Advertisements

Sarah Bahammam

Advertisements all around the globe attempt to lure consumers to buy products. They are ubiquitous; we can find them everywhere in magazine, newspaper, and on billboards. According to a study, an average American sees over 5000 advertisements a day. After this introduction, some questions and thoughts come to mind , such as, “Is advertising deceptive? Does it create insecurity in order to sell goods? Does it cause people to buy thing that they really don’t need?” Over all view on the advertisements, we realize that advertisers use specific methods to target consumers, but these methods are not always successful or ethical. They are trying to increase sales in order to increase the efficiency of the economy.

There are several strategies that the advertisers use. The first one is to make the consumers feel insecure so they overcome it by buying. The second one is by exhibiting perfect individuals wearing the new styles and looking good; therefore, consumers go out and buy products in hopes to reaching perfection. The third one is to show that their product will let the consumer be very popular; for example, a person using deodorant and being recognized as popular, ass we all want to become popular and well-known.

When thinking of advertisements, we realize that there are different sides. On the advertiser’s side, they think they are simply informative. They show change in their ads because they know consumers want to try to fulfill their needs. However, on the public’s side, they think they are persuasive; for example, advertisers connect products with preferred emotions, such as happiness and popularity. One of these products is beer. These commercials often show a man after a hard day’s work enjoying an ice-cold beer to relax him. So, it is a controversial issue.

Some advertisements have negative effects, for example, the negative effects on women. These types of advertisements focus on the women's bodies and represent them as objects. Therefore, men may find easy to abuse or assault them.

Advertisements that are sent through the media are mixed, such as women’s magazines covers telling how to lose weight, and also how to make the perfect ice cream pie. Although many people think that advertisements have a bad effect on the public and influence them to buy things they do not need, consumers still have the choice to buy or not.