Negative_Impats_of_Advertising

Negative Impacts of Advertising Over the years, technology has totally changed the way we live in society. There was a time when only 10% of homes in the United States had a television set. Today, nearly every home owns at least one television. We spend hours each week watching our favorite television shows, but we are also barraged by commercial after commercial. No more effected by television commercials than our adolescents. They will spend, on average, around 28 hours a week sitting in front of the television and be exposed to more than 40,000 television commercials per year. Which is why companies are willing to spend more than $12 billion annually on commercials specifically focusing on children. Research has shown that adolescents only need to watch a commercial once to develop a preference for that particular product. Studies have also shown that children under the age of eight are unable to understand television commercials as a marketing tool and accept their message as truthful. Such influence by commercials can lead to unhealthy social behavior by children. Taking a quote from Yuliya Burko, “Marketers target children and teens, which are more vulnerable as they have less ability to critically think and evaluate the messages sent to them by the images on the screen.” Media has always played an important role in creating awareness for our adolescents, which in many cases, in a negative way. [Thesis] Advertising has a negative influence on our adolescents and children. And asserting that in general, ads and commercials ultimately have a negative impact on our lives is valid [Thesis] Negative commercial impact on adolescents is no more evident than in fast-foods advertisements. We are bombarded with commercials using cartoon characters, toys, and cute animals as props to sell their high calorie and high fat foods. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC, and Jack-In-The-Box to name just a few. In 2008, Burger King ran a commercial targeting adolescents they call “big kids” in an attempt to sell their fast-food. The commercial shows adolescent kids saying, “Do you know what big kids want' Big kids want to be treated like big kids”. The ad also tries to lure these “big kids” to come to Burger King Tuesday nights to meet with other kids and trade Pokémon products all while brainwashing these kids into thinking that going to Burger King and eating their “big kids” meal is what “big kids” do. This tactic is a perfect example of the logical fallacy called “Bandwagon Appeal”. Fast food companies now advertise on the internet targeting adolescents by offering interactive games. McDonald’s around the country offer children playgrounds as a means to bring them in to eat their food. A U.K. study found that kids exposed to junk food TV ads will double the amount of unhealthy foods they eat. The study also showed that adolescents who are already overweight or obese will increase their junk food intake by 134% while adolescents with normal weight will increase consumption by 84%. Besides increasing the obesity rates in adolescents, studies have shown that increases in junk and fast food consumption will inevitability increase health issues such as Cardiovascular Disease, Hypertension, and Type 2 Diabetes. Alcoholic -Beverage companies also have a huge negative impact on adolescents. Today, teenage drinking is a widespread problem in the United States. Young adults between the ages of 12 and 20 consume almost 20% of the total number of drinks consumed per month while nearly 6.8 million youths aged 12 and 20 (19%) are considered binge drinkers. A study shows that alcohol is a major factor in the four leading causes of death among persons between the ages of 10-24: (1) motor-vehicle accidents, (2) unintentional injuries, (3) homicide, and (4) suicide. Underage drinking is also linked to more disciplinary and academic problems in school, trouble with employment, and overall behavior problems in young adulthood. An argument that is still up for debate is that the alcoholic beverage industry targets young people under the legal drinking age of 21. The industry needs to continually recruit the next generation of heavy drinkers to increase and maintain their profit margins. Quoting Mikaela Riemer, “Ads can also have a negative impact on children. Almost all of these commercials show people drinking or smoking and having a great time, which can cause children to believe that it is a normal thing to do as you grow up.” Alcoholic beverage companies use youth related content in their advertising such as animals, cartoons, humor, music, sports, and themes of belonging in society while hanging out with friends. The Captain Morgan Company which makes rum alcohol run commercials depicting young, fun loving adults partying and having a good time. These ads can be extremely influential to adolescents who are associating drinking alcohol with fun which is exactly what the Captain Morgan Company wants. Yet with a touch of hypocrisy, each Captain Morgan commercial ends with the line, “Drink responsibly”, a apparent attempt to convince the viewing audience that they care…….”Stacking the Deck”….none the less. The growing popularity of this product has large beverage companies targeting the young adults in an all out war. Introduced more than 20 years ago, energy drinks are the fastest growing U.S. beverage market. In 2011 sales were expected to top $9 billion with children and young adults under the age of 25 providing the revenue. Research have shown that energy drinks are consumed by 30 to 50 percent of adolescents and young adults and contain high, unregulated amounts of caffeine. Reports also show that there are adverse side effects in children, adolescents and young adults which include seizures, diabetes, cardiac abnormalities, mood or behavioral disorder, and even caffeine overdoses. Energy Drink companies have targeted their ads on the young. Take for example, Red Bull’s commercials where sketch cartoon characters are shown accomplishing supernatural feats after drinking a can of Red Bull and always ending with the line, “Red Bull gives you wings”. These types of commercials use this as a marketing ploy to send a message to the young viewers that if you drink a Red Bull you too will be able to do supernatural feats. Yes today’s children are watching more television than ever before, but we now need to include the internet as another means for companies to bombard them with even more ads on fast food, alcohol and energy drinks. When I stated that our adolescents are exposed to more than 40,000 commercial ads may now be double that due to the internet. Technology is here to stay and we, as adults, need to teach our young how to be responsible and show them the dangers and consequences of their choices. Media will always play an important role in creating awareness for our adolescents, but hopefully not in a negative way. [Thesis] Advertising has a negative influence on our adolescents and children. And asserting that in general, ads and commercials ultimately have a negative impact on our lives is valid [Thesis]