Is Advertising A Bad Influence?

[Jeswong]

advertising is a way of selling products, but sumtimes it may get out of hand. It may be advertising cigarettes to little kids, or advertising other adult things to children. It also tries to hook you into getting things that are either rip-offs or cheats. what do you think?

[monkeyhorder]

Anything can be a bad influence if the viewing audience isn't smart enough not to fall for it. I could go on tv covered in mud and dance around to some popular song and make tons of kids in the world believe that mud is the best thing ever. But only if they are inclined to belive it in the first place. Like, I can't go on tv dressed like I'm a terrorist (I'm stereotyping here, I totally don't agree with the fact that people think all terrorists are middle-eastern and what-not) and dance to some cool musica and make tons of kids think terrorists are the best thing ever. Most of advertising and how effective it is is all about the the viewing audience and how it is pre-conditioned to think of that product.

[tallfraekonleash]

Well what is bad to you isnt bad to others. See according to you drugs may be bad but I dont think that a drug lord thinks so. Also meybe you think abortion is bad when a pro-choice person may think its okay. See you cant techinaclly call something bad or evil because they change with every person. Although if you are talking about society's view point then almost everything is evil. Except straight married christians.

[Heather-Lee]

I think that sometimes things do get carried away, like having half naked girls in beer commericals, but in the end really its your own free will and judgement that is going to determine things. Like if a 12 year old sees a smoking commercial on t.v., its his/her choice weather they smoke or not.

[Kaasen]

Advertising is getting more and more desperate, and they are resorting to more and more eye-catching or shocking things to get your attention. I have a feeling that in a few years, it might not be uncommon to have R-rated commercials or billboards.

[Jeswong]

yes i agree it is the children's choice if they want the product advertised or not, but all in all, the product is BAD. it is bad for ur health, makes ur life shorter, and yet it is still on tv

[tallfraekonleash]

Jeswong

yes i agree it is the children's choice if they want the product advertised or not, but all in all, the product is BAD. it is bad for ur health, makes ur life shorter, and yet it is still on tv

Smoking ads arent allowed on american tv. whee

[Joey-chan]

We only have adds to stop smoking

But really, some people have to make their living by doing their job which may be advertising.

I have a friend who's little sister woke her up and said, "I'M WEARING A PAD~!" she may have got this from advertising. Would you blame the advertising community or the little girl for her wanting to be more "grown up".

[Chincherinchee]

I think its wrong to advertise products that are bad for you like cigs.But people should be smart enough to know that they are bad for you.

[Jeswong]

FoXy~ReNa

I think its wrong to advertise products that are bad for you like cigs.But people should be smart enough to know that they are bad for you.

the problem is that some ppl arent smart enuf, thats y ads shouldn't go too far stare

[Sub Pahar]

Jeswong

FoXy~ReNa

I think its wrong to advertise products that are bad for you like cigs.But people should be smart enough to know that they are bad for you.

the problem is that some ppl arent smart enuf, thats y ads shouldn't go too far stare

All ads are directed towards some form of stupidity.
No product is good for you.
Lock yourself in your room, away from those ads on the streets, reading The Capital.

Just partially kidding.

[Less Than Liz]

All advertising has some influence, whether positive or negative, or else what would be the point of advertising? Obviously it works, or why would companies be spending money?

The biggest problem with advertising, I think, is that it only strengthens already negative stereotypes. Of course, it's our fault for buying into them to begin with (as what would be the point of using them in advertising if we did not already cling to them to begin with?) So to answer your question I'd say they have their downfalls in that they add to a problem, but the problem's root lies within society's attitude, not the advertisers.

[Ambra]

One of the problems with advertising is that most of the point of it is to sell you something you really don't need. Part of what they're selling isn't even the product itself, but an abstract idea, a lot of the time. Or a product that makes something quicker or easier to do, but could be accomplished just as effectively with something cheaper.

[X_Alli_X]

yeah, i agree with everything everyone is saying about adds...but what do you think about tv shows?? Like...Hilary Duff and stuff liek that. Kids will think, o0o0o0o0o so kewl! and then grow up and act and dress just like her...SAD if you ask me.

[Mechanism]

*ahem*
I had thought that all advertising was bad.
Whether concious or not, advertising, when seen as often as it is, can affect the way we think. It causes people, whether they know it or not, to become more materialistic. To care more about the things which are advertised- Advertising often utilizes advanced psychological techniques to cause people to want something even though they wouldn't, and shouldn't want that particular thing, and when people subconciously want the huge array of items which are advertised, people begin to value the wrong things in life.
As expressed in the four noble truths of Bhuddism, the cause of suffering is desire and attachment. Therefore, our attachment and desire, caused by advertising, causes suffering. People, indeed, care too much about the 'wrong things'- temporary and unimportant physical possessions.
What's more, the consumerism of today's societies, encouraged by advertising, has a negative effect on the world's ecosystems, in the form of landfills, pollution, and clearing of land.
Advertising, indirectly, has a negative impact upon everyone affected by it, as it promotes a state of mind which is unhealthy, and one that is harmful to the Earth.