false advertising

In class we have been discussing culture change and its negative and positive consequences. We made a list of the negative consequences culture change may cause, it included (the last two are italicized because they are most relevant to my blog)

Bad diet

Diseases

Decreased health

Resource depletion

Poverty

Loss of family tradition

Negative perception of what it means to be poor

Dissatisfaction with life

I have recently been thinking specifically about negative culture change and it’s cause and I have come to the conclusion that advertising is the main culprit. Print and electronic advertising both serve as a catalyst for culture change and which often leads to negative consequences. As Noreene Janus writes, “communication and information systems play an important role, permitting a message to be distributed globally through television series, news, magazine, comics and films” (Janus 365). Advertisers have a huge amount of power in our world today. We as a global people are constantly immersed in advertisements about new products, weight loss advancements and new and improved cereals. Although the advertisements may be different they all emphasize the same message: “that which is modern is good, and that which is traditional is implicitly bad” (Janus 364).

Advertising, specifically television is effective with all types of people – even those who are illiterate. Magazines and commercials can be translated into all languages and distributed globally. But the notion that the more “stuff” you have, the happier you will be isn’t effective in all parts of the world. Now in a capitalist American society this is not necessarily a negative consequence. Consumption feeds our economy and although I personally feel that consumption doesn’t always bring happiness – advertisers use this assumption to draw in consumers.

But in other cultures, specifically cultures of lower socio economic statuses the effect of this kind of advertising is greater. Janus writes, “the impact of transnational culture is greater among the poor – the very people who cannot afford to buy the lifestyle it represents. The poor are more likely to associate consumption with happiness and feel that industrialized products are better than the locally made ones. But at the same time they are painfully aware that only the rich have access to the lifestyle portrayed” (Janus 366).

It is here that the true power of advertising is seen. Advertisers have the power to change people’s perceptions of themselves, the power to alter people’s feelings of happiness and contentedness. I know that I personally do not have the power to change the world of advertising and the messages they send. And I know that without advertising our world and economy would not be the same. But perhaps just by becoming more conscious of the true message of advertisements we can have some sort of impact on the role it plays in our global culture.