 seconds. 

Yes, we see a lot of ad messages a day - subconsciously. But those, that we actually notice and pay attention to, are few and far between. We most likely see a few hundred messages at most and pay attention to no more than 1 percent of them.

Still, that leaves at least a few ads per day that get into our heads. And the question is…is that harmful in some way?

The Argument Against Advertising

Those who say YES, advertising is harmful, have many justifiable concerns. Here are some of the biggest examples: 

• Unrealistic Body Image Expectations Our self-image is definitely being affected. Most men in ads are chiseled hunks with ripped abs and perfect hair and teeth. For women, it's even worse. The standards of beauty set in advertising are beyond ridiculous, and even when advertisers try and empathize, they still come out with ads that heavily favor good-looking women. Dove has done a good job of trying to embrace real women with its "campaign for real beauty," but even then the ads sometimes stumble.
• Creating an Unnecessary Need Most ads out there push products that very few people actually need. Think about it. Any product or service that people actually need to survive and thrive does not need an ad campaign; consumers are actually seeking them out. It's why you rarely, if ever, see ads for gasoline or utilities. But when it comes to the "stuff" that we fill our lives with, advertising can implant deep-seated longing for those products. "You need that new car." "Your life would be so much better with this diamond ring." "How could you possibly live without an iPhone?" From new cars to music players and the latest candies and junk foods, advertising can literally make people crave something they didn’t even know they wanted a few seconds earlier.​
• Targeting Younger Consumers Using Sex and Violence Advertising blatantly uses sex and violence to make products appear cooler to the youth audience. And advertising, especially political advertising, can sway the course of a nation through deception and misinformation.
• Cluttering Our Lives With Endless Messaging Advertising is both pervasive AND invasive. It's everywhere. Outdoor campaigns bombard our eyes with bright selling messages. Pop-up ads ruin any kind of website experience, often slowing the site down to feed you with ads you don't want to see, and making it hard to close them. Ads are on radio, TV, and even in the products we purchase (the cheaper Kindle Fire comes with ads built-in to the device). It's hardly surprising that people are paying significant monthly subscription fees so that they can avoid ads on YouTube, Hulu, and radio.

The Argument For Advertising

Just like most professions, advertising is a double-edged sword. Yes, it can be harmful. But it can also be extremely beneficial to society.

• Spreading Awareness of Public Health Concerns Advertising is an incredibly effective and powerful way to spread the word about important issues and products, such as AIDS awareness, diabetes monitors, tobacco and alcohol risks, and other health-related concerns. If it weren't for mass market multi-media campaigns informing us about public health and safety concerns, the world would be a much more dangerous place.
• Funding Free Content Just think for a second about all of the incredible things you have in your life that you don't pay for. All those TV ads that interrupt your favorite network and basic cable shows might be annoying, but guess what...without them, there wouldn't be any shows to watch. Most of the internet is free because of online advertising. If you took away advertising, you'd suddenly find yourself without a lot of the entertainment you take for granted.
• Helping Businesses Grow and Hire More People How would small businesses ever hope to succeed without advertising? They need to find a way to spread the word about the products and services they provide, many of them essential to our way of life. And how would big businesses spread the word about innovative new products, or improvements to existing ones? Without advertising, would you know how to choose between the phones you use, the cars you drive, and the TVs you watch? Would you even know what choices you had or what existed?
• Keeping Prices Competitive Advertising also brings prices down for consumers. When a business like T-Mobile nationally advertises a plan like two unlimited 4G lines for $100, the others all sit up and take notice...and drop their prices.

In summation, it's worth noting that advertising has both positive and negative aspects to it, but without it, society would probably be worse for wear. What's more, advertising is not the only outlet for glorifying attractive men and women, and sex and violence are prevalent in many aspects of society, including movies, TV series, video games and even homemade YouTube videos.

So, back to the original question. Is advertising harmful to society? The simple answer doesn’t exist. But the more complicated one seems to be that the benefits outweigh the negatives. For now. 

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17 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Advertising is the profession or activity of producing consumer marketing messages for commercial products or services. Although there are times when companies can advertise for free, this tactic typically involves paying another agency for space to promote something specific. The goal of this investment is to reach as many people as possible who are likely to pay for the items suggested in the ads.

When businesses start advertising, then it is essential for each firm to find their ideal customer. It is cheaper to create ads that work with a specific population group instead of working with generalized data. Companies can look at gender, age, education, income, and a person’s geographic location to determine if there is a strong likelihood that someone will become a customer.

Advertising can occur in a variety of ways. Outlets include television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. Some companies use billboards, the sides of buildings, or product packaging. Internet options continue to expand.

That’s why the advantages and disadvantages of advertising require a careful review. It could be a way to expand the influence of a brand, but this investment could also be a waste of money if not approached correctly.

List of the Advantages of Advertising

1. Advertising is what sets companies apart from each other. Advertising is the fastest way for an organization to prove the expertise it offers in its industry. This marketing approach allows a company to look at the specific pain points its goods or services address so that customers can independently decide if there is value available to consider. The free-market system allows consumers to make choices based on their needs for innovation, so the advantage here is that improved communication occurs from the business to the consumer.

2. Companies can reach multiple markets and population groups simultaneously. Advertising is one of the most straightforward ways to contact multiple demographics simultaneously. This investment helps a company to discover who their primary consumers are in better ways, along with the demographics to which they belong. Marketing through paid and unpaid platforms contributes to data that enables prospect duplication.

Advertising also allows a company to reach out to multiple new markets to judge how influential their marketing messages can be in the future.

3. Businesses can concentrate their advertising on a single population group. Advertising enables a company to target one population group specifically. We see this benefit daily through direct mail efforts, email marketing blasts, and television commercials. When you can time these messages to correspond with times or circumstances where a consumer feels a pain point, then a successful conversion is more likely to happen. It forms a natural networking opportunity that helps prospects engage with a brand message because they can acknowledge the created value proposition.

4. Advertising creates economic benefits at every level. The advertising economy in the United States is responsible for almost 20 million jobs. It is available in every market at each level, from ultra-local to international campaigns. This industry provides opportunities for almost every skill, ranging from sales-based approaches to creative careers like graphic design or writing. When successful outreach efforts occur, then businesses increase revenues. That creates even more jobs that support other companies at every level.

This cycle repeats itself every time a new advertising campaign occurs. Although there are no guarantees for success, a company must make itself known to its community for customers to become aware of its goods or services. That means there’s always a place for it.

5. The advertising industry creates a global culture. Every global event that involves participation, goods, or services requires advertising content to increase exposure. The budget for the Olympic Games in each cycle is several billion dollars. Companies use sponsorships, naming rights, and other strategies to increase brand awareness in a variety of ways. It gives us an opportunity to work together to support the common good at every level.

Even a group of businesses that support a youth soccer league get to take advantage of this benefit. Although the benefits are more localized with that support, it’s still creating a global culture within that community.

6. It gives an opportunity to create niche expertise presentations. The prevalence of PDF downloads, ebooks, whitepapers, and similar written content is a form of advertising that businesses use to prove their expertise. Advertising is moving toward a place where the value to the consumer is the priority instead of what the customer can do for the business. This benefit works for B2B and B2C firms because it shows people what can be done for them instead of telling them what can happen.

That’s why this form of advertising is so effective. It builds loyalty by focusing on relationships instead of relying on logo recognition or a tagline to stay at the top of the mind of possible consumers.

7. Advertising helps a customer make positive choices. Each customer has a different preference for specific products or services based on the pain points they encounter in life. Some choices are going to be more appealing than others, which is why businesses promote what they offer proactively. If someone can compare value propositions in real-time situations to determine what options provide the best value, then that ability increases the likelihood of a transaction taking place.

Businesses can provide specific or broad data about their goods or services to each demographic in unique ways to encourage this advantage. It is a benefit that can lead to tremendous growth opportunities when handled appropriate.

8. It is a straightforward way to support moral or social issues. Companies can support the public good by producing advertising campaigns that can bring more awareness to specific societal issues. Homelessness, cyberbullying, and similar concerns receive exposure in ways that wouldn’t be available to consumers without this marketing effort. Even though there are production costs to consider with this advantage, the value that occurs through increased revenues and economic activities from helping others more than makes up for the initial investment.

List of the Disadvantages of Advertising

1. Everyone is advertising. The average person gets exposed to over 2,000 brand messages every day because of advertising. That makes this marketing effort less effective unless there is a way for a company to rise above all of that noise. This disadvantage is the reason why you see businesses like Geico take unique approaches to this investment, using a mix of humor and character development to create something memorable.

Most people spend less than five seconds to determine if an advertisement is worth their attention. If that content fails, then the remainder of the ad gets forgotten.

2. Advertising cannot produce guaranteed results. Businesses take a gamble when they pay for advertising. This marketing effort doesn’t come with a guarantee. The companies that purchased TV spots during the 2020 Super Bowl were paying over $5 million for a segment. That’s a massive investment in something that may not produce additional revenues.

Although there is value in brand recognition, that outcome only translates to investment when it creates an eventual conversion. Having someone know that Flo represents Progressive isn’t beneficial if that person always uses public transportation. That’s why most small businesses focused on targeted, localized ads as a way to create results.

3. The cost of advertising can be a disadvantage to small businesses. The cost of TV advertising at local television stations is at least $5 for every 1,000 viewers during a 30-second commercial. Then you have the cost of creative development when taking this marketing approach to consider. By the time the first spot hits the air, a company has likely spent at least $10,000 to create the materials and purchase the airtime.

National spots are much more expensive. Businesses that purchase a 30-second television ad on a national broadcast spent an average of $115,000 per slot in 2019.

4. Potential customers may be on multiple platforms. If brand recognition is the goal of an advertising effort, then a business may need to invest in multiple platforms to gain the levels of familiarity they require. You can advertise in printed publications, online blogs, television, radio, Internet ad services, and all of the other traditional methods. A company might find over 100 different ways to reach their customers. When an advertising budget is financially limited, then finding out where most people are consistently becomes a top priority.

5. Advertising requires interesting materials to be useful. The best advertising efforts create memorable experiences for targeted consumers. If you’re a science-fiction fan, then you probably remember all of the exposure Taco Bell paid for itself in the movie Demolition Man. If you’re a fan of older superhero movies, then you may remember the giant Coca-Cola billboard blowing up in Superman. If a business can’t create such an experience, then the entire message gets forgotten.

This disadvantage means that every business must continuously invest in innovative marketing approaches to stay relevant. It’s also the reason why you see brands trying to copy the success that others find in this arena.

6. The “Fake News” movement tarnishes the reputation of advertisers. Politics in the United States has become a fractured, cantankerous space where anyone who doesn’t agree becomes an enemy. If a business advertises through a traditional media outlet that promotes a political agenda or news stories that someone finds to be disagreeable, then that company’s brand becomes directly tied to that experience. Although the people who agree will be more likely to purchase goods or services, those who don’t will boycott the agency indefinitely.

7. Advertising increases the risk of a brand message getting tarnished. Advertising can be memorable for all of the wrong reasons sometimes, leaving viewers to wonder what a business was thinking when putting a spot together. Qiaobi often receives credit for putting together one of the most racist commercials in history by having a Chinese woman forcing a black man into her washing machine after he whistles at her. Once the washing cycle is finished, a winking Asian man emerges.

Miracle Mattress put together a local advertising spot that mocked the events of 9/11, including having two stacks of mattresses fall on workers. Burger King unleashed a regional spot for their Texican Whopper that had the tagline of “The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican” – and the add featured a tall American cowboy and a short Mexican wrestler.

8. Most people consider advertising to be a nuisance. Extravagant advertising may have a positive effect on the economy. Still, it tends to harm consumers when the same promotions happen repetitively. This disadvantage occurs in the United States every two years during the election cycles when political ads take over the television and radio. It can also happen when spots frequently occur within the same broadcast or publication.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising may get spent on a single election, exposing populations to competing messages that get monotonous and bothersome when they air several times per hour.

9. The targeted consumers may not see the marketing message from an advertising effort. New technologies make it easier than ever before for consumers to proactively opt-out of viewing advertisements. Popup blockers for Internet browsers can eliminate almost every ad that might display when users are online. Families can fast-forward through ads on broadcast networks when they record shows to watch. Some providers even offer tech that eliminates this marketing effort automatically.

Even if someone is watching live TV, an advertisement break creates an opportunity to walk away from the television. Companies can pay millions without ever knowing if their intended audience is available to watch what they’ve put together.

Advertising messages are an effort to persuade people to purchase specific goods or services. This outcome is also the goal of B2B transactions. A person must become convinced that one item is better over another. That’s why each ad offers a headline, subheading, body copy, image, and a call-to-action. It’s like a 30-second speech that shows how much value something has to a potential client.

Advertising isn’t the only way to get a message seen or heard. It can be more expensive to utilize than other marketing opportunities. That’s why it tends to be more popular with large corporations than sole proprietors and other small businesses.

The advantages and disadvantages of advertising balance cost with the opportunity to increase revenues and consumer awareness. Although there are no guarantees for success, this marketing option can produce immediate and memorable results.

Essay On Advertisement

500 words essay on advertisement.

We all are living in the age of advertisements. When you step out, just take a quick look around and you will lay eyes upon at least one advertisement in whichever form. In today’s modern world of trade and business, advertisement plays an essential role. All traders, big and small, make use of it to advertise their goods and services. Through essay on advertisement, we will go through the advantages and ways of advertisements.

The Various Ways Of Advertisement

Advertisements help people become aware of any product or service through the use of commercial methods. This kind of publicity helps to endorse a specific interest of a person for product sale.

As the world is becoming more competitive now, everyone wants to be ahead in the competition. Thus, the advertisement also comes under the same category. Advertising is done in a lot of ways.

There is an employment column which lists down job vacancies that is beneficial for unemployed candidates. Similarly, matrimonial advertisement help people find a bride or groom for marriageable prospects.

Further, advertising also happens to find lost people, shops, plots, good and more. Through this, people get to know about a nearby shop is on sale or the availability of a new tutor or coaching centre.

Nowadays, advertisements have evolved from newspapers to the internet. Earlier there were advertisements in movie theatres, magazines, building walls. But now, we have the television and internet which advertises goods and services.

As a large section of society spends a lot of time on the internet, people are targeting their ads towards it. A single ad posting on the internet reaches to millions of people within a matter of few seconds. Thus, advertising in any form is effective.

Benefits of Advertisements

As advertisements are everywhere, for some magazines and newspapers, it is their main source of income generation. It not only benefit the producer but also the consumer. It is because producers get sales and consumer gets the right product.

Moreover, the models who act in the advertisements also earn a handsome amount of money . When we look at technology, we learn that advertising is critical for establishing contact between seller and buyer.

This medium helps the customers to learn about the existence and use of such goods which are ready to avail in the market. Moreover, advertisement manages to reach the nooks and corners of the world to target their potential customers.

Therefore, it benefits a lot of people. Through advertising, people also become aware of the price difference and quality in the market. This allows them to make good choices and not fall to scams.

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Conclusion of Essay On Advertisement

All in all, advertisements are very useful but they can also be damaging. Thus, it is upon us to use them with sense and ensure they are entertaining and educative. None of us can escape advertisements as we are already at this age. But, what we can do is use our intelligence for weeding out the bad ones and benefitting from the right ones.

FAQ on Essay On Advertisement

Question 1: What is the importance of advertisement in our life?

Answer 1: Advertising is the best way to communicate with customers. It helps informs the customers about the brands available in the market and the variety of products which can be useful to them.

Question 2: What are the advantages of advertising?

Answer 2: The advantages of advertising are that firstly, it introduces a new product in the market. Thus, it helps in expanding the market. As a result, sales also increase. Consumers become aware of and receive better quality products.

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Advertisements Do More Harm Than Good

Is having widespread advertising good for a society?

All the Yes points:

The levels of advertising are just too much these days. you cannot walk down the street, ride on a …, advertising leads to many people being overwhelmed by the endless need to decide between competing d…, people cannot just choose to ignore advertising, because advertisers use many underhand methods to g…, many adverts do more than just advertising products. some try to make people feel inferior if they …, advertising gives the impression, especially to children, that they can and should have everything t…, advertisers don’t have the good of society in mind when they do their work – they only care about ma…, advertising gives an unfair advantage to big businesses. small companies might have much better pro…, all the no points:, yes because….

The levels of advertising are just too much these days. You cannot walk down the street, ride on a bus, watch television or read your email without seeing advertisements. People shouldn’t have to have their lives attacked by a huge quantity of information they might not want.

No because…

No-one is forced to put advertising on their property – for many companies it is an important part of their income. Football teams would have much less money if they were not sponsored. And no-one is forced to look at advertising – you can turn the TV off between shows, or just flick past adverts in newspapers. If you don’t want to see the adverts, then just ignore them.

Advertising leads to many people being overwhelmed by the endless need to decide between competing demands on their attention – this is known as the tyranny of choice or choice overload. Recent research suggests that people are on average less happy than they were 30 years ago – despite being better off and having much more choice of things to spend their money on. The claims of adverts crowd in on people, raising expectations about a product and leading to inevitable disappointment after it is bought. Shoppers feel that a poor purchase is their fault for not choosing more wisely, and regret not choosing something else instead. Some people are so overwhelmed that they cannot choose at all.

Advertising has a positive role to play in modern society, helping us choose between competing goods. Many adverts are drawing our attention to products with new features, for example more powerful computers, telephones which are also cameras and music players, or foods with added vitamins. Other adverts try to compete on price, helping us seek out the cheapest or best value products. In most cases advertising does not make us go shopping – we would be planning to buy food, clothes, gifts and entertainment anyway. What advertising does is to help us make better decisions about how to spend our money, by giving us more information about the choices available.

People cannot just choose to ignore advertising, because advertisers use many underhand methods to get their message across. Posters have attention grabbing words, or provocative pictures. Some adverts today are even being hidden in what seem like pieces or art or public information so people don’t realise they are being marketed to. By targeting people’s unconscious thoughts adverts are a form of brainwashing that take away people’s freedoms to make choices.

Adverts which use very sly methods like subliminal images (images which are shown so quickly the viewer doesn’t consciously realise they saw them) are already banned. The other forms of advertising are just companies being creative. There is no difference from supermarkets being painted bright colours to make their food seem more appetising or even people wearing make-up to improve their image. People make unconscious judgements all the time, and we frequently try to influence these choices by the way we present ourselves. This isn’t brainwashing, so neither is advertising.

Many adverts do more than just advertising products. Some try to make people feel inferior if they don’t have the product, or if they have something which the product would change. Perceptions of beauty and fashion in particular have been terribly distorted. Many young people have low-self esteem, and lead unhealthy lifestyles because they feel they should be thinner and more attractive like the models they see in adverts. This leads to serious problems like eating-disorders and self-harm.

The media and celebrity magazines do much more harm, by mocking unattractive or overweight people, and glorifying models who are often dangerously thin. Adverts never criticise people – that would be terrible for the companies behind them. Their aim is to understand and provide what people want, and so their adverts only ever reflect what people think. If people’s perceptions are wrong, then it not the advertisers’ job to put them right, but politicians, the media and schools.

Advertising gives the impression, especially to children, that they can and should have everything they want. This makes people too interested in material things. People are becoming more selfish and obsessed with their possessions, and losing their values of patience, hard work, moderation and the importance of non-material things like family and friends. This harms their relationships and their personal development, which has serious effects for society as a whole.

Our society is build around the idea that companies produce things that people want, and this is what makes us prosperous. If consumers suddenly stopped wanting to buy so many products then what happens to the people whose job it is to make them? The economy will suffer terribly. Of course some people take materialism too far, but most people buy just what they need and then a little extra when they treat themselves. This is a much better situation than one in which people can only afford to buy the things they need – that would be a step backwards.

Advertisers don’t have the good of society in mind when they do their work – they only care about making profit. This means that they regularly advertise unhealthy or harmful things. Fast food adverts are a large part of the reason so many children are obese. The adverts just try to make children eat as much food as possible without any concern for the health costs.

Adverts which promote seriously unhealthy things are becoming very rare. Cigarette advertising is all but extinct, and alcohol adverts are being more restricted. With adverts such as fast food we see as well that companies are changing their message to promote healthier options. This is because it is bad for businesses to be viewed as harming children. Public pressure and successful regulation will always bring any advertising problems back under control.

Advertising gives an unfair advantage to big businesses. Small companies might have much better products, but they cannot afford to advertise them as well and so people don’t find out about them. This restricts the quality of products for consumers, and places a huge roadblock to the success of small businesses.

If there wasn’t advertising then small businesses would have no chance at all to make their product well known. Adverts can actually level the playing field – if you have a good new product, and market it in a clever way then it doesn’t matter how small your company is, you can still make consumers interested. The more you restrict the freedom of information, the more this helps the large companies who everyone already knows about.

Advertisements Good Or Bad?

From ads on websites to ads on massive signs, advertisements are everywhere. You might not even realise you have just seen or heard an ad because nowadays they are ubiquitous . Almost all companies use advertisements to promote their business and most websites make money by posting ads. Ads are not only ubiquitous but also come in various forms. But are advertisements good or bad? In my opinion advertisements have advantages and disadvantages.

On one hand, advertisements have a positive role to play in modern society, helping us choose between competing goods . Many adverts are drawing our attention to products with new features, for example more powerful computers, telephones which are also cameras and music players, or foods with added vitamins. Other adverts try to compete on price, helping us seek out the cheapest or best value products . Advertisements also benefit the company that made the ad by promoting products or services they sell.

On the other hand, advertisements have demerits. Advertisements might tempt or persuade consumers to buy things they actually do not need or want, which in turn result in a massive waste of resources and money. Advertisements swarm you with choices which could lead to decision-making difficulty. Some serious cases of decision-making difficulties even have trouble deciding whether to eat or not!

In conclusion, advertisements have not only advantages but also disadvantages. Advertisements help us choose between goods and benefit everyone. Advertisements also let us know the newest technology but might temp customers to buy things they do not need or want. Advertisements swarm you with decisions which can cause lifelong decision-making difficulties. For the reasons above I think advertisements have both pros and cons.

This is not a serious argument. Without advertising, the human race would almost certainly have gone extinct long ago. Advertising is the means by which we share the work we have done or can do with each other. We advertise ourselves to employers when we share a resume. We advertise a restaurant by placing “Joe’s Eatery” sign next to it to grab attention and let people know it’s a restaurant. We advertise milk by labeling it milk. All of these things are forms of advertising. Advertising is communicating with others to let them know what we have to offer.

As a society, we have grown tremendously by dividing labor. Each individual no longer has to grow her own food, make her own clothes, or build her own home. We’ve managed to progress because we found ways for 7 billion people to specialize in tasks and then let other people know what they can do. We progressed because of advertising. And as a result, not only have we divided up the tasks we used to each do individually to survive, but we’ve become so efficient that we can now do many, many more tasks that we never dreamed of before. One person can grow food for many, opening up the potential for others to do different kinds of tasks, like creating iPhones.

As people begin to reach wider audiences with their offerings and increase their profits, their ability to employ additional help grows. Bringing people together to work towards common goals enables accomplishments that just aren’t possible working alone. Breakthroughs in medicine, technology, transportation, manufacturing – everything that makes life what it is today depended entirely on advancements that came from people working together as teams to accomplish greater things. All of this was only possible because people increased their ability to share the fruits of their labor.

Advertising is a wonderful thing. It annoys us at times, but never believe for a second that it doesn’t make the world infinitely better.

Utter nonsense.

Advertising is about companies paying to make unrealistic claims and to intrude with differing degrees of intensity into people’s consciousness without their permission.

It should be a basic human right to refuse that intrusion at any time.

The best thing you can ever do is what I do: go in for deliberate purchasing of rival products and services to those you see advertised. If everyone behaved like me the economic structure of the world would be significantly different: – products and services would be less expensive – more art would adorn buildings and public spaces – it would be up to communities to decide how much or little they wanted, and to decide how to handle art which was concealed advertising – fewer online services would be viable – more “Trusted Reviews” type sites would spring up online, with increasingly serious ways of ensuring posts and posters were genuine, etc., rigorous scientific comparative analysis of products and services, etc.

Of course I get a long of things for free at the moment by ruthless use of Adblock Ultimate, etc., and at the same time systematically buying rival products to those of the companies who are paying for these services I use.

I don’t see the problem with ads. Most arguments levied against it are pure conjecture, with no factual basis. You can mostly boil it down to people thinking they are entitled to certain luxuries such as companies not being able to market at them, and they are actually entitled to this, the real issue being they are not using the options at their disposal. It is not a companies obligation to control what marketing they use to appeal to the public. It is the public’s choice to control what they intake and consume. In conclusion, people are placing false moral responsibilities in the hands of companies, which in a capitalist society, makes no sense. Feel free to respond to me (preferably politely) at my personal email address below, and point out flaws in my argument as I am always ready to learn.

I can understand that companies/individuals need to make money. Without advertising most free websites would no longer be free so I’m not against advertising in general. What becomes annoying is the sheer volume of advertising media especially on the Internet. It can totally take over a Web page which has caused me to abandon it on occasion and look for the information elsewhere. Also, the targeted advertising is horrible. The websites you look at are recorded and adverts appear related to something you were looking at days or even weeks before. I feel like I’m being followed (which I am) but it also feels like I’m being stalked by an ex lover. It’s REALLY creepy!

We would love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!

Advertising’ Damaging Effects in Society Essay

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Introduction

Negative effects of advertising.

Specific groups such as listeners, readers, and viewers form a large part of consumers and are referred to as the audience. In order to improve the volume of sales, business organizations are usually obliged to launch marketing campaigns for their products. The campaigns are known as advertisements. Hence, consumers can be manipulated, persuaded, and encouraged to develop loyalty towards certain products.

This form of marketing tool can also be employed in promoting social and political agenda. However, advertisements constantly bombard the targeted audience and are often out of control according to Gary Ruskin. The author also notes that coercive advertising is common since the audiences are compelled to change their buying behavior. The act of advertising is widespread even in undeserving locations like elementary schools.

A number of advertising gigs have angered several people. Some do not adhere to the moral standards of society. However, Adam Thierer notes that advertising can be beneficial to both an organization and the targeted audience. The author notes that advertising assists consumers to save money because they obtain adequate product knowledge and eventually settle on the best and most affordable item according to personal tastes and preferences.

This line of argument may be partially true. For instance, close to 10 billion US dollars is spent by Samsung annually on advertising. In addition, we may agree that media houses that advertise products also benefit hugely from such services. Consumers are equally in a better position to understand the products quite well before making their final choices.

Nonetheless, the latter assertion cannot be substantiated bearing in mind that some companies may go to the extent of providing false product information with the aim of persuading consumers to make purchases. Misleading advertisements are common in the market today.

The main purpose of any piece of advertisement is to paint the brightest image of a product. While the advertised product may not meet the purported standards, advertising makes it appear perfect.

This can easily lead to a false representation of a product. Several companies have found themselves in this fix (such as the case of Red Bull). When a case is filed by a consumer in a court of law for false or misleading advertisement, it can attract hefty fines on the part of the manufacturer. This explains why advertising is generally undesirable to society.

Perhaps, it might be crucial to consider one of the worst impacts of advertising in society when it comes to ‘direct-to-consumer’ advertisements on sensitive products such as drugs. Some drug manufacturers portray their medical products as extremely effective in curing certain illnesses.

Consequently, users of such drugs obtain unrealistic expectations on the functional nature of the advertised drugs and eventually end up being disappointed. In extreme cases, false advertisements might lead to casualties when patients take prescription drugs that are not effective as stated in the advertisements. Several deaths have been witnessed owing to the negative effects of prescribed drugs in advertisements.

Worse still, consumers may waste millions of dollars on products related to beauty and health. Several health and beauty products contain harmful components such as mercury. However, most consumers are usually oblivious of the underlying dangers in such products. As a matter of fact, disclaimers are hardly visible in products that contain harmful components. When consumers are not informed of the side effects of products, they tend to fully believe the advertising messages.

As already hinted out, advertisements are everywhere and non-discriminatory. In other words, even the most vulnerable audience (such as school-going children) are targeted through their programs. It can be considered to be morally wrong to persuade young minds (children) to go out of their way and like certain products. While children do not have the autonomy to purchase and a mature mindset to make decisions, advertisers will always target them.

In recap, advertising is not a healthy practice in society. Consumers should be left to make their independent choices after being provided with sufficient and authentic product details.

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Influence of marketing communications on children, children’s consumer development, marketing to children in new media environments, mitigating advertising effects, using marketing insights to help children, future research, recommendations, clinicians and providers, policy makers, the effect of advertising on children and adolescents.

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Matthew A. Lapierre , Frances Fleming-Milici , Esther Rozendaal , Anna R. McAlister , Jessica Castonguay; The Effect of Advertising on Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics November 2017; 140 (Supplement_2): S152–S156. 10.1542/peds.2016-1758V

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In ∼100 years, marketing to children went from a severely frowned upon practice to an integral part of growing up as companies came to realize that investing in marketing to children and adolescents provides excellent immediate and future dividends. Each year, enormous sums of money are spent to reach this valuable audience because children and adolescents spend billions on their own purchases, influence family decisions about what to buy, and promise a potential lifetime of brand loyalty. The channels to reach youth have grown, and marketers are increasingly using them, often blurring the distinction between entertainment and advertising. Because advertising to children and adolescents has become ubiquitous, researchers who study its influence raise significant concerns about the practice, especially as it relates to dietary behavior, family conflict, marketer tactics, and children’s potential vulnerability as an audience. In this review by the Workgroup on Marketing and Advertising, we highlight the state of the research in this area and suggest that more research needs to be conducted on understanding the following: the effects of advertising exposure, how psychological development affects children’s responses to marketing, the problems associated with advertising in newer media, and how researchers, parents, and practitioners might be able to mitigate the most deleterious advertising effects. We then present avenues of future research along with recommendations for key stakeholders.

The average young person growing up in the United States sees anywhere from 13 000 to 30 000 advertisements on television each year. 1 However, these figures do not include the marketing content online, in print, at the movies, in video games, or at school. It is important to note that advertising and marketing can serve a useful purpose for children. Marketing may help socialize children as consumers, inform them about products, and help them carve out unique identities as they reach adulthood. 2 Yet, as scholars who study advertising and children have found, there are legitimate reasons to be concerned with how marketers approach young audiences.

Some of the most pressing concerns are as follows: whether young people represent a vulnerable audience in need of protection; how marketers are reaching children in online and social networking environments; what parents, practitioners, and policy makers can do to help children contend with these messages; and what the marketing industry can teach various stakeholders about encouraging protective behaviors in young people. Moreover, there are issues related to marketing and young people that can have serious implications, and they deserve careful research attention because there are both short- and long-term negative consequences connected with exposure to marketing messages for products that are not healthy for children 3 , – 5 and the idealized images and messages within the advertising that youth see. 6 , 7 In the following pages, we discuss the current state of research in this area, offer suggestions for future research, and provide recommendations to key stakeholders regarding children, adolescents, and marketing.

The marketing of unhealthy products, including unhealthy food as well as alcohol and tobacco, is linked to various negative outcomes for youth. Research shows that food marketing increases children’s immediate and future consumption, food brand preferences are influenced by product placements and advergames, and childhood obesity is related to viewing commercial television (not viewing DVDs or public television programming). 4  

Youth exposure to alcohol advertising also delivers unhealthy consequences. Alcohol advertising increases the likelihood that adolescents will start to use alcohol and increases consumption among adolescents who already drink alcohol. 3 This is particularly concerning because early alcohol use increases the risk of future alcohol dependence. 8  

Although tobacco marketing has been banned from television for more than 40 years, youth exposure to television advertising for electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) doubled from 2011 to 2013. 5 Contrary to the suggested positive aspects discussed by the manufacturers, research shows that e-cigarette use does not prevent and may increase conventional cigarette use among adolescents. 9  

Harm may also be caused by the overwhelming exposure to all types of marketing, and the images within this marketing, that children and adolescents experience. For example, a review of research found a consistent relationship between advertising exposure, materialism, and parent-child conflict. 6 Furthermore, a meta-analysis found that advertising and other media portrayals depicting the thin-ideal for women are related to a negative body image among women and girls. 7 Therefore, there is concern not only for the negative effects associated with the marketing of unhealthy products (ie, food, alcohol, and tobacco) but also for the negative effects associated with the way marketing exposure in general may influence how youth view material possessions and themselves.

For decades, researchers have recognized children as a vulnerable consumer group because of their budding developmental abilities. Relying on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, researchers in many studies have reported that until children are >7 years old, they do not have the ability to detect persuasive intent in advertising. 2  

Researchers in modern studies have moved beyond the age-stage theory of cognitive development and have found other variables that play a role in enhancing consumer competencies among young children. For example, research has shown that theory of mind (ie, the ability to think about the thoughts and feeling of others) predicts elementary school-aged children’s ability to understand selling intent and the social symbolism of brands. 10 , 11 Similarly, preschool-aged children with developed theory of mind are better equipped to detect persuasive intent. 12 Furthermore, executive functioning (ie, the form of cognitive development that explains impulse control, planned behavior, and categorization skills) has been linked to children’s ability to process brand messages. 11  

What remains unknown is how children move from basic consumer competencies to being critical thinkers capable of defending against persuasion. Children’s readiness to learn from their social world renders them vulnerable until they develop skepticism. 13 The protracted development of executive functions (which continues into adolescence) may explain why this skepticism is slow to emerge. 14 By late adolescence, children’s ability to cope with advertising should surface. 13 However, even as adults, we may be capable of skepticism but still fail to use our critical-thinking skills at all times. 13 Hence, further research is needed to understand what (if any) individual differences characterize mindful child and adolescent consumers.

As marketing to children has moved to new media platforms, researchers have struggled to keep up with these changes. In the past, researchers could record a few hours of television to get a sense of how marketers were selling to children. However, monitoring new media is fraught with logistical issues because Web sites can be altered in a matter of hours and social networks can privately reach out to young people with commercial appeals.

What we do know about marketing appeals in newer media is that they are often qualitatively different from traditional advertisements. Instead of receiving messages passively, online advertisements engage children actively through advergaming platforms (ie, games featuring branded content) and/or through solicitation as brand ambassadors (eg, encouraging children to reach out to friends about a product). 15 , 16 These practices are particularly problematic because evidence shows that children have more difficulty understanding that they are being marketed to in these online settings. 17  

Research also shows that marketers reaching children in online settings are acting with little oversight and are often more aggressive with their marketing strategies. For example, although companies are legally forbidden from collecting data on children <13 years old in the United States, evidence suggests that marketers do engage in this practice. 16 Moreover, content analyses of food product Web sites show that many companies feature food products that are substantially less beneficial to children. 18  

Because of the concerns regarding the appropriateness and possibly harmful consequences of advertising targeting youth, various initiatives have been taken to protect and empower them. On a policy level, advertising regulations have been implemented to restrict certain types of advertising targeted at children. However, many of these policies (such as those related to alcohol and food marketing) are self-regulated, and convincing evidence for the efficacy of these policies is still lacking. 19 , 20 Moreover, as noted above, the boundless and simultaneously subtle nature of the online media landscape makes it increasingly difficult to implement and control advertising policies.

In response to the difficulties related to advertising policies, there have been calls to invest in the development of educational interventions to empower children by increasing their advertising knowledge. However, research indicates that possessing advertising knowledge does not necessarily enable children to cope with advertising in a conscious and critical manner. 14 Because of the types of appeals used and children’s growing cognitive abilities, young people may not be motivated or able to evaluate advertising and make well-informed consumer decisions. 14 Therefore, further investigation is needed to understand how best to use education interventions.

However, there is research that shows parents can play a key role in increasing their children’s comprehension of advertising and counteract potentially undesirable advertising effects by actively talking with their children about advertising. 21 Yet, in the contemporary media landscape, it has become increasingly difficult for parents to guide their children, particularly in online environments. 22 This makes it far more difficult for parents to recognize current advertising practices, which thereby restricts their ability to talk to their children about them. 23  

Despite frequent criticism, child-targeted marketing has the potential to encourage positive behaviors. The effectiveness of social marketing confirms that identical techniques used to sell commercial products can sell positive attitudes, ideas, and behaviors. 24 Still, whereas there is a vast research base looking at adults and persuasion, little is known regarding the theoretical foundations of persuasion as applied to youth or the potential to effectively market healthful commercial products to young audiences.

One reason is that few theoretical frameworks were developed with children in mind. For example, the Theory of Planned Behavior presents a concise way to assess and then target precursors to behavior. Although it has been used in research with youth ≥9 years old, these studies often suggest the need to adjust the model to explain children’s behaviors. 25 In addition, it is unclear how this and other theoretical models apply to younger children.

Similarly, there is scant evidence regarding effective message design for young audiences. One example of this gulf in the research surrounds message framing. Some research suggests that adults typically respond best to gain-framed messages (ie, messages that highlight the advantages of performing a behavior), yet young children respond equally favorably to both gain- and loss-framed content (ie, messages that emphasize the negative repercussions of not taking action). 26 Furthermore, adolescents may respond differently to message framing because of developmental characteristics. For example, it is argued that adolescents are more influenced by loss-framed messages because these messages enhance cognitive dissonance in youth, yet adults are likely to experience this dissonance regardless of the message frame. 27  

Lastly, whereas social marketing has frequently been investigated from a public health perspective, little has been done to assess how commercial media messages can have a positive impact on children. Certain marketing tactics, such as the use of licensed characters, have been recognized as being particularly influential. 28 A recent review of research regarding the use of characters in child-targeted food marketing acknowledged that although particularly effective at promoting unhealthy foods, children’s characters can encourage fruit and vegetable consumption as well. 29 In addition, children have been shown to find a vegetable dish more desirable when it is named attractively, although this has not been investigated in mediated contexts. 30 Nevertheless, to help children and families, researchers need a better understanding of how persuasive theories and message design apply to children to create effective messages for these audiences.

Based on the current gaps in the research literature, we recommend the following:

An interdisciplinary-focused content analysis dedicated to quantifying and tracking youth exposure to marketing messages across mobile and new media platforms. By considering the challenges associated with tracking advertising on new media devices, such a study would include insights from ethnographers, computer scientists, behavioral scientists, and public health specialists;

Longitudinal research exploring how youth process marketing messages across media platforms and across ages, with a particular focus on the following:

Understanding the link between persuasive-intent understanding and message perception and reception by using both direct and indirect measures that can reveal the processes through which children are persuaded by different forms of marketing messages;

Identifying developmental (eg, executive function and theory of mind abilities) and ecological factors (eg, socioeconomic status) that may moderate these effects; and

Based on the results of the first 2 proposals, determining the most effective ways to enhance receptivity to healthy messages and increase protection against unhealthy marketing messages.

Educate parents about the subtle pervasiveness of marketing (particularly in new media settings) along with the negative effects of increased commercial exposure in children. Medical professionals should also strongly encourage parents to monitor their children’s exposure to marketing communication.

By considering the challenges that children face in negotiating an ever-changing and often confusing persuasion environment, increased pressure should be applied to marketers to ensure that their practices are developmentally appropriate and transparent (eg, alcohol advertising).

Those working directly with children and/or developing curricula for children should focus on interventions that increase children’s advertising knowledge and help them engage critically with commercial messages in ways that are developmentally appropriate. Educators should also engage directly with young people to learn about the multitude of ways marketers target this audience.

All authors conceptualized and organized the review, drafted the original manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

The analysis, conclusions, and recommendations contained in each article are solely a product of the individual workgroup and are not the policy or opinions of, nor do they represent an endorsement by Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development or the American Academy of Pediatrics.

FUNDING: This special supplement, “Children, Adolescents, and Screens: What We Know and What We Need to Learn,” was made possible through the financial support of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development.

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Eating And Health

• Food For Thought
• For Foodies

Scientists Are Building A Case For How Food Ads Make Us Overeat

Eliza Barclay

Exposure to visual food cues like food ads can influence eating behavior and contribute to weight gain, a study published in the journal Obesity Reviews found. Nick Amoscato/Flickr hide caption

Exposure to visual food cues like food ads can influence eating behavior and contribute to weight gain, a study published in the journal Obesity Reviews found.

Editor's note at 10:51 a.m. ET, Feb. 1: The original version of this post lacked a perspective from the food industry. That post also may have given the impression that NPR has a position on whether food ads should or should not be banned. A new version appears below and the original version follows.

Why is it that we haven't seen ads for cigarettes on television since the Nixon administration ?

Because after nearly a decade of restrictions on smoking ads, in 1969 Congress passed legislation banning the ads on television and radio. President Nixon signed the bill into law and it took effect in September 1970.

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By that same logic that ads can harm health, public health advocates say food ads should be tightly regulated. They say food companies use them to entreat us to indulge in fattening products and they link our obesity epidemic to unhealthy foods we see on TV.

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But the burden of proof when it comes to obesity is higher, partly because eating is a lot more complicated than smoking. And so far the public health community's battle against food ads has been mostly a losing one.

Two new meta-analyses may help policymakers decide what role food ads play in our obesity epidemic. While different in size and scope, both papers show how food advertising influences eating behavior — and can have a major impact on eating and eventual weight gain.

One of the studies is by Hedy Kober , who runs the Clinical & Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Yale University. Kober and graduate student Rebecca Boswell decided to review the evidence on the effect of exposure to food cues — both real food and visual cues like ads — and craving on both eating behavior and weight gain. They looked at 45 published reports involving about 3,300 participants.

"We found very, very strong relationships between reactivity and cues and weight and eating," Kober tells us. And she says the results , published online in the journal Obesity Reviews, s hould inspire us to crack down on how food companies advertise to us.

"Why do we still allow food advertising when children can sit in front of TV cartoons, and in between they get exposed to burgers, fries, chocolate — things we know are nutritionally not the best?" she says. "[Those ads] lead them to ask [for] and want to eat those foods, and that's something we need to think about really seriously."

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The second meta-analysis appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and is a bit narrower in scope: It looked only at studies on how exposure to unhealthy food advertising affects food consumption.

While Kober's meta-analysis found no difference in how visual cues affected eating in adults and children, the second paper did. Ads for junk food significantly increased food consumption in children, but not adults, the researchers found in their analysis of 22 different studies.

"We have also shown that the effects are not confined to TV advertising; online marketing by food and beverage brands is now well established and has a similar impact," study leader Emma Boyland said in a statement. She's a lecturer in psychological sciences at the University of Liverpool's Institute of Psychology, Health & Society.

The takeaway? The researchers believe more strategies and policy options to reduce children 's exposure to food advertising are needed — not just in the U.S., but everywhere.

Policy experts in the U.S. says they're not particularly optimistic about the prospects of legislation restricting food advertising to children here.

"I really don't have a lot of hope for regulating food ads," says Robert Paarlberg , a global food and agricultural policy scholar affiliated with the Harvard Kennedy School and Wellesley College. "They're considered to be commercial protected speech, and the Supreme Court would have to weigh in to overthrow that."

As Paarlberg writes in his 2015 book, The United States of Excess: Gluttony and the Dark Side of American Exceptionalism , the Obama administration had proposed voluntary guidelines for the industry on food advertising. But the White House dropped that proposal in 2012, after Congress passed a bill requiring a cost-benefit analysis of the guidelines and whether it would lead to job losses in the food and beverage sectors.

The industry does have a voluntary Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative , designed to help companies shift advertising to children under 12 to healthier options. According to the CFBAI's progress report published in December 2015, all 18 participating companies, including Coca-Cola, Burger King and Mars, have adopted nutrition criteria to decide what foods should be advertised to children under 12. And in 2014, more than 50 foods were added to CFBAI's Product List because they met that criteria. (Additional foods were added in 2015, as well.)

But as Dale Kunkel , a professor emeritus of communications at the University of Arizona, told my colleague Allison Aubrey last year, these efforts to cut back on marketing unhealthy foods to children "have barely moved the needle in terms of shifting food advertising to children to genuinely healthy products."

American kids see , on average, three to five ads for fast food per day. And about 50 percent of all ads directed at children are for food.

Food companies spend less than one half of 1 percent of their marketing dollars to promote fruits and vegetables, according to a 2012 report from the Federal Trade Commission. Instead, they peddle mainly fast-food restaurant items, sugary beverages and cereal.

ORIGINAL POST:

Because public health officials said the ads caused people to smoke more and raised their risk of getting cancer. And because Nixon stood up to the tobacco industry to sign legislation banning the ads to protect people from that temptation.

By that same logic, public health advocates argue, food ads should also be tightly regulated: Food companies use them to entreat us to indulge in their products. And we have an obesity epidemic linked to those unhealthy foods we see on TV.

Two new meta-analyses may help put the nail in the coffin of doubt about whether food ads are bad for our health and partly to blame for our obesity epidemic. While different in size and scope, both papers show how food advertising influences eating behavior — and can have a major impact on eating and eventual weight gain.

The takeaway? We need more strategies and policy options to reduce children 's exposure to food advertising — not just in the U.S., but everywhere.

The industry does have a voluntary Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative .

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Is Advertising Harmful to Society

How many advertisements have you seen in your life? The average person sees between 280 and 310 advertisements per day. Advertisements are a great way to make people aware of products, issues, and more. But has advertising become a problem to society? Everyone has seen those ads where advertisers try to convince the consumer that a product will make your life five times better and their life won’t be better until they buy the product. The advertiser’s intentions are to try to get into your mind and influence your thoughts and decisions. Advertisements like car, insurance, medicine, beverage, and political commercials often try to influence the consumer. Advertising is harmful to society because of its strong influence. Advertisements are everywhere people go. It’s nearly impossible to go anywhere without seeing an advertisement. It is hard to ignore the constant information being thrown at people every day. Advertisers grasp your attention with their ads and they tend to persuade you to look at it. They use big bold words, bright colors, and a lot of other “eye catching” effects. They know that the general population will eventually look at their advertisement, so that is when they bombard everyone with information no one really needs. The advertisers can also influence your thought subconsciously. For example, if a company is advertising a sports drink which portrays athletic, strong, and good-looking people. The consumer immediately thinks that this is a sports drink that they need to buy, but subconsciously they think that if they purchase the sports drink, they will be as athletic, strong, and good-looking as the people in the advertisement. Money is also a big problem in the advertising business. All the advertisers care about is money, how they’re going to get it, how much it’s going to cost, and how much they’re going to make. On average, advertisers make about $15 billion per year. They never really think about how all of society will be affected by what they are going to advertise. It’s also really tough to get an advertisement on television or a billboard, because the companies have to pay a large sum of money. People will do anything to get more money for their company and if that means having to pay more than another company to get the best billboard in town, then they will. The biggest problem is how it impacts society. Because so many people are influenced by advertisements, people end up spending more than they really have. Our society today wants things done fast and with high quality, so we are willing to give someone thousands of dollars for something even though it is not really worth it. Advertisements can make people take extreme measures as well. Most of the time in an advertisement, they tend to show the ideal person. Because of this, people have the desire to be like those people in the ads. They think that if they go to extreme measures, buy the product, do exactly what the person does, then they will be just like them. In reality that’s far from true, but because of the huge amount of influence advertisers are putting into their ads, people actually do believe it. Some would say that all this advertising is how people make their money. That’s true, but the companies that are making all this money are putting a greater amount of the population in debt because people are spending money they do not have. Spending money is not just a personal choice. People can be pressured into purchasing something to either fit in or be just like someone else. The company plays a big role in influencing you to make that choice as to whether or not to spend your money on their product. All they show you is propaganda, which just means that they are spreading information that should not be relied on. Ads may not judge people but they do stereotype and pressure people. Those who are obese are typically shown eating enormous amounts of food and the elderly are mostly shown in denture commercials. In all reality, not all obese people eat enormous amounts of food and not all elderly people wear dentures. Advertisements pressure people to be the beautiful, healthy, strong, and amazing people that are shown in the advertisements. Advertising is harmful to society. They advertise all these amazing things you could become when they really end up messing up your life. You could end up spending more money than you really have, do things you would not normally do and more. Take a stand and don’t let advertising harm your life.

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