Advertising: Set Us Free!

Marlene sits her size three seventeen year old body in front of her television. An ad promoting dietary pills pops up after her programming. She sees a woman with a firm stomach and a tight gluteus standing near a pool smiling and wearing a quite revealing bikini. Marlene walks to her mirror and wonders to herself why she doesn't look that way. Should she go on a diet? Many people are negatively affected by the advertising industry on a daily basis. The average person views about three thousand ads a day and about forty thousand ads a year from television, the Internet, magazines, and even in schools. Advertisers influence various consumer groups to purchase goods and services by as slipping in subliminal messages, taking advantage of ones hidden fears, and by getting the consumer's attention in unusual ways.

When one goes into a movie theatre they hope to sit back and relax; enjoy their movie. The lights dim and the advertisements come on. An unexpected flash of coca cola and a bag of popcorn fly across the screen for a quick three seconds. All of a sudden, that person has a craving for the buttery popcorn and the refreshing cold soft drink. They get up, along with a few others to race to the snack bar. "Subliminal Seduction," in Stay Free, by Carrie McLauren, Vance Packard refers to a New Jersey cinema that had ads like these, "(These) ads--exhortations to Ð''Eat Popcorn' and Ð''Drink Coca-Cola'--were invisible to the naked eye but supposedly influenced viewers subconsciously." (Vance Packard, Stay Free) As a result, "By the use of subliminal messages, movie theatres increase their popcorn sales by precisely 57.5 percent, and Coca-Cola sales by 18.1 percent" (McLauren). Not only are people given subliminal messages in movie theatre ads, they are also beginning to be embedded in television shows. In Lianna George's article, "Is Kiefer Sutherland Trying to Sell You Something?" found in Maclean's, she mentions how many corporations try to get deals with television shows to have their brands cited into the storylines. Ford signed a multi-million-dollar contract with the Fox hit series 24. Jack Bauer, the host, uses Fords automobiles to add action in his show. He can do anything he wants, as long as there isn't any, "bad guys driving Fords"(George, Maclean's). Another example of embedment is how, "A recent episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives involved a lead character taking a job as a spokesmodel for Buick, a major show advertiser (George). Of course all this advertising is getting to consumers as the above mentioned companies are booming and making money from left to right. Subliminal messages are not only used to make the consumer buy their product, but also to alter the way vote. "A Republican TV ad targeting the Democrats came under fire for showing the word "RATS" for a split second," Laura Ungar states in, "Can Subliminal Messages Determine the Way You Think, Shop,-Or Vote" (Oct.2000 News Journal). By that ad alone, somebody can acquire a negative feeling that may alter their future decision on what Presidential candidate they want to vote for. That isn't fair for either the consumer or the candidate. The Federal Communications Commission also provides the fact that they have caught radio stations that "Ð'...put short, barely audible phrases, also known as Ð''phantom spots' into broadcasts, faced in under musical recordings or dropped into pauses in quick, low voices" (Ungar). Many of these articles are deceptive to consumers and can cause them to have a second view on a subject. Taken as a whole, subliminal advertising is bad for consumers as it tricks their minds into purchasing, thinking, and judging, the products being brought forth to them.

Face it; many Americans are scared to death because of advertisers bringing up how something negative might happen if they don't use their product. John E. Calfee in, "Triumph of the Consumer: How Advertising Informs to Our Benefit" located in April 1998's Consumer's Research, states, "Products and their problems bring into play one of the most important ways in which the competitive market induces sellers to serve the interests of buyers. No matter what the product, there are usually brands that are Ð''less bad' than the others" (Calfee, Consumers Research). Calfee also provides an example of how at first the tobacco industry said that cigarettes were safe. Camel used to say "Smoke our brand all you want." Then in the early 1950's medical reports on smoking and lung cancer reached the public. "Small brands could not resist the temptation to use advertising to scare smokers into switching brands" (Calfee). They took advantage of the naÐ"Їve consumers by saying how if they were to use their brand, they would not be affected in the nose, throat or accessory organs. Advertisers try to scare consumers into switching brands or going with their brand to, of course, make more money. "In 1991, when Americans were worried about insurance companies going broke, a few insurance firms advertised that they were more solvent than their competitors (Calfee). Consumers are

BIGGEST EXPENDITURES FOR DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER ADS

(U.S. prescription drugs 1998)

DRUG WHAT IT TREATS AD EXPENDITURE

Claritin allergies $185.1 million

Propecia baldness 92.0 million

Zyrtec allergies 75.6 million

Zyban smoking 64.4 million

Pravachol high cholesterol 59.7 million

Allegra allergies 52.5 million

Prilosec ulcers 49.7 million

Zocor high cholesterol 44.5 million

Evista osteoporosis 42.3 million

Prozac depression 41.1 million

desperate and idiotic, when they fall for these kinds of hoaxes, they should know about their

surroundings and be aware of comparative advertising. But because of the fear, they were connived into switching services. Medicine industries also scare consumers into buying their products.