Commercials Essay Research Paper ONLY HALF THE

Commercials Essay, Research Paper

ONLY HALF THE TRUTH OF COMMERCIALS

How we spend our money; what our fantasies, desires, fears, and needs have been; commercials taught us about new technologies; and which products and trends lasted and which have nt. Commercials taught us how to use disposable bladed; how to have “Kodak moment”; it gave us advice to “Just Do It”.

Television is a vehicle for our fantasy and imagination. It is not a way of life. Many children sit for hours at a time, mindlessly channel surfing their way through life, as opposed to living it. Children need to be taught that the television, just like every other appliance in the home, has a specific function. For example, we do not leave the hair dryer on once our hair is dry, or the toaster on once the toast has popped up. We recognize the specific uses of these appliances and know when to turn them off. I think children need to be educated about television in order for them to determine what is of real interest to them, and what is not.

Television is pervasive and powerful. It is hard to mentally shield ourselves from their numerous and persuasive ways when advertisers know too much about us for our own good. Commercials has accumulated statistics about our daily life. One toothpaste commercial stated, “Did you know that twenty-five percent of all food is eaten between meals.” Or a shoes commercial informs us that, “The average person spends over six hours a day standing on their feet.” Commercial have even gotten a grip on how our brain thinks and sees. They know that shoppers will pick up a package with a picture on it faster than a package with only a simple design. And that we are more likely to buy a round package over a square one. Our fear that the commercials can make us think and buy anything they want proves to be somewhat scary.

These constant bombardments of half factual information surrounds us no matter where we turn, intruding into our communication , our streets, and our very home. It is designed to attract attention, give advice, to change attitudes, an to command our behavior. The people and scenes of TV commercials resemble actors and actresses of TV drama; they are better looking, better dressed, and have an income better than the average person. The message behind most commercials is to persuade viewers to buy a particular brand of merchandise and preach the value of physical beauty, health, high status and well-being, if they use their product. Advertising teaches us to take pride in our outer appearances and in the way we present ourselves to others. Television constantly bombards us with commercial of ways to enhance our appearance. Maybeline, L’oreal, Pond, Clinque, Cover Girl, and Noxema are major corporations of cosmetic products, and their main target is teenage girls. The majority of girls during their maturing stage are vulnerable because they are embarrassed, and self-conscience of the development their bodies are going through. I was a victim once of the Noxema commercial. The set up was a beautiful girl; most of you know her as the Noxema girl getting ready for a date. She squeezed a dot-size amount onto her palms, and worked into lather. Then she massaged it onto her face, and splashes it away with water. Later it shows her with a handsome guy as he was gently caressing her face, commenting on how soft it is. I did not believe the part about the guy, but I wanted to have her skin. Her skin was soft, radiant, and it has this warm romantic glow to it. I save up my measly two weeks allowance and went to Payless to buy myself a this amazing product advertised on TV. Each morning, I washed my face like the Noxema girl did on the commercial. The first time I used it, my cheek turned really red as if I had a rash. Even with the side effect, I continue to use it for the next couple of days, making myself believe that my skin has improved. Like most teenage girls and guys, I had an acne problem. I was desperate, and I would try anything to relieve myself of the embarrassment, and the humiliation of my imperfect complexion.

Advertisements also offer constant reminders of the possessions that we don’t have and of the envied privileges of those who do have them. Ads exert a persistent pressure to acquire more things and therefore a pressure to work harder to earn money in order to acquire what we want, but not what we need. People who feel personally inadequate from their achievements, advertisements may have a different effect, fostering the idea that possessions are so important that they must be acquired by any means. Advertisers try to convince people that buying a certain product will fulfill their higher needs. Since one of our many desires is to be a part of a group, commercials often suggest that their product will ensure friendship or acceptance be a group. There was a story that made headlines about a boy who beat up and robbed another classmate to obtain an expensive, new, popular Nike shoes and jacket. Nike uses famous sport players such as Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Scottie Pippen, and Anfernee Hardway to sell their product.

Over the pass few years that I’ve been living in America, where at two television sets is a standard in every house hold. I have come to believe that commercials have placed a lot of pressure on young children who do not have the skills or knowledge to distinguish between factual information and hype, o