The problem with advertising & my proposed solution

The Problem

Advertisements are something we're exposed to each and everyday, and for the most part are usually there to serve one purpose, to sell you something. Being exposed to these on such a regular basis coupled with the marketing techniques each company uses, these ads ultimately have an influence on us and our decisions when it comes to buying a product.

Ads create needs and desires amongst us as consumers, with their deceptive ways that are supposed to improve our self worth and happiness. So it comes as no surprise that these have such a big impact on our physical and psychological well being, considering that on average we’re exposed to around 5000 adverts a day (Sheree, 2014). We’re led to believe that buying this or that new product will make us happier (Abdallah, 2009) when in actual fact studies have proven that in some cases it can have almost the opposite effect with degrading people’s value of self worth. In one of Kasser’s (2002) studies for example he documented that ‘strong materialistic values are associated with a pervasive undermining of people’s well being’. He mentions that there have been links with low life satisfaction and happiness also included was depression, anxiety, headaches, narcissism and antisocial behaviour, all of which supposedly fuel even more consumption with consumers thinking that shopping more will improve their mood.

Often ads that typically sell makeup, clothing, shoes, perfume etc. are there to make customers want to be like the model or actor in the advertisement. According to an April 2011 study by The Journal of Consumer Research one of the ways that these types of ads work on the subconscious level is they make average people feel insecure. Within the study, people who view these ads tend to feel worse about themselves after they view the advertisement. This creates false needs that people feel they have but are instead only created from the advertisements themselves. I think that ads should be there to show us what's available as opposed creating a need for us to buy something we typically don't need or want. But sometimes this can be done more subtly by playing on our actual needs, the need for companionship, spirituality, intellectual development etc. Brands do this by linking their product to a need of ours. Take for example a Dorito's ad from 2003, they labelled it Friendchips. The whole ad is based around friends having a good time, bonding, eating Dorito's. Now on the surface this may appear typical of an ad, but it subtly creates a link between friends, friendship, having a good time with friends and their product. Something that will likely create an impression on us of their product that may in the future influence our decision when it comes to buying a packet of crisps for example.

The Solution

My proposed solution is to create a universal way to advertise products, one that doesn't involve any celebrities, slogans, marketing techniques etc. that would typically be used within advertising to sell the product. Instead it would be a consistent layout and typeface to display the products, to show what's available to the customer as opposed to selling it. This will hopefully remove the influence and impact that advertisements have on us as the consumer and will instead allow the consumer to consciously make their own decisions when it comes to buying a product.

Sources:

Abdallah, S. et al (2009) ‘The Happy Planet Index 2.0: Why good lives don’t have to cost the Earth’. London: nef (the new economics foundation). Available at: http://roar.uel.ac.uk/604/1/Abdallah%2C%20S%20et%20al%20%282009%29%20nef.pdf

Sheree, J. 2014. ‘New Research Sheds Light on Daily Ad Exposures’. Available at: https://sjinsights.net/2014/09/29/new-research-sheds-light-on-daily-ad-exposures/

Kasser, T. 2002. ‘The High Price of Materialism’. London: The MIT Press. 5-26.

The Journal of Consumer Research, April 2011. - https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/37/6/1030/1867819/The-Self-Activation-Effect-of-Advertisements-Ads?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Dorito's Friendchips, 2003. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U_mm5wSMYQ