The Media Wants Me To Be Beautiful

“The effects of television advertising to society.” City TV Web. 28 Aug. 2007. http://www.citytvweb.com/the-effects-of-television-advertising-to-society/.

SUMMARY

“The effects of television advertising to society” informs of the advertising tactics companies use to sell their product. As television becomes more accessible people “get carried away because of the TV ads also – without even consciously knowing it.” All these advertisements greatly impact all viewers, especially those that are young and impressionable. It only takes a few seconds for these commercials to captivate the audience and convince them that it is a necessity. The article explains that most advertisements contain famous and beautiful people to patronize the product. Women are used as sex objects; the perception of homemakers is now skewed because of the commercials and TV shows of independent women. Over the years more and more children choose junk food because the way that commercials portray the “yummy” snack. Everyone is affected “because these TV ads point out the person’s lack of something, instead of the products’ features.”

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RESPONSE

Companies associate feelings of beauty with their product to sell it. For example, the Estee Lauder perfume advertisements show a sense of joy and beauty. But does owning or wearing their perfume really give you “pleasure?” Does wearing Estee Lauder’s perfume suddenly transform you to be this girl (thin and happy)? There is definitely not a direct correlation between the perfume and this girl’s happiness. Maybe the puppy helps contribute to her happiness, but how does the puppy relate to the perfume? It all is really ridiculous, but as this article says, these advertisements are influencing our society. This image, and many others somehow make consumers feel they too can be beautiful by buying a certain product. Instead of consumers purchasing an item because of the quality and actual function, they buy to feel beautiful. Advertisements are intriguing. Many simply contain a picture of the product and few words, unrelated to the function of the product. Our society is very visual and doesn’t want to or have time to read a long advertisement, even if it is informative. They want to see a simple image and feel something. This emotional appeal makes the media consumers want the product more than any other technique, in my opinion. We need to be aware of what messages are really trying to portray and think logically before making purchases.