Advertisements

Advertisement is a reality of modern life than none of us can escape from. Turn on the TV and there will be a commercial break at least every thirty minutes. There are even advertisements within programs such as sponsorships. Advertisements also appear in newspapers and at bus-stops. With advertisement ever present, is it beneficial to us, the consumer? In my opinion, no. Advertisements give little, misleading and skewed information, how this information does not go unchallenged, how the advertiser usually only benefits and how advertisements can target just your emotions.
Advertisers may flaunt promotions or give out vouchers as rewards for spending a certain amount. While these may seem to be a win-win situation for both consumer and seller/ advertiser, the supposed benefits to the consumer are likely negligible. Promotions may turn out to be merely a few percent and offering vouchers for redemption is not much better either. Usually, the amount of money in the voucher is usually meagre compared to the amount spent. There are also other catches such as expiry dates or having to go to a certain place to redeem the voucher. All this adds up to the inconvenience of the consumer and gives the advertiser a higher chance that the voucher will not be redeemed, thus saving money.
In addition, most will not bother to investigate the information in advertisements. Given that we are bombarded by them all the time we have no way to keep track of it all. In any case, advertisements can come between shows and it is not likely a person will miss the show to verify the information. While we will most likely dismiss the product as something we will never buy, skewed information from the advertisement will unconsciously slip in. This may eventually influence us to buy the product, basing our decision on inaccurate and unconsciously obtained information.
Advertisements also do not always give us information. Advertising also includes sponsorship by stars. This form appeals directly to emotions and not to logic as it includes no information. Sponsorship merely tries to get people to buy based on them wanting to be like their star. An example would be how AIG, an insurance company, spends millions to sponsor Manchester United, a football club, despite football having no relation to insurance.
Finally, advertisements may give us information, but it would be naive to simply trust this. Advertising may not necessarily be false but they can be misleading. For example, they can overstate the importance of some of their attributes. Dettol is one example. It advertises its soap as anti-bacterial, however normal soap is already sufficient to kill most bacteria. Also, advertisers will obviously not highlight the shortfalls of their products. Even if they do, these may be only mentioned briefly and with little details, for example vaguely mentioning “terms and conditions apply”. There are other clear examples. Tobacco companies for example, had to be legally bound to clearly print warning labels on cigarette packs. Despite the known health risks, tobacco companies obviously did not clearly reflect these dangers, thus having to be forced to do so. Another example involves the manufacture of asbestos and its incorporation into various products. There had been reports from as early as 1898 that prolonged exposure to asbestos (such as to workers) had health hazards. Yet, asbestos continued to be manufactured until the 1980s when it was banned. Clearly if advertising reflected this risk, asbestos would have been phased out long before.
All this goes to show that advertisements cannot be trusted. They only selectively provide information, do not usually give us a good deal and sometimes appeal solely to our emotions. The example of asbestos companies clearly shows that advertising with no regulation can have tragic consequences.