Advertising has come to be known as the most influencing and persuasive part of the media. It has often been used as an important tool in making people act in favor of the advertisement rather than using their heads in judging beforehand what to do and what not to do. According to Entwistle (2000), advertising is the greatest art form of the twentieth century. A question arises however whether advertising has only the good side or has the bad side as well. The answer to this question is carefully presented in the following article which discusses the adverse effects of various advertisements on American youths.
Iser (1978) once candidly put it that society drives people with lust and calls it advertisement. From a reasonable man’s point of view, this is exactly what advertising is doing to the American youths. Look at most images in many advertisements in America and the message is well passed across: the advertisers are not only after boosting their sales but they are as well occupied with eroding the morality of the American youths as far as good manners are concerned. The following image has been uploaded to give credence to the sad story of the debasement of the American youths’ brains by advertisements:
It is evident from the above advertisement picture that such kinds of advertisements have a hand in ruining the moral standards of the American youths. An American youth who had previously shunned away from drugs will immediately change his perspective on their destructive nature on coming across this kind of advertisement. He or she will start considering the crucial step of indulging in the evil practice of drug abuse.
Advertisements evoke the bodily lusts that had been suppressed by a well-behaved American youth. The provocative images used combined with the harsh language often leave the youths at the mercy of the cruel world. It is due to the same bad advertisements that many American youths have engaged in premarital sex leading to many unplanned pregnancies and unnecessary abortions. What advertisements do is that they make bad habits sound cool and acceptable in society. Youth would be mistaken to follow the words of Fairclough, (1989) that advertising is the genie that is transforming America into luxury, comfort, and ease for millions. The words ‘comfort and ‘luxury’ have gravely been misused here. Which kind of comfort or luxury would a youth get from a destructive advertisement? My point of view is that the whole thing is just ironic. Instead of the so-called luxury and comfort, the youth gets into habits he had never dreamt of doing and ends up ruining his entire life.
Advertising makes the American youths aware of the good as well as the evil. However, showing youth what is evil is only but prompting him or them into doing it. They may do it for mere adventure but it will be because they saw it being advocated against in the media. This goes hand in hand with the saying that the forbidden fruit tastes sweetest (Fairclough, 1989). The picture below also shows how the advertisement is spoiling the youth generation:
The above picture is a major distraction to American youth. It has hidden sexual motives. This picture is likely to arouse the sexual feelings of many Americans and land them premarital sex. The advertisement will also promote alcoholism among the American youths. Advertisement is no longer the significant asset used to promote business in America but it has instead turned into an agent of moral distortion among the youths. This is alarming because if the same trend continues, then there will no doubt be any single upright youth in America (Fiske, 1987).
The most destructive part of the advertisement is what it does to the human soul. It draws one away from his moral way of judging things to another world where bodily lusts rule. A religious youth will be drawn away from his God in a very simple manner if he or she is regularly exposed to a wicked advertisement. In this context, a wicked advertisement is taken to be one that contains information or images which are harmful to the American youths. The values that could have been taught to the youths by their teachers and parents are long forgotten and the new youth is totally myopic in his perception of life (Fiske, 1987).
On the other hand, the advertising firms don’t stand to lose anything because the more the youths get lost the more the revenue they earn. It is an act of negligence that such firms should focus on getting more cash at the expense of the morality of youths in their country. What they do is that they get the money out of the youths and at the same time get their moral integrity out of them. One Fiske (1987) once said that advertising can be described as the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it. The end result is that the youth loses double while the firm doubles its income. It is funny that in the long run both the two parties are pleased because the youths at the time do not realize that they have been served from the correct path on to the wrong way.
In conclusion, advertisements have done more bad than good to the American youths. Bad and offensive advertisements have robbed them of their good morals while the rest of the nation stands watching. It is high time appropriate laws and regulations were put in place to see this bad habit brought to an ultimate end. There is also a need to enlighten the American youths on what to take in and what to ignore. Generally, everyone has a crucial role to play in fighting this problem. It, therefore, becomes necessary for every citizen irrespective of his or her mettle to join hands in advocating against bad advertisements.
Reference List
Daveibsen. (n.d). Advert on drugs. Web.
Entwistle, J. (2000) The fashioned body: Fashion, dress and modern social theory. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Fairclough, N. (1989) Language and power. London: Longman.
Fiske, J. (1987) Television culture. London: Routledge.
Iser, W. (1978) The act of reading: A theory of aesthetic response. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Savesome. (n.d). St. Pauli Girl beer advert. Web.