In today's society, advertisement in marketing is a huge factor that determines a business' success. Advertisement makes people aware of a product or service, and for the most part, the whole marketing strategy serves its purpose. Sometimes, however, advertisement is manipulation at its best. If you've ever noticed, advertisements fail to recognize the other sides of things - naturally, they're not supposed to, since they're main purpose is to praise the product, not hinder its potential popularity. But most of the time, false advertisement leads people to believe that a certain product will do a job or a certain service will be of use to them, when in reality, that product or service will be of no possible use to them.
The entire idea of advertisement is brilliant: you have a product and you want to not only make people aware of the product, but you want them to feel the need to actually need/want the item. If the product is legitimate (which only 50% of those advertised ARE), advertisements generally help the public and its awareness to technological advancements in society. For the other 50%, sadly, advertisement leads to false hopes and expectations that fall when people realize that what they read in a magazine or saw on TV, was a complete lie. It's sad to imagine that social mass media controls our lives every day, and it's even sadder to imagine that it manipulates us; leads us to believe that what they're praising is actually worth looking into and spending money on.
I think the idea of advertisement is meant to serve as an informational notice to the public, but the actual reality of advertisement is carried out in a very manipulative way. Again, even the manipulation side of advertisement is brilliant, because businesses gain extra money on people who soon find out that their products SUCK (immensely). For example, let's say I see an advertisement for a product that removes the hair from my body. It's from a company I have never seen before and the advertisement, at first, is questionable. There are some legitimate factors apparent, with a spray on the leg and then a cloth to wipe it clean of hair all in one single shot. That's got to seem legit, right? After seeing it for the 506th time and seeing only the benefits of the product, I say "Why not give it a try? The advertisement said it would work." I pay for it and get it in the mail and try it. 1) It burns. 2) It barely works. 3) The refund the ad said I would get was conditional and in fine print (but who the fxck reads the fine print?). I'm pissed off because an advertisement had given me false hope and cost me money (and an arm and leg... of potential hair loss).
Ads are good for good products. When they're by trusted brands, I know they're not being manipulative because their products ACTUALLY WORK. The iffy brands with the "real life stories"... those I always do extensive research on (and guess what? Most of the time, I realize those real life stories only represent like 10% of the actual population that tried the product). Advertisements are very manipulative, but that's why you invest in a computer and RESEARCH PRODUCTS BEFORE YOU GET THEM.
Teehee. :)
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