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...