The purpose of this guide is to explore the ways in which advertisements can harm their viewers.
The research thesis of this guide is to examine the tactics companies use to sell their products, how these choices reflect in society, and the ways they negatively impact consumers.
1. What are the goals in advertising?
2. How is society reflected in advertising?
3. How do advertisements influence societal standards?
4. What are the main issues exhibited in the way advertisements are presented?
5. What have companies done to remedy the negative impacts of their advertisements?
6. Is rebranding effective? How have companies rebranded? Were they successful?
The advertising industry is far-reaching and ever-expanding in today’s landscape of increased media usage. The purpose of advertisements is to teach consumers about products and persuade them to buy them. These advertisements employ tactics that include using models with idealized or altered bodies, stereotypical images, and demeaning messages. The goal of this research paper was to explore how these tactics impact society through the self-esteem of consumers. For the methodology, the research conducted was primarily through Skagit Valley databases such as Academic Search Complete and JSTOR, along with Films on Demand, Google Scholar, and TEDX. Fourteen sources were cited and annotated. It was found that women are primarily the target of this advertising and that the idealized bodies used created unrealistic standards among consumers, negatively impacting self-esteem and creating a stigma around topics like menstruation. The limited diversity in casting not only creates stereotypes around certain groups but also marginalizes viewers who might not fit the standards set in the advertisements. These effects from messaging sway societal expectations and standards, which creates a cycle between society being reflected in advertisements, and advertisements reflecting society. The implication of this research indicates that a change in how advertisements are presented is an achievable goal, demonstrated by brands who have successfully rebranded to viewer approval and that further research could help support this.
Modern advertising is everywhere. There are ads on television programs and streaming services, pasted to the sides of dirigibles, between every other TikTok video, and before movies with strategic product placement play at the theater. There are ads printed on the conveyor belts in checkout lines at the supermarket and again on the back of spools of receipt tape. At sporting events, screens lining the stadium flicker between products and brands, with the stadium itself sponsored by a company like T-Mobile, Bank of America, or Blue Cross. A key part of every brand is strong advertising, which needs to be quick, snappy, and able to resonate with consumers. In the 1997 documentary, Business Ethics: Truth in Advertising, it’s stated that the goal of an advertisement is to be “informative and provide customers with the essential benefits about a product.” This may be the sole intention of the companies that create these advertisements, but that is not always the reality. Today, with such a high volume of ads being flashed at consumers, there may be people who believe that they can simply tune them out, that they are desensitized to the subtle messaging in the advertisements they’re subjected to. But as media activist Jean Kilbourne points out in her documentary Killing Us Softly 4, “Another reason we believe we’re not influenced is that advertising’s influence is quick, it’s cumulative, and for the most part, it’s subconscious.” The reality is that the advertising industry has much more sway over its consumers than they might think, shaping societal perceptions of beauty, success, and identity. Modern advertising negatively impacts its viewers by setting unrealistic standards through the perpetuation of stereotypes, uniformity, and idealized imagery.
Jean Kilbourne is an activist, writer, and public speaker. Her documentary series, Killing Us Softly, focuses on how advertisements objectify and exploit women, and how this impacts their self-esteem. Killing Us Softly 4 is the newest installment, which came out in 2010. In this video, Kilbourne discusses the wide reach of advertisements and reflects on how the topics of idealization, stereotyping, and objectification in marketing have continued to be present in marketing since she began the series.
Kilbourne, Jean, director. Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women. Media Education Foundation, 2010. https://archive.org/details/killing-us-softly-4
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