ADVERTISEMENTS are everywhere in our daily lives from newspapers, TV, radio, Internet, billboards, neon signs, petrol stations, shopping malls, etc. Advertising is seen as an essential part of modern-day life of which we all form a part. It is not only essential for businesses but also makes our world a colorful place to live in.
In the Western world and elsewhere, advertising is a highly paid as well as glamorous profession. TV and movie storylines show heros and heroines who are advertising professionals which makes people look at them with added awe.
After all what is advertisement? It is simply an announcement of a product, program or a service which the company would like people to know about, for their mutual benefit. It is supposed to increase sales by informing as many people as possible, but how innocent is it considering the tricks which are used in today’s world to sell products for which there is no demand?
Advertisement is said to create a demand for products for which there is no need. It has been described by Stephen Butler Leacock as: “the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it”. On the face of it, advertising seems to increase the sales of a product by vigorous distribution of information to the maximum number of people and openly promoting it, but how does it actually work to increase the sales of a product which was hitherto unknown or which people do not feel that they need?
Dr. Robert Heath in his book “Seducing the Subconscious” says that people do not remember what the advertisement actually said about the product and whether they were influenced by it at all but in reality advertisement works wonders by appealing to our sub-conscious minds and most of us like to think that it doesn’t influence us unless we are stupid enough to let it.
Although advertisers are not exactly sure how their advertisements work, it is the idea behind the campaign which works to sell the product, having no apparent connection with the product itself. There is one advertisement about a suit which used the jingle “Coming home with ********” and showed a man who returned to his hometown wearing a suit being treated like a prince. Although this advertisement said nothing about the quality of the suit material or how one would feel wearing it, it appealed to the subconscious desire of every man to be treated like a prince with everyone, including pretty women, swooning over him. The actors in the background, who are seldom noticed, play a very important role too with their appreciative glances. This works very well in such advertisements.
Men and women have different expectations from life, hence their fantasies differ. Most advertisements are directed toward women because they are the decision makers for most household items, such as food , cleaning items, children’s clothes, etc., and they are more susceptible to suggestions promising them a perfect life. Irrespective of whatever may be consumed at home for lunch, dinner, snacks or picnic, the idea which entices women consumers is that of smiling children who readily accept their commands, a husband smilingly approving a wife’s cooking, her home in neat order with everybody happy.
In other words a picture perfect house for an overworked, hassled housewife who would obey any command in order to change places with the woman in the advertisement. Advertisements have succeeded in making women feel that their bodies are far from perfect and that there is much needed to be done in order to be like those “normal” people in ads who have fair skin, white teeth, silky long hair, slim bodies, etc. The ads capitalize on feelings of inadequacy and offer immediate solutions in the form of products which will make us like the people in the ads.
I once happened to ask my friend what he was doing on a Friday afternoon to which he replied I am watching advertisements of shampoo, washing powder, cooking oil, etc. I was a bit shocked at his reply but knowing his jovial nature I probed further and asked him what he was really doing, to which he replied that the whole family was watching TV which was taken over by advertisements between segments of soap operas which kept audiences glued to their TV sets.
Washing powder advertisements always show white clothes as the benchmark for checking the cleaning ability of the powder which is always better compared to any other washing powder. In modern times it is surprising that white clothes are being shown as being cleaned when the majority of clothes which people wear, especially women, are colored. White clothes are shown so that women identify their feelings with them and since some amount of inferiority complex is always present in people, especially women, they identify cleaning clothes as removing dirt or feelings of inferiority from their beings. This is why white clothes are always shown in all washing powder advertisements to reinstate a feeling of purity in their hearts via the clothes.
In many advertisements of household items such as mixers, grinders, clothes irons, egg beaters or whatever, the ad will always show the woman having extra powers, almost like a man, in dealing with household problems. She quickly gives a fitting reply to somebody in case he tries to act smart with her.
Another fact which is noticeable in all advertisements appealing to women, be it of washing powder or cooking oil, is men working in the kitchen or washing clothes. This serves to satisfy the fantasy of women who wish to have men working with them, bonding with them over housework, providing their time and energy instead of demanding food or housework from them, which often drains them of energy.
Women give importance to relationships and most of the advertisements show how relationships can be maintained or strengthened because of chocolates or other products. Happy relatives or spouses shower their love upon women in such advertisements who receive the company’s products. Mothers-in-law approve of everything new daughters-in-law bring or do, provided it is from that company. People who desperately look for such relationships in their lives are ready to buy that company’s products over and over again just to satisfy their craving for being the girl or woman in that advertisement.
In case we do not realize it, we are paying the advertisers and the company for fooling us and fleecing us as well. The advertising industry is nothing more than an industry set up for fooling people. There are no complicated plots or complex psychology of persuasion involved. The message is usually clear and simple and if it hits the right cords in our subconscious minds, then we all fall for it and buy that product.
Many times we know what is being said and meant, but we choose to ignore and allow it to affect us probably because we want it to. If our children lie to us or exaggerate their performance then we reprimand them or if an employee exaggerates his performance then he is warned of cheating the company, but if a whole industry lies to us about their products, their performance, etc., then we call it advertising: a highly respected, glamorous and coveted profession.
Each and every one of us has problems in life in many arenas, but should we allow pretty young models, attractive men, extremely happy children, relatives, friends and colleagues on the screen to take over and tell us what we should do? Can we logically rely on a famous football player to tell us what brand of TV to buy or a famous actress to advise us on which vehicle to buy, knowing fully well that their competence lies in a totally different field?
Can anyone be transformed to the likes of a famous actress even though she confidently proclaims that by using a particular soap, shampoo, hair oil you can be like her? Are we as a society behaving even remotely as sensible beings by elevating the profession of advertising to a high pedestal which is nothing more than exploiting weaknesses and lying outright in order to sell products to you in order to make money? It is up to us to decide what to do instead of being persuaded by the glamorous images of advertisers. I feel that we must rely on the opinion of experts in their respective fields and ask for their opinion and advice rather than give up ourselves up to glitzy models and film stars for their advice in totally unrelated fields.
Shabbir Thingna,
Madinah
