Synthesis Essay On Advertising

Advertising is a form of propaganda that plays a huge role in society and is readily apparent to anyone who watches television, listens to the radio, reads newspapers, uses the internet, or looks at a billboard on the streets and buses. The effects of advertising begin the moment a child asks for a new toy seen on TV or a middle aged man decides he needs that new car. It is negatively impacting our society. To begin, the companies which make advertisements know who to aim their ads at and how to emotionally connect their product with a viewer. For example, “Studies conducted for Seventeen magazine have shown that 29 percent of adult women still buy the brand of coffee they preferred as a teenager, and 41 percent buy the same brand of mascara” (Source

A campaign demonstrating the demand for cigarettes displays how cigarette advertisers sell cigarettes by saying that “it’s okay to smoke”. With this is mind, teens and young adults may want to buy a pack of cigarettes or feel the need to try one because advertisers are saying that it is socially acceptable. This similar tactic of approval occurs when an adult buys a specific cleaning supply because the rest of the world is buying one. In the end, we end up desiring items we don’t necessarily need. Whether it’s cleaning supplies, cigarettes , or weight loss pills; it is due to advertisement. In conclusion, advertisement is propaganda with deleterious effects on our society. Often times we don’t even know we are being affected- this is because advertising is so common. A child may see an ad twice, but they will remember the tones or images and begin to want that toy or product they see. An adult may see an ad that relates to them and a desire for the product, they never wanted to begin with, is