Advertising has become a significant part of American society in today’s world. One cannot go half an hour without seeing, hearing, or reading an advertisement of some kind. From labels on t-shirts to billboards, advertisements have become a prominent part of the daily routine for all Americans. In turn, advertisements have a significant influence on the population because of their prominence and frequency. Advertisements in the twenty-first century blur the lines between traditional and subtle, appearing in many intrusive ways to the point where the viewer does not always realize that they are seeing an advertisement (Hitchon and Jura 146). Since people see advertisements everywhere they go, the media has crafted a significant place in the values of society and has an overwhelming impact on humans and human interaction, value, thought, and actions. The more people see something, the more they are inclined to feel a specific way or do a specific action, whether this is positive or negative. While the majority of advertising has a negative influence on the world, advertising has a significant impact on American culture in both positive and negative ways through the dominance and influence of the images seen in advertisements on any type of medium.
While it seems very hard to think of any positive impact that advertising can have on society, it can be a positive influence for American culture because it can be used to further positive messages and activism. At its core, advertising is designed to “change attitudes, and to command our behavior” (Pollay 18). This means that advertisements can be used to reach audiences with messages aimed toward positive issues, such as equality or environmental sustainability. Public service announcements exist for this very reason: to inform viewers and readers about the need for change in certain areas of society. There have been many advertising campaigns that seek to raise donations and fundraising money for causes and charities. World Vision puts out commercials that showcase the starving children in Africa, prompting many Americans to reach into their pockets and write checks. In this similar fashion, companies can use positive messages to promote their products within America, by simply turning the message around and promoting positive ideals instead.
Advertising can also influence American society positively because it can be an important tool that creates jobs and helps businesses. Many people are employed in the advertising business, and almost every company relies on advertising for the success of their business. The advertising industry is a billion dollar industry, which employs many people and provides income for many companies. Advertising campaigns have proven to be “the source of enormous corporate profits” (Ciochetto 174) and therefore the industry will always be in demand, providing job security for the individuals working in that industry. The advertising industry’s top companies made over $19 billion each in 2006, and this number has grown in the years since then (Ciochetto 174). People have begun to embrace advertisements as a part of culture itself, and this has helped businesses promote their own products. For example, during the annual Super Bowl, advertisement slots are expensive but reach millions of viewers. Some people tune in to the game simply to watch the Super Bowl commercials. This is therefore an opportunity that incorporates advertising into the mainstream culture and allows companies to take advantage of high return on investment levels.
Another positive impact that advertising can have is that it helps people to become aware of new events happening and has some minor social benefits in this regard. People can use advertising to help spread the message about an event they are putting together, or a specific time-sensitive action. For example, during election season, political advertising takes on the role of providing news on the candidates to the public (Hitchon and Jura 142). While political advertising can be malicious in nature when attacking other candidates, it serves to inform the public about these events and when they can vote. Many people might not be aware of the events of the election, and can remain informed through these advertisements. Social benefits that can come from advertising relate to these types of events because they give people ideas and inspiration for conversations, social gatherings, and things to do when they believe that they are bored. Advertising can bring people together because of its conversational nature. Therefore, even when a shocking and controversial commercial comes on television, it still generations a positive social benefit because people begin to communicate with one another due to their views on this commercial. People who disagree with the messages of the commercial can unite together and create a team of people who all have this idea in common, adding a social value to society.
Advertising is a negative influence in society because it enforces negative values to society and American culture, such as materialism, and consumerism. Advertisements connect culture to the economy by creating a connection between consumers and products (Ciochetto 173). The economy has become a more integral part of the American culture and has become a focus on all other aspects of life, meaning that everything relates back to money and financial value. Advertisements reinforce ideas of materialism because they tell audiences that they need to buy products and services in order to achieve happiness or success in life (Pollay 21). Advertisements therefore normalize this shallow idea and encourage people to rely on material goods, convincing people that this is a normal behavior (Pollay 21). Advertisements also allow companies to trick their viewers into buying things at high prices to extort the most amount of money out of them. For example, Ralph Lauren sells expensive handbags made of alligator skin at their high-end boutiques for $14,000, but they sell shirts at department store J.C. Penney for under $20 (Phillips and McQuarrie 101). This is the exact same brand, but they manage to convince people to pay expensive amounts of money for a boutique item because they have reinforced the consumerist idea that people need more expensive items to be happy. These negative values that advertising reinforces also include stereotypes and racist implications. There are many racial representations that are used to sell products in specific markets that use codes that are generally assumed to represent a specific race (Crockett 246). Companies attempt to use specific ethnic and racial markets for national campaigns (Crockett 246), but these campaigns almost always end up appearing racist in nature due to the incorporation of traditional stereotypes and generalizations.
For many years, advertising has been accused of attempting to brainwash children and convince them that they need certain things, forcing their parents to spend money on the product. This leads to child-parent conflicts as the children begin to demand these specific products, regardless of whether the parent can afford them (Pollay 21). Children do not understand the concept of money and do not realize that many parents cannot buy them with every new toy or product that comes out. This leads to the materialistic nature of the child and a resentment that grows toward the parents. Children are vulnerable to the images they see in the media, and many advertising companies use this to their advantage when they market products to children. They do not concern themselves with the messages that they are showing children, because they are gaining profit. It is therefore left up to the guardians and authorities within the child’s life to protect them from the media, which is hard to do and cannot possibly be done. Therefore, children take in the negative stereotypes, behaviors, and negative behaviors they see (Pollay 21) and use them as a formation of their own cultural values, carrying this with them throughout their life. Since children are so sensitive to the information they take in, this can have serious repercussions as they grow into functioning adults.
In the same way that advertising has the capacity to brainwash audiences, it also has the power to eliminate freedom of choice when it comes to buying a specific product. Advertising can take away the consumer’s right to choose because there are some advertisements that are more dominant or memorable than others. These advertisements find their way into the brains of the consumer and remain there, influencing decisions even when the person is not concentrating on that specific product. The more someone hears or sees a commercial for a specific brand of something, the more they are going to remember that brand over any other brand, even if they do not actually want to buy that brand. Advertisers seek to subliminally create a connection between a thought and their product, and when this works the consumer is not completely conscious when they make that choice. The jingles and catchy slogans that are used in commercials works to distract the viewer and consumer from the reality of making their own decision (Pollay 26). This leads to a limited self-awareness in the consumer (Pollay 25).
The most negative and detrimental impact that advertising has on society is its objectification of both men and women. Advertisements have consistently managed to break down notions of positive body image and promote unrealistic, impossible standards for American men and women. This causes what is known as collateral damage, which refers to victimization that occurs as a result of a marketing action (Phillips and McQuarrie 102). For example, Canadian singer Justin Bieber was featured in the 2015 spring campaign for Calvin Klein. One of these advertisements feature Bieber lays on top of a topless woman, holding her tightly and dominating her with his grip and his body language (Calvin Klein Jeans). The woman is topless, while Bieber is fully clothed, and the woman has an expression of submissive pleasure on her face, with her arms over her head to signify her submission to Bieber (Calvin Klein Jeans). This advertisement promotes male dominance and sexual submission by woman and serves as an example of the negative consequences that advertising has on society. Both women and men view these types of images that attempt to sell products and start to believe that these behaviors are okay. This objectification promotes negative body image, sexism, domestic violence, and many other negative behaviors that cripple the progress of society.
In conclusion, while there are some minor positive influences of advertising on culture, there are many negative impacts that can harm society and influence negative behaviors and attitudes. Advertising essentially takes away freedom of thought in the average American and replaces it with thoughts of racism, sexism, and greed. Instead of making conscious decisions, Americans are letting advertisements send subliminal messages to their brains, taking away their own control when they are buying a product. Advertisements are incorporated into all aspects of society, from sporting events to hidden in films. Many people are not even fully aware that they are being targeted by advertisements, and allow these messages to infiltrate their train of thought and consciousness. It is impossible to escape from advertising, and this industry continues to develop and progress on a daily basis. Many companies are even branching out to social media, applications for phones, and email marketing, creating an advertising presence on all levels of society. Therefore, society as a whole is extremely vulnerable to the messages of the marketing business and advertising has a significant and overwhelming impact on American culture.
Works Cited
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